Please Send Chip Support!!! Let Him Know He is Not Forgotten!!
12/25/11
Chip’s Supporters are RE-ENERGIZING!!!
Please send Chip a letter or card for the holiday season. His 94 year old mother passed away last week, it was his dream to see her before she died. His current address is:
Romaine Fitzgerald
B-27527
Kern Valley State Prison
P.O. Box 5101
A-1-105
Delano, California 93216
Also….look out for Chip’s Monthly Blog….COMING SOON!!!
August 23, 2011- UPDATED
CHIP FITZGERALD IS IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE SHU HUNGER STRIKE! HE IS IN SPIRIT WITH US IN SACRAMENTO ON AUGUST 23, 2011!!
State corrections officials are moving forward with a major policy initiative that could improve conditions and reduce the length of time some inmates spend in controversial isolation units. The changes are being proposed amid threats of another hunger strike by inmates who spearheaded one last month at Pelican Bay State Prison.
The policy changes, which still are being worked out, are in line with proposals highlighted in an internal study completed in 2007 by a panel of experts appointed by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, according to interviews and documents. The panel’s recommendations included:
Moving to a conduct-based model that punishes inmates for tangible offenses, rather than for mere affiliation with a gang. This approach is widely used in other states and by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Ending the practice of indefinite detention of alleged prison gang members and associates in the Security Housing Units
Ending the practice of automatically sending validated prison gang members and associates to the Security Housing Units
Creating a “step-down” program inside the Security Housing Units to encourage positive behavior by offering incentives, such as special programs
Ending the distinction between prison gangs and other threat groups to give the department more flexibility in determining inmate placement in the Security Housing Units
Black Panther Political Prisoner “Chip” Fitzgerald Ends His Hunger Strike
May 4, 2010
The longest held Black Panther Party Political Prisoner, Romaine “Chip” Fitzgerald has ended his hunger strike at Corcoran State Prison in California now that the prison and its warden have met his demands. These demands were met only after countless calls made into the prison by his supporters. According to sources close to him, Chip is scheduled to be transferred today out of administrative segregation at Corcoran and into Kern State Valley Prison’s general population, where conditions (including access to medical care) may be significantly better. But, as he wrote recently, “we’ll see.”
We will be sure to keep you posted.
Without a doubt, Chip’s transfer is a people’s victory. Warden Lopez at Corcoran State Prison capitulated to the people’s demands. This proves the importance and value of political solidarity with prisoners in general and political prisoners in particular. Let’s keep our movement going strong.
The Committee to Free Chip Fitzgerald thanks you for your support!
April 25, 2010…
CHIP ON HUNGER STRIKE!
Chip is demanding a transfer out of the hole at Corcoran State Prison where he has been for over a year.
In response to his unfair housing in Administrative Segregation (“the hole”) Romaine “Chip” Fitzgerald is currently refusing food. In support of Chip we ask that you call Warden Raul Lopez to DEMAND that Chip be transferred out of Ad Seg and into general population immediately.
PASS THIS CALL FOR SUPPORT WIDELY!
CALL WARDEN RAUL LOPEZ TODAY!!!
FAX WARDEN RAUL LOPEZ TODAY!!!
DEMAND THAT ROMAINE FITZGERALD #B-27527 BE TRANSFERRED OUT OF AD SEG and INTO GENERAL POPULATION! End his hunger strike!!!
559-992-8800 (phone) Extension #5008
559-999-4636 (fax)
_____________
Political Prisoner
Prisoner of War for over 40 years!
JOIN THE FIGHT FOR HIS FREEDOM
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EMERGENCY RELIEF NEEDED NOW!
The Committee to Free Chip Fitzgerald
is asking for a $10 (or more) contribution
to help pay legal fees to raise Chip out of “the hole.”
April 19, 2010…
Since February 2009, Chip has been held in an isolation chamber, “the hole,” on an administrative charge he has appealed. Even though the required term of punishment ended in February of this year, Chip remains in the hole, transferred now from Centinela to Corcoran State Prison, in Corcoran, California.
And, Chip’s situation is now worsened by the ongoing refusal of the CDCR to provide him urgently-needed medical care, in violation of his Constitutional rights, under the Eight Amendment’s prohibition of “cruel and unusual punishments.”
The Committee to Free Chip has engaged Attorney Keith Wattley of Oakland, California, to petition the local superior court to release Chip from the hole immediately. We need your help.
MORE UPDATES TO FOLLOW… STAY TUNED!
About Chip
Romaine “Chip” Fitzgerald, born and raised in Compton, California, joined the Southern California Chapter of the Black Panther Party in early 1969 as a teenager who had just been released from the California Youth Authority. In September of that year, as a dedicated member of the Party, Chip was arrested in connection with a police shoot-out and tried for assault on police and related charges, including the murder of a security guard. He was sentenced to death.
Ultimately, his sentence was commuted to life with parole. He has been in prison for nearly 40 years now.
Chip’s dedication to the cause of the liberation of black and all oppressed people has not wavered through all the years of his brutal incarceration.
Read more about Chip Fitzgerald…
Recent Update On Chip Fitzgerald
The Latest Update on Chip Fitzgerald- KPFA “Hard Knock Radio” interview with Davey D and Elaine Brown at Rock the Bells in San Francisco on August 8, 2009.
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Interview with Romaine “Chip” Fitzgerald
Chip Fitzgerald gave his first recorded interview on October 22, 2007 after 38 years of incarceration.
Listen to Chip on his early days in the streets, how he came to join the Black Panther Party, and his words for young people oppressed by the current power structure.
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