Activists question the internal grievance process
Last September, in the unforgiving summer heat, those incarcerated at Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater held a protest to demand clean water and air conditioning. Those whom the Department of Corrections (DOC) identified as leading the protest were charged with inciting a riot and unlawful assembly and sent to solitary confinement for six months.
Activists believe the DOC is retaliating against them for speaking up. “These political prisoners are punished for standing up for their rights,” said Marvina Haynes, founder and executive director of Minnesota Wrongfully Convicted Judicial Reform.
However, the Department of Corrections insists they are not retaliating against them. “The DOC doesn’t restrict or punish individuals for their speech or raising concerns,” said DOC spokesperson Aaron Swanum in a statement, adding they are simply punishing them for doing something wrong—in this case, for protesting.
“For security and safety reasons, DOC does prohibit inciting unlawful assembly [and] protest.” Swanum added they have avenues of recourse, which activists and advocates contend are ineffective.
DOC’s grievance process involves sending pieces of paper called “kites” through a “chain of command.” When an incarcerated person has a grievance, they are supposed to send a piece of paper, along with documented evidence, called “kites”, to those who oversee something they have a grievance about. “They have five business days to get back to you,” said Twin Cities Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee organizer David Boehnke.
If the overseer doesn’t believe anything is wrong, or if they don’t respond, the overseer is supposed to return the kite to the incarcerated person. They then have to find the appropriate overseer of the overseer to send the kite to. “If they don’t get back to you, you can send it to the person above them. But you can only send it to the right person above them,” said Boehnke.
If their grievance isn’t resolved, incarcerated persons can escalate their complaints to the warden and the grievance appeal coordinator. If they were to exhaust the process or don’t believe it is working as it should, they can complain to the Ombuds for Corrections.
Data from the Ombuds for Corrections show they received 379 complaints about DOC facilities last year. Of these, 78 were related to medical care, 42 to discipline, 35 to harassment by staff, 20 to conditions in the facilities, and four to water quality.
The ombuds report did not disaggregate the complaints by facility, and the MSR is unable to independently analyze the data because, under state law, the only data associated with a complaint that the state is allowed to release is the name of the person filing the complaint and the facility related to the complaint.
Even with the complaints filed, activists say the ombuds can’t do anything besides making recommendations. “The ombuds can say you’re breaking policies, and the DOC says, ‘Thank you.’ That’s all they can do. They don’t have any enforcement power,” said Boehnke. The legislature does not appear to intend making changes to the ombuds this session.
Meanwhile, activists say the grievance process is ineffective because the overseers destroy the kites. “It’s a piece of paper, which means that if it’s ignored or destroyed, you no longer have it. You’re supposed to send the grievance to the next person. But if it’s destroyed, you don’t have it,” said Boehnke.
Though DOC did not address the destruction of kites, it may implement technology in the future to make it easier for those incarcerated to complain. Since 2017, DOC has been trying to secure tablets for the people it incarcerates. According to a DOC webpage published in July 2021, one of the tablets’ features includes “ease of access to staff communications and processes.”
“The DOC continues work on providing a system which provides access to all the incarcerated population. Updates will be provided to the population when additional information is available,” said Swanum of the tablets.
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