[Pnews] Alabama prisoners organize a system-wide shut down

[Prisoner News]

peoplesdispatch.org
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/09/30/alabama-prisoners-organize-a-system-wide-shut-down/>
Alabama prisoners organize a system-wide shut down
Natalia Marques - September 30, 2022
------------------------------
[image: image.png]

In a nation where over 80% of incarcerated workers are tasked with
maintaining the prison itself, either through cooking, cleaning, laundry,
or other essential needs, work stoppages can mean that the entire prison
system shuts down.

“The state of Alabama is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis,”
begins a demand
letter
<https://twitter.com/erindavisnews/status/1574424934453059586?s=20&t=Dr8CNc7LgDvdeCXBYnGbug>
authored by Alabama prisoners, who on September 26 went on strike across
all major correctional facilities in the State. The letter continues, “This
crisis has occurred as a result of antiquated sentencing laws that led to
overcrowding, numerous deaths, severe physical injury, as well as mental
anguish to incarcerated individuals.”

In a country where over 80% of incarcerated workers
<https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/15/us-prison-workers-low-wages-exploited>
are tasked with maintaining the prison itself, either through cooking,
cleaning, laundry, or other essential needs, work stoppages can mean that
the entire prison system shuts down. The strike is ongoing as of September
30 according to reports <https://twitter.com/FREEALAMOVEMENT> from inside
prison walls.

A look at the demands from inmates who are said to be on strike inside of
ADOC facilities. pic.twitter.com/Q4kmz53SIN <https://t.co/Q4kmz53SIN>

— Erin Davis (@erindavisnews) September 26, 2022
<https://twitter.com/erindavisnews/status/1574424934453059586?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

In conjunction with the strike, activists from organizations such as the
Alabama Prison Advocacy & Incarcerated Families United Group and Both Sides
of the Wall joined family members of incarcerated organizers at a rally
called ‘Break Every Chain.’ The rally took place outside the Alabama
Department of Corrections (ADOC) headquarters in Montgomery, with the
demand that State accept the prisoners’ demands. Organizers attempted to
hand-deliver the demands letter to ADOC, but had to leave the letter at the
counter as no employee came forward to collect it.

On the day the strike began, Alabama prison officials admitted that there
are “reports of worker stoppages at all major Correctional Facilities in
the state,” and said “controlled movement and other security measures have
been deployed.” Activists have pointed out
<https://twitter.com/jaybeware/status/1574519550070005760> that prison
officials rarely acknowledge prisoner-led actions, indicating that this
strike is too massive to brush under the rug.
*Prison slavery *

On September 26, ADOC Commissioner John Hamm claimed that “all facilities
are operational and there have [sic] been no disruption of critical
services.” But according to reports shared by the Free Alabama Movement
(FAM), a human rights organization founded by Alabama prisoners, prison
officials are scrambling. “Alabama prison Commissioner has lied.. We are
getting reports that all major institutions are under lock down not
‘operational.’” said one report. A September 28 report claimed that the
prison warden and officers at Fountain Correctional Facility were struggling
to perform the kitchen duties
<https://twitter.com/FREEALAMOVEMENT/status/1575102712651210752/photo/1>
that incarcerated workers had discontinued in protest.

Update reposted from @FREEALAMOVEMENT
<https://twitter.com/FREEALAMOVEMENT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw> with ALT text
pic.twitter.com/EoaiwttWr0 <https://t.co/EoaiwttWr0>

— Solidarity with #ShutDownADOC2022 (@jaybeware) September 27, 2022
<https://twitter.com/jaybeware/status/1574567173900865536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

Alabama prisons are severely understaffed
<https://www.al.com/news/2021/12/understaffed-alabama-prisons-lose-workers-despite-orders-to-hire-more.html>
with non-incarcerated labor. Even without this shortage, however,
incarcerated labor is the pillar on which the functioning of the prisons
rests upon. Yet prison workers function essentially as slaves, working for
little to no pay. Alabama is one of five states
<https://endtheexception.com/> which forces prisoners to work under threat
of punishment or no pay, and one of seven states
<https://www.aclu.org/report/captive-labor-exploitation-incarcerated-workers>
which does not pay prisoners at all for the vast majority of work
assignments. These material conditions have led many to draw the comparison
to chattel slavery
<https://twitter.com/DyjuanTatro/status/1574520193916846083?s=20&t=Y9BaULzKTYa3d5TwdxLqng>,
especially as most incarcerated in Alabama prisons are Black
<https://www.vera.org/downloads/pdfdownloads/state-incarceration-trends-alabama.pdf>
.
*Attacking mass incarceration at the root*

The central demands of the striking prisoners, however, were attacking the
legal structure of mass incarceration itself, not just labor conditions.
The demands are as follows:

   1. Repeal the habitual offender law immediately
   2. Make presumptive sentencing standards retroactive immediately
   3. Repeal the drive-by shooting statute
   4. Create a statewide Conviction Integrity Unit
   5. Create mandatory parole criteria that will guarantee parole to all
   eligible persons who meet the criteria
   6. Create a streamlined review process for medical furloughs and review
   of elderly incarcerated individuals
   7. Immediate release reduction of the 30 year minimum for juvenile
   offenders to no more than 15 years before they are eligible for parole
   8. Victims should not be able to keep protesting after an incarcerated
   citizens’ second time going up for parole

Notably, these demands center around lengthy sentencing that sustains the
system of mass incarceration
<https://moveforhunger.org/blog/mass-incarceration-cause-and-effect-hunger>
in the US. This is especially clear in Alabama, where the parole board has
become notorious for denying the vast majority of paroles. During the
fiscal year 2021, the State’s parole rate fell far short
<https://www.al.com/news/2021/11/alabama-parole-rate-far-short-of-boards-own-recommended-guidelines.html>
of the Alabama Parole Board’s own recommended guidelines, with only 15% of
eligible prisoners granted parole. Black prisoners were granted parole less
than half as frequently as white prisoners. Michael Antonio Bettis, a Black
prisoner who has served 12 years out of a 20-year sentence for marijuana
possession and distribution, was denied parole
<https://twitter.com/bshelburne/status/1522601943801245697?s=20&t=_sUzpiK4ZdBcml3NjPCWLg>
in May.

Alabama has one of the worst parole boards inn the US. It denied Mr.
Bettina parole after serving 12 years on a 20 year sentence for marijuana
possession while people are legally making millions selling marijuana and
states are profiting from it. Welcome to the injustice system.
https://t.co/gqiNs8ZbvK

— Dyjuan Tatro (@DyjuanTatro) September 26, 2022
<https://twitter.com/DyjuanTatro/status/1574523860925440006?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

According to the Alabama drive-by shooting statute, or Section
13a-5-40(17), Code of Alabama 1975, killing a person through a drive-by
shooting is punishable by death. This statute is a relic of the 1990’s
tough-on-crime era in which many laws that precipitated mass incarceration
were passed, including current President Joe Biden’s infamous Crime Bill.
According to FAM, this statute has been applied disproportionately against
Black men
<https://freealabamamovement.wordpress.com/tag/drive-by-shooting-laws-2/>.

The Alabama Habitual Offender Law is also a site of struggle. This law,
similar to many laws such as California’s Three-Strike Law, allows those
who have been convicted of three felonies to be sentenced to life without
the possibility of parole. Many have criticized this law for not including
any distinction between violent and non-violent felonies. Individuals who
have committed three non-violent crimes can be given life sentences under
this law. In practice, 350 individuals
<https://www.alabamaappleseed.org/mass-incarceration/> who have committed
non-homicide crimes are currently serving life sentences in Alabama.

As of 2021, Alabama incarcerated 938 per 100,000 people
<https://www.prisonpolicy.org/global/2021.html>, a rate higher than every
country on Earth and the vast majority of States in the US. The state does
not seem determined to change this. At one point during the COVID-19
pandemic, Alabama was averaging the highest number of COVID deaths
<https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-alabama-pandemics-death-rates-2035b77cf57e6e5ef9df7737c774db11>
in the nation—the epicenter of the epicenter. And yet it diverted $400
million
<https://www.splcenter.org/news/2022/07/01/alabama-diverts-400-million-covid-funds-to-prisons>
in COVID relief to fund the construction of three mega-prisons.
*A system with an appetite for violence*

Apart from containing around 1% of Alabama’s total population, the state’s
prison system is also notoriously violent.

Alabama, the State in which the Black Scottsboro Boys narrowly escaped the
death penalty after being falsely accused raping two white girls in 1931,
has the fifth highest execution rate
<https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/stories/state-execution-rates> in the US.
Recently, ADOC’s botching of two executions made headlines. In the case of
Alan Eugene Miller, ADOC executioners failed to find a vein through which
to inject lethal poison on September 22 before Miller’s death warrant
expired. In the case of Joe Nathan James Jr., Alabama prison officials
delayed the execution for three hours without explanation. An autopsy later
revealed that ADOC had mutilated James in their attempt to locate a vein.
“My initial impression of James was of someone whose hands and wrists had
been burst by needles, in every place one can bend or flex,” wrote
<https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/08/joe-nathan-james-execution-alabama/671127/>
a journalist who viewed James’ body.

Shortly before the strike, but unrelated, the ADOC once again came under
fire for their alleged medical mistreatment of prisoner Kastellio Demarcus
Vaughan. On September 21, Vaughan’s sister Kassie Vaughan revealed disturbing
pictures <https://www.facebook.com/kassie.vaughan.39/posts/1050553048991125>
of Vaughan looking emaciated and physically ill, claiming that her brother
had been healthy only months prior. Vaughan is currently incarcerated at
Elmore Correctional Center. Following a public outcry, ADOC claimed that
Vaughan had refused medical treatment
<https://www.wsfa.com/2022/09/27/alabama-inmates-medical-records-released-following-public-outcry/>.
Kassie Vaughan responded on social media, writing
<https://www.facebook.com/kassie.vaughan.39/posts/pfbid0nU1ZP3785VX1RK5tPCY6C2LLwdgjUxBWB6np1D7Y44YGCQz7ptpm3nLK5MH39aF8l>,
“I don’t understand how Elmore Correctional Center
<https://www.facebook.com/Elmore-Correctional-Center-139990916116481/?__cft__[0]=AZXYus-c_LQaiLjpxpHzPCmt7RgeBdGE_yWS7YMYEl9xUG7I3mWxl1EuRND3QM1fFxxf0UvFIm1gyN_0A7SVjuDDuOCj14ZYVqEui6iW4UCiKGvN0_gnvDRE7_pQGpH3e69ONYk4SbCl8bLvtJZ4zjOoaMZZ-izoV5b1XNG5ck4Vfg&__tn__=kK-R>
can say this situation is not real. They have no sympathy or compassion to
at least speak out on their wrong doings. My brother laid there in pain.
Malnourished. Bones protruding out his body. His wound clearly open and
susceptible to infection. He wasn’t recognizable as my brother. He looked
lifeless.”

In December 2020, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit
against the state of Alabama due to the conditions in men’s prisons. In the
DOJ’s own words
<https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-files-lawsuit-against-state-alabama-unconstitutional-conditions-states>,
“Alabama fails to provide adequate protection from prisoner-on-prisoner
violence and prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse, fails to provide safe and
sanitary conditions, and subjects prisoners to excessive force at the hands
of prison staff.”
*Retaliation and government response*

Incarcerated organizers are reporting from various prisons that ADOC is
retaliating against the strike. According to FAM, one prisoner reported
<https://twitter.com/jaybeware/status/1574567173900865536?s=20&t=PGm5oKFFLSmQPI5gsjTGNw>,
“no yard time, no trade school, no rehabilitation programs, no law library,
nooooo normal activities. Not to mention no adequate meals, even though
they are bringing Decatur workrelease inmates in to make food.”

“This is punishment and retaliation… Tactics to break what is breaking
ADOC,” the prisoner wrote.

The *Alabama Political Reporter *wrote
<https://www.alreporter.com/2022/09/26/incarcerated-workers-go-on-strike-in-alabamas-correctional-facilities/>
that according to prisoners, “all rehabilitation and education programs
have halted, with privileges like wall phones and television being taken
away or shut down entirely. Tablets that incarcerated individuals use to
communicate with family, friends and legal representation outside of
prisons have also been taken away in at least one facility.”

Through social media, prisoners shared pictures of the paltry meals they
were receiving from ADOC.

As a result of the strike and what some sources described as a lockdown,
prison food is now… this. One prisoners described this as “birdfeeding,”
which he saw as a retaliatory measure to force an end to the work stoppage.
https://t.co/DZm8zWHaXv

— Keri Blakinger (@keribla) September 26, 2022
<https://twitter.com/keribla/status/1574444326716940294?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

Human rights under attack in the Alabama prison system.#ShutDownADOC2022
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/ShutDownADOC2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
pic.twitter.com/TFHdihk1fl <https://t.co/TFHdihk1fl>

— ALABAMA PRISONS ARE DEATH CAMPS (@FREEALAMOVEMENT) September 26, 2022
<https://twitter.com/FREEALAMOVEMENT/status/1574346047907848193?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

xDay one breakfast at Bibb Correctional facility.
I think we get thirty (30) days of this out they ass.#freealabama
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/freealabama?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
#BreakEveryChain
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/BreakEveryChain?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
This is they're breaking tactic stay strong and persevere.
This is the modern day Pharaoh…Let My People Go"#ShutDownADOC2022
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/ShutDownADOC2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
pic.twitter.com/Npl3zz0htE <https://t.co/Npl3zz0htE>

— ALABAMA PRISONS ARE DEATH CAMPS (@FREEALAMOVEMENT) September 26, 2022
<https://twitter.com/FREEALAMOVEMENT/status/1574329555879329792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

In Elmore County within the Staton Correctional Facility, prisoners
reported that they would only receive meals twice a day “until they stopped
protesting.
<https://www.alreporter.com/2022/09/27/incarcerated-individuals-at-staton-in-an-uproar-after-meals-cut-to-twice-a-day/>”
As a source told the *Alabama Political Reporter*, “Warden Cargle felt the
need to incite the inmates by telling them last week that she didn’t give a
damn if they protested; she was going to protest too by feeding them
sandwiches every day for every meal…Any time she was asked if she would
give them a hot meal, she refused, stating that she wasn’t going to feed
them good, so they would stay protesting.”

A spokesperson for ADOC claimed that “all meals are happening.”

Governor Kay Ivey of Alabama responded to the striking prisoners’ demands
<https://www.wsfa.com/2022/09/26/alabama-inmates-strike-protests-underway-monday/>.
“Some of these demands suggest that criminals like murderers and serial
child sex offenders can walk the streets,” Ivey wrote. “And I can tell you
that will never happen in the state of Alabama where we will always
prioritize the safety of our citizens.”

Reports continue to flow from behind prison walls. “No matter what they try
we will not fold” wrote a prisoner, as reported
<https://twitter.com/FREEALAMOVEMENT/status/1575103047872626690?s=20&t=PGm5oKFFLSmQPI5gsjTGNw>
by FAM.
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