Citizenship United States Role Activist Name Alvaro Hernandez | Website freealvaro.net Criminal penalty 50 years Home town Alpine | |
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Born May 12, 1952 (age 71) ( 1952-05-12 ) Movement Chicano Liberation & Prison abolition movement Criminal charge Aggravated assault of a police officer Criminal status Incarcerated at James V Allred Unit, Iowa Park, TX in solitary confinement | ||
Alvaro Luna Hernandez (born May 12, 1952) is a Chicano liberation and prison abolition activist from Alpine, Texas. He is currently serving a 50-year sentence for aggravated assault of a police officer. He is housed in solitary confinement at James V. Allred Unit prison in Iowa Park, Texas where he was transferred after being incarcerated 18 years at Hughes Unit. He spends his time as "Jailhouse Lawyer", also known as an amateur attorney, assisting indigent inmates he believes to be innocent or deserving in their pursuit of justice.
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1975 arrest
In September 1975, Hernandez was arrested for allegedly murdering Robert Anthony Beard, a former Sul Ross State University student.
Jailhouse political organizing
While imprisoned, Hernandez studied Mexican-American history, the prison system, and revolutionary political theory, along with local laws usable in his and others' defense. Hernandez fought against institutional corruption he saw through constitutional and civil rights lawsuits, hunger strikes, work stoppages and yard takeovers, and was one of the "seven other prisoners" whose civil suits were merged into what later became the landmark Estelle v Ruiz victory for prison reform against the Texas Department of Corrections. While incarcerated in Huntsville, TX, he met Ricardo Adalpe Guerra, a Mexican national who had been convicted of killing a Houston area police officer, at the time on death row in the cell next to Alvaro. He spent much of his sentence in solitary confinement (allegedly due to retaliation from the prison), before being cleared and freed in 1991, due in part to investigative reporting by former Houston Post staffer Paul Harasim.
Activist career
Hernandez settled in Houston with his wife. Immediately following his release, he became "the national coordinator of the Ricardo Adape Guerra defense committee" and is credited as being a major influence in Adape Guerra's conviction being overturned. He founded a national civil rights group on behalf of Mexican-Americans, The National Movement of La Raza, and did extensive community work with "Stop the Violence Youth Committee, and the Prisoners Solidarity Committee". Hernandez also helped to negotiate truces between Hispanic street gangs in Pasadena, Texas, following a spate of shootings. He also worked internationally, speaking in 1993 to the United Nations General Assembly regarding the United States' mistreatment of political prisoners. "He was organizing against police brutality in Chicano communities when an officer came to his house on July 18, 1996, to arrest him on a spurious robbery charge".
Return to Alpine and 1996 arrest
In 1995, Hernandez returned to Alpine, his hometown, with the intention of cleaning up the corruption he knew to exist in that town. The local police did not welcome this goal, and Hernandez was falsely accused of armed robbery by the father-in-law of an Alpine Police Sergeant, known to be a town drunk. Hernandez eventually (while acting as his own attorney) got the charge dismissed, but the bail bondsman discreetly withdrew his bond during this time, with no notification to Hernandez of his change in circumstances.
In 1996, Sheriff Jack McDaniel—a subject of Hernandez' investigations—confronted Hernandez at his home with the intention of rearresting him. When he confronted the Sheriff regarding the lack of warrant, McDaniel drew his gun. Fearing for his life, Hernandez proceeded to disarm the Sheriff and flee. Here is where accounts differ:
In 1997, Hernandez was sentenced to 50 years in prison, having been found guilty of pointing the weapon at McDaniel despite witness testimony to the contrary. He spends his time working as an amateur jailhouse lawyer, and continues to assist other inmates in their defense. He will be officially eligible for parole in 2021.. He is supported by fellow political prisoner Jeremy Hammond.