Action Alert!!! The trial of the Dallas 6 is going forward on Monday August 24. PACK THE COURT for

Please circulate widely!
	Action Alert!!! The trial of the Dallas 6 is going forward on Monday August 24.  PACK THE COURT for Pennsylvania Prisoner Whistleblowers Stop the abuse and torture of prisoners!
	The Dallas 6 are six African-American prisoners who, while in solitary confinement in SCI Dallas PA prison, blew the whistle on & peacefully protested against abuse and violence by prison guards.  They were charged with “rioting.”  Without the benefit of cell phones that have exposed police violence on the street, we are dependent on whistleblowers to expose abuse by guards behind bars.  After dragging on for five years, the trial of the remaining three Dallas 6 members begins on Aug 24 in Luzerne County (infamous for the “kids for cash” scandal).	Why support the Dallas 6? They are whistleblowers who put their lives on the line by taking action to stop the rampant abuse and violence by guards at SCI Dallas and other PA prisons. We all depend on prisoners like the Dallas 6 to tell the truth about our society and to defend all our civil and human rights. They are part of a movement of prisoners taking action and speaking out through hunger and work strikes such as in Georgia, Ohio, Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Virginia and California. Torture must remain illegal in this country.  Charles Graner honed his torture skills in PA where he was a prison guard before moving on to Abu Ghraib.  We should not have to go to Iraq to find out what is happening here, not when there are prisoners telling it like it is. Solitary confinement is torture according to Juan Méndez, UN Special Rappateur on Torture, who has called for an absolute ban on solitary for longer than 15 days. Mass incarceration has meant many prisoners are inside for non-violent offenses such as minor drug convictions, immigration and parole violations & not paying fines, or are innocent of any offense. But whatever the offense, the sentence does not include torture.  Their trial is taking place in the infamous Luzerne ‘Kids for Cash’ County where judges were convicted of kickbacks for incarcerating children. Legal help is needed to navigate those dirty waters.
	What can you do? ► Help to pack the court on Aug 24.  Sign up here if you are planning to come, need or can offer housing or transportation. ► Set up a speaking engagement for Shandre and Derrick who give dynamic presentations (see video below).   ► Sign the Petition to Indict Corrupt Luzerne County Officials. ►  Make a Donation!
	Your support is needed to ensure that these men receive a fair trial, that the abuses that they faced in prison do not continue, and, for the legal precedent that this court case will establish. If the Dallas 6 are justifiably cleared of all charges Pennsylvania prisoners will be able to speak up against abuse and torture without fear of retaliation.  Derrick Stanley of the Dallas 6 (at right) with Shandre Delaney (center), mother of Carrington Keys of the Dallas 6 and campaign coordinator
	For more information   Video from Press Conference outside the courtroom on Nov. 10th    Community Forum featuring Shandre Delaney, Derrick Stanley, and Isaac Sanchez    Shandre Delaney in Truthout: Torture and Retaliation Against Prisoner Whistleblowers    Victoria Law in Solitary Watch, On Trial for Protesting Conditions in Solitary Confinement    Mumia Abu Jamal, The Dallas Six and earlier commentary     Shandre Delaney’s Thursdays 9:30pm blogtalkradio
	Justice for the Dallas 6 Support Campaign: Abolitionist Law Center; Every Mother is a Working Mother Network; Fight for Lifers West; Germantown Friends Meeting Mass Incarceration Working Group; Global Women’s Strike & Women of Color@GWS – US; Human Rights Coalition – Fed Up; Human Rights Coalition – Philadelphia; Marcellus Shale Earth First; Mishkan Shalom New Jim Crow Study-Action Group; Payday men’s network; Peacehome Campaigns; Shalefield Organizing Committee.  Endorsements: Brandywine Peace Community; California Families Against Solitary Confinement (CFASC); The Center for Returning Citizens (TCRC); Decarcerate PA; Defending Dissent Foundation; Global Women’s Strike & Women of Color@GWS – UK; Human Rights Defense Center – Lake Worth, Florida; Jewish Voice For Peace - Philadelphia; Sin Barras – Without (Prison) Bars – Santa Cruz; T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights; WHAT’S UP?! Pittsburgh; Welfare Warriors; Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) – Philadelphia. Individual Endorsements: Pam Africa, International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal; Patrice Armstead, Building People’s Power and Coalition Demanding Reinstatement of Dr. Monteiro; Malik Aziz, Founder, Men United for a Better Philadelphia and Chairman, National Exhoodus Council; Pastor Antoinette Johnson, King Solomon Baptist Church; Dr. Anthony Monteiro; Rev. Bob Moore, Executive Director, Coalition for Peace Action (for id purposes only); Dr. Heather Ann Thompson, Professor of African American Studies & History, Temple University; Dr. Cornel West, Princeton University; Dr. Carla Willard, Africana Studies Program, Franklin & Marshall College.  Partnering with: AFSC Prison Watch.
	Phone: 412-403-6101  Email: sd4hrc@gmail.com   Website: scidallas6.blogspot.com
	Background
	Six African-American prisoners from the State Correctional Institute (SCI) in Dallas, PA are facing charges of “rioting” for blowing the whistle on the abuse of prisoners in solitary confinement. On April 10, 2010, illegal and barbaric conditions at the hands of prison guards at SCI Dallas led these inmates, held in solitary confinement, to stage a protest. For over a year they had suffered food deprivation, destruction of mail, beatings, neglect of medical conditions, use of a torture chair and the deaths of some other prisoners, including the coerced suicide of an older white prisoner with mental health issues. After guards kept prisoner Isaac Sanchez confined in a torture chair overnight, six protested by covering their cell door windows with their bedding. The prisoners demanded that the abuse stop, and requested access to their counselors, state police, the District Attorney and the Public Defenders’ Office. They had no access to telephones or computers and their incoming and out-going mail were being destroyed to undermine their ability to expose the corruption. Prison guards responded with an armed assault against the unarmed men locked inside individual cells. They attacked the six men with electroshock shields, tasers, fists and pepper spray. The guards involved suffered no injuries and initially no charges were filed against the Dallas 6, who were left bloodied, naked, burnt and in pain. Although some of the men were transferred to other prisons, they were able to file complaints and initiate civil actions against the prison guards and officials involved. Prison officials, state police and the Luzerne County DA retaliated four months later by charging the Dallas 6 with rioting. The Dallas 6 believe that they are facing these trumped up charges because they contributed to Institutionalized Cruelty, Human Rights Coalition Report 1, and, then subsequently stood up for their lives, which is documented in Resistance & Retaliation, Report 2. The US has the largest prison population in the world with Black and Brown communities disproportionately impacted.  Prisoners across the US are taking action and speaking out against their inhumane and tortuous conditions, including prisoner hunger and work strikes in Georgia, Ohio, Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Virginia and California. As a result of their actions, prisoners are retaliated against by prison authorities.  The trial of the Dallas 6 will represent a moment of truth and exposure about wide-spread use of solitary confinement and torture in prisons.   We call on all who believe in justice and equality to support the Dallas 6.