[Ppnews] Georgia Prisoners' protest "over" - For now.

[Political Prisoner News]

Prisoners' protest over. For now.

http://www.ajc.com/news/prisoners-protest-over-for-778293.html
By <mailto:rcook at ajc.com>Rhonda Cook

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
3:49 p.m. Wednesday, December 15, 2010

The prison system began lifting lock downs at 
four institutions and returning the facilities to 
normal operations Wednesday and inmate said they 
were ending their protest for now and reporting to work assignments.

One of the organizers of the protest said 
prisoners are still going to pursue their 
concerns. If the Department of Corrections 
ignores their requests, the next protest will be violent, he said.

Prison officials did not say what led to the 
decision to end the lock downs that had been in 
place since last Thursday. But an inmate at Smith 
State Prison in Glenville said in a telephone 
interview prisoners had agreed to end their 
“non-violent” protest to allow administrators 
time to focus on their concerns rather than 
operating the institutions without inmate labor.

“We’ve ended the protest,” said Mike, a convicted 
armed robber who was one of the inmates who 
planned and coordinated the work stoppage. “We 
needed to come off lock down so we can go to the 
law library and start ... the paperwork for a [prison conditions] lawsuit.

“We’re just giving them time to 
 meet our 
requests without having to worry about us on lock 
down,” Mike told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Wednesday.

Mike is one of the inmates who organized the 
protest at Smith prison who has talked to the AJC 
about it. He did not want his last name published 
for fear of retaliation from prison officials, 
but agreed to allow the AJC to verify his 
prisoner identification number, which the paper 
then cross-checked with the Department of Corrections website.

Inmates began planning the protest in early 
September when tobacco was banned throughout the 
prison system. The inmates said they picked  Dec. 
9 as the day to start because it allowed time for 
the word to spread throughout the system and 
because the temperature in the cellblocks would 
be cooler by then, which is important when 
otherwise violent men are trying to keep their tempers in check.

Over the months before the protest and in the 
days after it began, updates and details were 
spread inmate-to-inmate and prison-to-prison 
using cell phones, text messages and word of mouth.

Beginning last Thursday and for six days inmates 
at several prisons refused to leave their cells 
in protest of the lack of pay for the work they 
do maintaining and running prison operations and 
cleaning other government properties; state law 
forbids paying inmates except for one limited 
program. The  prisoners also were protesting the 
quality of the food and the lack of  fruits and 
vegetables, the quality of medical care, the 
availability of education and job training 
programs, parole decisions and overall conditions.

After learning a protest was planned, the 
Department of Corrections said,  wardens decided 
to implement lock downs at Hays, Smith, Telfair 
and Macon State Prisons, the institutions where 
inmates were most active. Prisoners locked down 
are not allowed to leave their cells, make 
collect calls from the phones in each cellblock or have visitors.

Inmates insisted, however, that they locked down themselves.

Inmates called The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 
several times ,using contraband cell phones 
or  “three-way” calling feature their friends or 
relatives had on their telephone service.

Then wardens began easing restrictions Tuesday evening.

Inmates were allowed to use the cellblock 
telephones, take showers and watch television. 
Some inmates reported to job assignments in 
prison kitchens and laundries Tuesday evening. 
More reported to their work details on Wednesday.

“We have a responsibility to ensure public safety 
by operating safe and secure prisons,” said 
Assistant Commissioner Derrick Schofield said in 
a statement Wednesday. “As with any facility lock 
down, we will take a systematic approach in 
ensuring a safe and secure environment is 
maintained for staff and offenders, before 
resuming normal operations at those facilities.”

The DOC statement said there have been no 
problems at any of the four prisons since they began easing restrictions.

Mike said some inmates talked with the warden as 
he walked the institution Tuesday.

“He [the warden] said they were in the process of 
getting to the requests,” said Mike, an inmate at 
Smith State Prison near Savannah. “We let them 
know if they didn’t meet the requests, the next 
time it would be pretty bad and it was not going 
to be inmate on inmate; it would be inmate on administration.”

The prison system, which holds almost 53,000 
inmates, declined to comment on the threat.

“We did it peacefully and tried to do it the 
right way. But these guys are to the point that 
if this [the protest] don’t work, they’re going 
to go about it the way they know best [with 
violence]," Mike said. "They wanted to go about 
it that way the first time, but we let them know that was not the way to go."

Mike said he feared inmates' reactions if the 
prison administration does not respond to their requests.

“Wardens and administrators [will be] the ones 
they [inmates] will be trying to get a hold of if 
it does go violent," Mike said." They feel like 
if they go past the guards and to the warden they 
will be taken more seriously... These guys have 
nothing to lose. They’re going to spend their lives in prison.

“We know the tactical squad [riot team] cannot be 
at more than one prison Mike said. "If you have 
five prisons popping off, you can’t send the 
tactical squad to all prisons. You’ll have to 
send in the National Guard and by then it’ll be too late.”




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