Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa

AKA: Ronnie N. Dewberry
Released
Date of birth:13. 07. 1958
Age:68
Era:1980s
State:California
Support
Prisoner Human Rights Movement Short Corridor Collective
Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa

Biography

Sitawa Nantambu Jamaa, also known as Ronnie N. Dewberry, is a California prison organizer and a principal negotiator in the Prisoner Human Rights Movement. Already imprisoned on a murder conviction, he challenged prolonged solitary confinement linked to a disputed Black Guerrilla Family classification. He helped organize the 2011 and 2013 hunger strikes and the 2012 Agreement to End Hostilities, and was a plaintiff in Ashker v. Brown. He left long-term solitary confinement in October 2015 but remained imprisoned; his supporters reported that he came home on February 14, 2024. The cases below concern segregation connected to his political activity, rather than treating his entire earlier criminal sentence as activism-related custody.

Cases

Charges: Administrative segregation under a disputed Black Guerrilla Family classification
Incarcerated: May 15, 1985
Sentence: More than 30 years in solitary confinement across California prisons. Jamaa’s sworn 2013 declaration describes continued isolation based on alleged associations and political materials. His 2016 account dates the initial placement at San Quentin to May 15, 1985, and departure from long-term solitary to October 11, 2015; he arrived at Salinas Valley general population on October 13. This was administrative confinement within an existing sentence, not a new criminal conviction. The end of solitary was not release from prison.
Charges: Administrative segregation after an alleged contraband discovery; political retaliation alleged
Incarcerated: Jan 11, 2018
Sentence: Jamaa reports placement in Salinas Valley administrative segregation on January 11, 2018, and continued confinement through at least January 30. He alleged that officials fabricated contraband reports in retaliation for his role in the Ashker litigation. His March 2018 account describes two classification hearings and an extension pending a disciplinary hearing. The final disposition and segregation exit date remain unverified. These are his allegations, not an established judicial finding.

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