MONTGOMERY, Alabama — The Alabama prison system has moved three well-known inmate activists, who supported the 2022 prison strike and were featured in an Oscar-nominated documentary about the troubled system, to prison where they had little contact with others, family members and attorneys said.
Family members of all three men said they fear for the safety of their loved ones and are concerned that the move to solitary confinement is a form of retaliation for being outspoken about problems within the prison system. Robert Earl Council, Melvin Ray and Raoul Poole were transferred two weeks ago from their existing prisons to solitary confinement at Kilby Correctional Facility outside Montgomery, Alabama, their lawyers said. The transfers come as some groups have encouraged a new prison labor strike this year.
“This is straight-up retaliation,” said Julie Slade, who is close to Poole and spoke to The Associated Press about his situation. “All three of them have been very active in standing up for the rights of incarcerated citizens.”
Council, Ray and Poole were featured in “The Alabama Solution”, a documentary about the state prison system that relied heavily on inmates’ cell phone footage. The film has been nominated for an Academy Award in the documentary category.
Slade said she has been able to speak to Poole once since the transfer and he told her that people were being held in separate cells on a different, more heavily guarded floor.
“Since their arrival, the men have been cut off from contact with their families and are having no contact with other prisoners or prison staff except for a small group of guards and observers,” lawyers representing the three men said in a statement.
The lawyers said the prison system gave no reason for the move and said the restrictions “far exceed standard administrative segregation protocols.”
“Given ADOC’s decade-long documented history of excessive force against inmates and its pattern of retaliation against these specific individuals — including a prior 2021 incident in which four guards nearly killed Robert Council — their lawyers fear for the workers’ safety and well-being,” the lawyers wrote.
The Alabama Department of Corrections cited safety concerns as the reason for transferring the men, but did not provide details.
“The transfer of inmates is based on intelligence that they are engaging in activities that are detrimental to the safety of the facilities and the public,” prison officials said in a statement emailed by spokeswoman Kelly Bates.
The statement said that “all prisoners are safe, and are receiving regular meals and other services as required,” and have received legal visitation and phone service.
Ernestine Council said Wednesday that she has received little information about her son and has not been able to speak to him. Ray’s mother Ann Brooks said she had not been able to reach her son, although he was able to place a call to his brother.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen or what could happen,” Brooks said.
The moves come as some push for a new prison labor strike this year, as early as 2022, which has drawn national attention. Thousands of Alabama prisoner workers went on strike that year, refusing to work in prison kitchens, laundries, and factories in protest of the conditions of state lockups.
Several inmates told The Associated Press that prisons recently reduced the amount of food and other items that can be purchased each week at the prison commissary, a move that could prevent items from being stockpiled ahead of any strike.
The prison system said in a statement that the food service contract had been awarded to a new vendor, Aramark, but did not elaborate.
“We’re really concerned because he’s faced retaliation and abuse in response to all his activism,” said Andrew Jarecki, director of “The Alabama Solution.”
“It’s particularly ironic that these people who are incredibly brave – and frankly, learned – and have learned the law and have been leaders and have always practiced nonviolent methods of protest, are always met with violence by the authorities.”
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