Sheriff on hunger strikers: 'Some of them could stand to lose a little weight'

Photo: James Tensuan, Special To The Chronicle Sheriff Laurie Smith addresses the media in 2016.

Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith sparked renewed tensions with inmate activist groups when she responded to a hunger strike protesting prison conditions by telling San Jose Inside,"some of them could stand to lose a little weight."

"We will give their fresh food to the Salvation Army again," Smith told the news site on Oct. 19. "There are hungry people who committed no crimes and deserve a dinner."

Today, Sheriff Smith donated food turned away by inmates to @SalvationArmyUS. She is trying to avoid #tax waste & help #reducefoodwaste pic.twitter.com/smKE3wvrDN — SantaClaraCoSheriff (@SCCoSheriff) October 23, 2017

Pro-inmate groups Prisoners United of Silicon Valley and Silicon Valley De-Bug issued a statement in response Wednesday saying that members of Prisoners United would start refusing in-custody meals again until Friday in response to Smith's "insulting comment."

The groups also pointed out that many inmates at the jail are in pretrial detention and thus haven't been found guilty of crimes.

The hunger strike was originally set to begin Oct. 22, one year after an earlier hunger strike was called off, Prisoners United wrote in a letter to Sheriff Smith. The 2016 strike aimed to curb "the torturous use of Solitary Confinement," and the new one sought more transparency in the use of solitary confinement and relaxation of strict visitation policies, among other requests, according to the letter.

The Mercury News reported the strike was called off last Friday after a meeting between strikers and jail officials.

But Sgt. Rich Glennon, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Office, said a group of inmates that varied in size from meal to meal was again refusing meals Thursday, although he questioned characterizing their actions as a hunger strike.

"The number of inmates participating seems to vary daily with each individual meal. Inmates rejecting meals are openly consuming purchased commissary food in lieu of County provided meals. So that would make this a rejection of tax-payer provided food, more than a lack of food intake or a 'Hunger Strike,'" Glennon wrote.

The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office said they donated food refused by inmates to charity. The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office said they donated food refused by inmates to charity. Photo: Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office Photo: Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Sheriff on hunger strikers: 'Some of them could stand to lose a little weight' 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

"As of this morning, the estimated tax payer waste due to food loss was approximately $20,000," he added, saying the Sheriff's Office has donated refused meals to the Salvation Army, Martha's Kitchen, Homes of a Loving Father, Bill Wilson Center, and Veterans Emergency Housing.

Jails in Santa Clara County have seen a number of problems in recent years — three guards were found guilty of second-degree murder after beating mentally ill inmate Michael Tyree to death at the county jail in 2015, four inmates made their escape from the Main Jail in San Jose last November after sawing through metal bars and rappelling from their windows on bedsheets, multiple deaths have occurred this year, and an inmate was accidentally freed from Elmwood Jail in September as a result of a clerical error the same day he was sentenced to eight years.

The problems have led some onlookers to call for an end to Smith's tenure as sheriff.

"Hampered by inadequate training, undermined by fitful discipline, riven by internal dissent, the sheriff's department has lurched from one embarrassment to another," Mercury News columnist Scott Herhold wrote in January in a column calling for Smith to be replaced.

Smith, who was elected sheriff in 1999, will face a challenge from former Undersheriff John Hirokawa in next year's election.

Filipa Ioannou is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at fioannou@sfchronicle.com and follow her on Twitter