This is the most concerning issue because orientation is how incarcerated individuals learn about their grievance rights, the facility rules, and how to function inside. Skipping it or delaying it does not just leave people confused. It leaves them defenseless.
One individual experienced corrections officers yanking them out of a meal line, handing them a bag of bread and slices of cheese, and sending them back to their cell. Doling out punishment before explaining basic rules and expectations is downright idiotic. You cannot hold someone accountable for rules they were never taught.
MDOC policy states that prisoners should receive outdoor time, weather permitting. There appears to be no rhyme or reason to when weather is considered permissible. It could be bone-chilling cold or 40-degree weather. What it really comes down to is whether the guards feel like going outside.
Leisure time largely does not exist. Correctional staff leave inmates in their cells unless it is mealtime. As anyone who lived through the pandemic will tell you, extended isolation in a small space inflicts serious mental duress. This is not a side effect the system is unaware of. It is a condition the system is choosing to maintain.
This also explains why incarcerated individuals at the RGC have trouble making consistent phone calls to their families. The phones are outside. When outdoor time is withheld, so is contact with family, contact with lawyers, and any hope of maintaining the relationships that support successful reentry.
Other than intake screening, many individuals do not receive mental health services during their time at the RGC. Appointments are sometimes cancelled entirely without explanation. No rescheduling is offered. No explanation is given.
The RGC is the point in the system where people are most disoriented: newly sentenced, separated from family, still in shock, placed in a facility they have never seen before with rules no one has fully explained. It is exactly the moment where mental health support matters most, and it is exactly where the system consistently falls short.
Several corrections officers at the RGC remind me of the Stanford Prison Experiment. The 14-day study, intended to understand the psychology of incarceration through a simulated environment, ended 6 days in because conditions deteriorated rapidly. Simulated guards regularly asserted control through threats and bullying. The simulated inmates suffered mental breakdowns and PTSD.
That same psychological phenomenon is happening at the RGC. Several corrections officers threaten incarcerated individuals with being sent to solitary confinement for the smallest transgressions, or even no transgressions at all. Some guards regularly insult and provoke the incarcerated, attempting to pick fights so they can get a vacation day. Others refuse to answer questions and are genuinely checked out. These individuals act as paid bullies.
Incarcerated individuals are supposed to receive pre-paid envelopes to send grievances to the Michigan Legislative Ombudsman. The COs often refuse to provide them, directly interfering with the grievance process.
Given everything above, what follows is not surprising. But it is still upsetting. Certain guards watch individuals in wheelchairs struggle with doors and offer no assistance. Humanity and empathy are nonexistent.
One individual reports that in the cell next to them, a hearing-impaired man could not hear the call to dinner and had been left in his cell on multiple occasions, unable to eat because he cannot hear the announcement. Thankfully he had a neighbor willing to help him. But what happens when he doesn’t?
Are we as Michiganders really okay with people being treated this way? No matter what someone has done, there is no reason to throw all dignity out a window.
This Is All Considered Misconduct. Here’s What We Can Do About It.
If you have loved ones incarcerated in the Michigan Department of Corrections who are being subjected to mistreatment, you have options. You can fight for fair treatment.
Inform your loved one about the grievance process
If they have not received orientation, tell them by phone or letter. They have the right to file a grievance through the MDOC grievance process, and they can request the forms in writing if COs are withholding them.Contact the Michigan Legislative Ombudsman Council
The Ombudsman is an independent oversight body with authority to hold MDOC accountable. Families can submit health-related complaints. CO misconduct complaints must come directly from inmates, which is another reason making sure your loved one knows the grievance process matters.Contact the Michigan Department of Corrections directly
Write emails or call MDOC’s contact line. Be specific: name the facility, describe the policy being violated, and cite the policy directive number where possible. Vague complaints are easy to ignore. Specific ones with policy references are harder to dismiss.Write to your state representatives
It is their job to represent you. Find your Michigan House rep and State Senator by address and write, write, write. Legislators on the MDOC appropriations committee have particular leverage over prison conditions and staffing.Speak publicly and ask people to share
Social media is a real tool. Documented, specific accounts of policy violations shared publicly create pressure that internal complaints alone cannot. If you have specific dates, specific incidents, and specific policies being violated, put it on record.For ADA violations, file with the DOJ
If your loved one has a disability and is being denied accommodations including mobility assistance, accessible communication for hearings or meals, or other required accommodations, you can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. Title II of the ADA applies to state prisons without exception.Submit a tip to Clutch Justice
If you or your loved one has experienced or witnessed misconduct at the RGC or any other Michigan facility, submit a tip here. Documented accounts contribute to the public record and help build the pattern of evidence needed to demand systemic change.It is a lot of work. And it is worth doing. The Michigan Department of Corrections has written policies that, if followed, would make conditions meaningfully better. The gap between those policies and what is actually happening at the RGC is not accidental. It is the result of inadequate oversight, insufficient accountability, and a public that has largely been kept from knowing what goes on inside.
Every complaint filed, every letter sent, every documented account made public is a small piece of the pressure needed to close that gap.
MDOC — Charles Egeler Reception and Guidance Center — michigan.gov →
MDOC Policy Directive 05.03.104 — Leisure Time Activities — michigan.gov →
MDOC — Grievance Process — michigan.gov →
MDOC — Contact Us — michigan.gov →
Michigan Legislative Ombudsman Council — legislature.mi.gov →
Research and Legal StandardsAPA — Psychological Effects of Solitary Confinement — apa.org →
Prison Policy Initiative — Mental Health Impacts of Incarceration — prisonpolicy.org →
Stanford Prison Experiment — prisonexp.org →
DOJ — Civil Rights Division / ADA Title II Complaints — justice.gov →
