Grievance Campaign Improving and Growing

Based on a suggestion from a USW comrade in California, we have reformatted all the petitions for the grievance petition campaign. The new format makes it easy for prisoners to persynalize each petition, and to provide clear examples of the experiences they’ve had with the broken grievance system in their state. These are details some prison administrators have asked for in their responses to the petitions they’ve received.

We also incorporated all addresses for who should receive copies of the petition right onto the petition itself. This way people don’t have to worry about keeping track of two pieces of paper (one with the address, and one with their signature).

Besides these significant changes in the quality of information the petitions now provide, the campaign has spread a lot in recent months. New petitions have been created for Montana, Oregon, and Nevada, to add to the already active states of Arizona, California, Colorado, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Texas.

The petitions can be downloaded and printed by people on the outside by clicking on each state’s name above. You should send the petition to your prisoner contacts (with extra copies if you can!) who are having their voices and complaints quashed by prison authorities. The ability to have grievances addressed has a direct impact on the day-to-day living conditions of prisoners, can help to hold prison authorities accountable for their actions, and even affects one’s ability to take an issue to court if necessary.