Prisoners Who Appeared in HBO Documentary “The Alabama Solution” Are Being Punished and Isolated |
The Alabama Solution.
I don’t normally write about higher profile prisoners opting instead to interview those prisoners who no one has heard of and have never accessed journalists before, for whatever reason. I don’t feel I’m contributing much unless I’m finding people I feel are really successfully hidden.
Recently, however, and especially in the last week, on the heels of the major HBO documentary about the horrendous conditions in Alabama’s prisons and the struggle for freedom and human rights inside of them, and with a statewide prisoner work stoppage looming in February, the Alabama Department of Corrections is working hard to keep the most prominent, often the most accessible and well known voices inside the prisons inaccessible and suppressed. So, I figured I’d try to make myself useful in a slightly different way this week.
As reported here earlier this week, from Tuesday night to Wednesday, in under 24 hours, three of the prisoners featured most prominently in the HBO documentary, Robert Earle Council (AKA “Kinetic Justice”), Melvin Ray, and Raoul Poole were suddenly transferred to Kilby Prison and lost contact with the free world. Melvin and Kinetic are two of the main figures within the prisoner-run Halifax County law group and the Free Alabama Movement. They were both transferred to Kilby the same day despite an ADOC written policy that they can never be in the same prison together.
From Wednesday on, I’ve been working to learn more about what is happening to these men and received a tip from inside the prison: The three men have all been taken to a basement, described initially to me as a “dungeon-like” area, which has six cells in it. Each of the three men has been placed alone into one of these cells. They are being denied contact with the free world. No prison tablets, no wall phone, no mail materials or writing materials. They’re not allowed out. No hall runner can see them to deliver their food or anything else. They’re not allowed contact with other prisoners for any reason. Only an armed guard can see them, and there is an armed guard watching them around the clock. Melvin and Raoul were each allowed one chance to make one phone call. Neither of them have been heard from since. Kinetic, who is the voice of the movement, has not been allowed to make a phone call. I was also told Raoul had stopped eating and taking his medication. I was told Melvin and Raoul used their single phone calls to try to reach their families, to give them these details and update them on the situation. I was told Melvin wasn’t able to get through to anyone. So, in an effort to........