How to Protect Inmates in Prison

America's prison system is rife with corruption, beatings and the tolerance of rape. Help Prisoners.org has testimony from many prisoners speaking to these abuses. Organizing localities is central to assisting the prisoners, since humane treatment in prison should assist their transition back into the community, while bad treatment deepens a prisoner's criminality.

Instructions

1. Sign the petition that is being circulated online at Helpprisoners.org. This petition will be sent to the attorney general of the US, urging him to launch a full investigation into abuses at the federal prison level. In addition, writing to Congress and to state legislatures is also important, stressing the human rights of prisoners, especially access to medical care and the reduction in the use of physical force.

2. Organize to make certain that rape in prison is stopped. This has become almost proverbial in prison life and has become the most brutal and traumatizing experience of prison life. In women's prisons, it should be clear that the guard force should be entirely--or overwhelmingly--female.

3. Seek to assist prisoners in getting the proper nutrition and medical care that will assist their recovery and reformation. Bad treatment in prison only brutalizes inmates, making them harder and more defiant. Poor access to medical care has become one of the primary complaints of prisoners in the United States.

4. Organize around alternatives to prison life, such as boot camps and halfway houses. The prison population must be thinned out, as overcrowding is a severe problem in prisons at all levels. There are other means of punishment, such as fines and community service. These should be central for non-violent offenders rather than prison.

References

• "Stopping Prison Rape," by Human Rights Watch
• Help Prisoners
• "Bringing Change Amid Mass Incarceration," by Mark L. Taylor