How to Help

The crisis in Alabama’s prisons continues. People are dying at unprecedented rates, families are living with constant fear, and the state’s own data shows a system marked by violence and neglect.

In January, Melvin Ray, Robert Earl Council (Kinetik Justice), and Raoul Poole — three incarcerated whistleblowers featured in the film “The Alabama Solution” — were abruptly transferred to solitary confinement at Kilby Correctional Facility. After a month, Melvin was returned to general population. However, Robert Earl and Raoul remain in solitary confinement with no end in sight.

We need your help to demand the safety of these men and all those incarcerated in Alabama’s prisons. Your voice matters — here are ways to use it.

The
Guardian
US prisons

He was called one of the most violent prison guards in America. He got promoted

Roderick Gadson showed no remorse after beating a man to death. The case lays bare a culture of violence the state has long failed to control.

Promoted again after a prisoner in his care had been beaten to death.
Photograph: The Alabama Film Project

Demand accountability for violent officers in Alabama prisons.

Alabama has spent tens of millions defending prison violence while officers with documented records of abuse remain employed or promoted. At the center is Lt. Roderick Gadson, named in repeated excessive force cases over more than a decade.

Send a message calling for immediate termination, investigation, and independent oversight. When the state takes custody, it assumes responsibility. That responsibility is not being met.

Support the men featured in The Alabama Solution who blew the whistle on the AL Dept. of Corrections.

The Blow Your Whistle fundraising initiative is organized by friends of Melvin Ray, Ricardo (Raoul) Poole, and Kinetik Justice (Robert Earl Council), who were featured in the Academy Award-nominated documentary The Alabama Solution.

Other ways to take action and stay involved:

  • Forward this campaign to colleagues and friends and ask them to sign on, make calls, and send letters