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Punished for Distributing Clean Water, MA Prisoner Enters Hunger Strike

HeadlineMar 30, 2018

In Massachusetts, an outspoken prisoner at the state’s largest prison has gone on hunger strike, after he was placed in solitary confinement for attempting to distribute clean water to other prisoners. Wayland Coleman was placed in solitary at the MCI-Norfolk prison after guards discovered 15 cases of bottled water in his cell. Coleman had collected the water from the prison canteen after a group called the Deeper Than Water Coalition raised funds to distribute it to prisoners, who are otherwise forced to drink foul-tasting, tea-colored water full of sediment from the prison’s aging plumbing. Coleman’s supporters say he’s stopped eating food in protest of his treatment, as he enters his 10th day in a solitary confinement cell.

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