Oakland, CA – Minister King, a community organizer with California Prison Focus, and the group All of Us Or None (AOUON) filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and top state government officials.
The lawsuit challenges what the plaintiffs are calling “Minister King’s unlawful arrest” on August 9, 2021, during “Black August,” for allegedly violating Penal Code section 4571, which criminalizes people with felony convictions standing near prison facilities.
According to the complaint, King was arrested and put in custody by plainclothes CDCR officers after a July 2021 protest calling for the release of political prisoner Ruchell “Cinque” Magee.
The charges were dropped without a hearing. Nevertheless, King and AOUON allege in their complaint that the arrest was retaliation for his activism and a violation of his First Amendment rights.
CDCR’s report describes King, and many other activists, public figures, and organizations, as “Black Identity Extremists” and “Black Supremacist Extremists.” These racist terms were used to label organizations such as Black Lives Matter as terrorist organizations and their use was abandoned by the FBI in 2019.
The lawsuit seeks to prevent CDCR from using Penal Code section 4571 to target formerly incarcerated individuals for exercising their rights.
A press conference on September 27th will discuss the constitutional issues associated with PC § 4571, which prohibits an individual who has previously been convicted of a felony and incarcerated in a CA state prison from being present on the grounds of carceral facilities or anywhere adjacent to those grounds without the consent of the warden or sheriff.
The plaintiffs note this prohibits these individuals from being anywhere other individuals in state custody may be, and anywhere adjacent to those in custody individuals without consent. King and AOUON have alleged in their complaint that the statute violates the First Amendment rights of formerly incarcerated individuals and is overly broad and vague.
“In the depths of Pelican Bay State Prison, and other correctional facilities across the United States, a forgotten population of elderly incarcerated individuals awaits redemption. They are not the “worst of the worst,” violent predators or Black Identity Extremists. Rather, they are a unique class of individuals who possess the wisdom, experience, and desire to promote peace and reconciliation,” said Minister King X. “I am advocating for and on behalf of these elders and the rights of all other prisoners.”
