Rally in solidarity with Bristol County Jail hunger strike

Dartmouth Week Today: Protesters call for change at Bristol County jails

Douglas McCulloch

“Through chants, speeches, and shouts, several dozen protesters hoped to send a message to the inmates and immigration detainees inside the Dartmouth House of Correction: You’re not alone.

The protest, held on July 27 at UMass Law, was organized by Bristol County for Correctional Justice, a group advocating for better treatment of inmates within the Bristol County prison system.

It comes just a week after at least 60 detainees inside the sheriff’s office’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility organized a hunger strike, and two days after more than 200 inmates at the House of Correction protested the quality of the jail’s food by refusing to eat jail-served food — although inmates still ate meals purchased at the jail’s commissary, according to a sheriff’s office official.

Inmates also felt the non-air-conditioned jail is too hot, medical care is not adequate, and prices of commissary items are too high.

During speeches and through signs, protesters spoke of many of the controversies that have embroiled Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson, who has served as county sheriff since 1997. Protesters at times spoke directly to Hodgson himself, after he, along with the sheriff’s office public information officer, Jonathan Darling, arrived and observed the protest from across the street.”

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