36 Clallam Bay inmates transferred after meal strike

CLALLAM BAY, Wash. -- A nonviolent meal strike at Clallam Bay Corrections Center earlier this month resulted in the transfer of 36 inmates to other institutions in a move an inmate support group called retaliation and the state described as a safety measure.

The Peninsula Daily News reports a prison spokesperson said the inmates were transferred after they shouted at other inmates, directed them to observe the strike and intimidated them from using prison facilities such as telephones.

There were no reports of injuries or fights during the strike. Corrections spokesperson Janelle Guthrie says there were threats of violence.

She says they "modified the population before the actual violence occurred."

Clallam Bay Community Support Group last week in a statement urged the state Department of Corrections, Gov. Jay Inslee and the corrections center administration "to stop retaliating against incarcerated people and to protect their human rights."