Protesters outside the Department of Corrections’ offices in Jefferson City sought a greater voice and more oversight of the department Friday.
Six people with “Justice 4 Inmates” stood and held signs in front of DOC offices — signs such as “Inmates are people with families just like you.”
“Just because people make a mistake doesn’t make them worthless,” Carrie Ballard said. Ballard said she has a son who was incarcerated for 120 days, during which time his blood sugar dropped so low as a person with Type 1 diabetes that he lost consciousness several times.
Justice 4 Inmates founder Victoria Ferguson said medical issues — alleged abuse and neglect — are the main focus of the group, along with alleged corruption of DOC staff, such as guards smuggling in drugs.
“They take a broken man and shatter him more,” and taxpayers pay for the consequences of that, Ferguson said of how inmates are treated.
The members of the group outside the DOC offices have or have had loved ones incarcerated — or in the case of wrongfully convicted Rodney Lincoln, spent time incarcerated, until his sentence was commuted by former Gov. Eric Greitens.
Lincoln, 75, said he was arrested in 1982 and had his sentence commuted in 2018.
He said in the beginning of his incarceration there was some accountability with administrators of correctional institutions, but that deteriorated over the years — “I think the central office was very uninformed.”
The group said problems with the system are systemic and extend beyond only Missouri’s corrections institutions.
They get anonymous tips from staff, as well as stories from inmates, and share them on social media.
“We take what people tell us and put it out there,” Ballard said — hoping lawmakers will ultimately establish some kind of independent oversight of the system.
The group is doing more than just hoping. In addition to Friday’s protest, they said they also plan to be at the Capitol on Jan. 23, where they hope to have more people in the Rotunda to then go speak with lawmakers.
DOC spokeswoman Karen Pojmann told the News Tribune: “From what I understand, most of the participants (in Friday’s protest) have particular concerns pertaining to individual offenders, and members of our staff have talked to them on several occasions about those specific concerns.
“Regarding medical care: Offenders in Missouri Department of Corrections facilities have access to quality on-site medical care around the clock, provided by a contractor, Corizon Health. One facility, Farmington Correctional Center, just earned a national award for excellence in health care. It was recognized as facility of the year by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care.”