Call-in against abuses at McCormick Correctional, South Carolina

Inmates at McCormick Correctional Facility in South Carolina, supported by Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, are asking for outside supporters to help them in challenging unbearable conditions there. Jailhouse Lawyers Speak are asking people to contact the Department of Justice Civil Rights Department, South Carolina Senator Karl Allen, the SC State Law Enforcement Division and the SC Department of Corrections. The following is a list of contact details, along with a brief suggested script to use, based on prisoners' reports.

“Hello, I am contacting you to inform you of ongoing human rights abuses at McCormick Correctional Facility. I believe that there are civil rights violations ongoing at McCormick, where inmates have been rationed to one cup of water a day, and excessive force has been used regularly throughout the past three weeks.

Normal operations at this facility must be allowed to resume without delay, and the inhumane living conditions need to be rectified immediately. Currently, prisoners report being confined to their cells 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Sick call medical neglect is routine, showers are being provided at most once a week, prisoners are being served small and insufficient amounts of food, prisoners are being forced to live in two-man cells for weeks without being allowed to clean them, and excessive force is being used at every meal. Meanwhile, steel plates are being used to cover all windows, eliminating natural sunlight - further proof of cruel and unusual treatment.

These abuses need to be stopped at once.

Thank you,”

Contact details:

John Gore

U.S. Department of Justice

Civil Rights Division

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Office of the Assistant Attorney General, Main

Washington, D.C. 20530

Telephone Number: (202) 514-4609

Senator Karl Allen

602 Gressette Bldg.

Columbia 29201