If you’ve got a friend or family who is incarcerated in Georgia (or has been in the past) you probably have become somewhat familiar with the Georgia Department of Corrections. At times communication with the GDC can be frustrating or even scary. Our loved ones on the inside often fear the consequences of speaking out or asking for help. Maybe they do and get nowhere. If nothing gets done to address/ correct a situation from within (when an inmate goes through the chain of command, the appropriate steps, jumps through every hoop and still has a problem) what can we do on the outside to help them?
Unfortunately retaliation is an all too familiar occurrence and many of us have attempted to get involved only to find that the inmate for which we advocate is targeted in some way. The repercussions of family and friends getting involved can be verbal and/ or physical abuse or even some form of harassment. This is unacceptable—-but what can we do? How can we, without being forced to worry about how it will negatively effect those on the inside, seek to help? Could we anonymously and get results with a show of numbers—-with several people contacting the GDC to voice concern?
Hopefully we can, together force the GDC to address problems, improve situations, and hear our concerns. Perhaps this blog can inform others of situations we (and the incarcerated) face all too frequently. Maybe some people interested in holding the GDC accountable for its actions (or lack thereof) will aid us in this struggle. Perhaps we someone out there is having a problem and would like help from others—-send an email to us and we’ll keep your name out of it and post it here. Let’s see if that works. It might (but it might not). Want to try?
Family, Friends, Loved Ones, Concerned Citizens and Activists Welcome to the Georgia Prisons Blog! And if you Twitter, check us out over there, too.
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