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No matter. Unlike most 1972 death row inmates released, Fitzgerald remains incarcerated, still dedicated to black liberation and all oppressed people everywhere - why he's still held, of course. At his July 2008 parole hearing, he was challenged for his political views, past and present, and turned down, the same reason for all his other denials, for his "revolutionary" beliefs for justice he won't renounce after a lifetime of support.
With the help of his new attorney, Keith Wattley, the Committee to Free Chip Fitzgerald filed a habeas petition to challenge the Board's decision. Currently, he's in solitary confinement at Corcoran State Prison, protesting on a hunger strike to be transfered to the general prison population, and threatening to stay on it until death if he's refused. More on that below.
Prison authorities are in violation of the US District Court for the Northern District of California's 2001 order to provide all inmates proper medical care, Judge Thelton E. Henderson saying:
"....it is beyond a reasonable dispute that the State has failed," in transferring authority to a receiver, J. Clark Kelso, at the time. He also stated it's:
"an uncontested fact that, on average, an inmate in one of California's prisons needlessly dies every six to seven days due to constitutional deficiencies in (its) medical delivery system."
In 1998, Fitzgerald suffered a stroke, caused by bleeding in his brain. He became partly paralyzed, required an intense physical therapy regimen, and given the absence of treatment, likely spinal and cervical surgery will be needed.
In confinement, his condition continues to worsen. Without treatment, he risks another stroke, permanent paralysis or death. He reportedly also suffers from depression. As a result, by refusing food, and apparently water, he's very much in jeopardy, another victim of America's war against activism, people of color, and justice.
In his own words, he vows to "remain a revolutionary," at the same time calling the prison system:
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