Many prisoners in California have gone on a hunger strike to protest the deplorable conditions and despicable acts taking place in that state’s overcrowded prisons. Once again, proving that the state doesn’t believe you own yourself, a district court has ruled that the prisoners can be forcefully fed:
A district court judge in California has given state authorities permission to force-feed dozens of prisoners who have been on hunger strike for more than six weeks.
Judge Thelton Henderson said some of the prisoners who were near death could be fed, despite some signing requests not to be revived.
One may ask, why would the state want to forcefully feed prisoners? Wouldn’t it be cheaper to let them die, as they wish to do? Although I’m not privy to the state’s insider conversations I have an educated guess. The district court is probably concerned that starving prisoners are poor laborers for UNICOR and Corrections Corporation of America. What good is a slave laborer if they are so hungry they cannot work? In order to ensure the continued flow of goods from the prison-industrial complex to the state and general economy the district court felt it necessary to feed the protesting slaves. This day and age one cannot even die without receiving governmental permission.