At the Charles Egeler Reception and Guidance Center (RGC) in Michigan, a simple disagreement over phone use spiraled into something grossly disproportionate: a 30-day lockdown with no phone privileges for everyone; including individuals who had absolutely nothing to do with the situation.
Let’s be clear: This isn’t discipline. This is laziness dressed up as “security.”
Reception is already one of the hardest parts of incarceration. People are trying to get their bearings, dealing with shock, fear, disorientation, and the crushing weight of a new reality. Phone calls are one of the only stabilizing connections they have — the one thing that helps them stay grounded and emotionally intact.
Yet MDOC’s response was not targeted, thoughtful, or proportional. It was collective punishment, and it’s both unjust and harmful.
Why This Matters: RGC Is Already Traumatic
RGC is hands down one of the least humane facilities in all of Michigan.
At RGC, people have just arrived. They haven’t been classified. They haven’t been placed in long-term housing. Many don’t even know the daily routines yet. They’re still trying to figure out basic things:
- Who to trust
- How to navigate prison rules
- How to contact their families
- How to avoid conflict in a strange new environment
Phone access is not a luxury; it is survival.
Cutting off phones for 30 days does more than inconvenience people. It:
- Blocks contact with children
- Interrupts mental health stability
- Stops communication with lawyers
- Prevents people from arranging housing, work plans, or probation prep
- Creates fear and confusion among families
- Punishes people who were not involved in anything at all
Imagine being locked down for a month because someone else got into an argument near a phone. That is what’s happening at RGC right now.
Collective Punishment Is Not Correction — It’s Control
MDOC often falls back on group punishment because it’s easy.
Instead of investigating incidents, identifying responsible parties, or creating clear expectations, the system leans on the bluntest tool: punish everyone so staff don’t have to do individual work.
But collective punishment:
- Breeds resentment
- Undermines trust
- Escalates tension instead of relieving it
- Punishes innocent people
- Violates principles of fairness and rehabilitation
If the goal is to “teach accountability,” punishing uninvolved people does the opposite.
It teaches people that no matter what they do, they will be punished anyway.
That is the quickest route to hopelessness, which directly undermines rehabilitation, reentry success, and safety for staff and incarcerated people alike.
Michigan Families Are Left in the Dark
When phones get shut down, families panic. They don’t know if:
- Their loved one is safe
- There was an incident
- Their loved one is being disciplined
- Their loved one is receiving medical or mental health care
MDOC rarely communicates transparently, especially from reception.
Families get nothing; just silence.
Silence is not safety. Silence is very much trauma.
How Loved Ones Can Advocate
You have EVERY right to advocate when your loved one is being punished for something they didn’t do. They have body cameras; there is NO excuse for this level of lazy. Here are concrete steps families can take:
1. Contact the Warden and RUM
Be polite, but firm. Sample language:
“My loved one is currently being subjected to a 30-day lockdown and loss of phone privileges for an incident they were not involved in. Collective punishment is harmful, unjust, and counterproductive. I am requesting immediate review and restoration of phone access for uninvolved individuals.”
2. Call MDOC Central Office
Ask for clarification on policy, especially regarding reception discipline. Request documentation of this crummy decision.
3. File a Legislative Assistance Request
State representatives react quickly when they see an entire reception unit punished for someone else’s actions.
4. Submit an Ombudsman Complaint
The Legislative Corrections Ombudsman can investigate unfair or disproportionate disciplinary actions.
5. Public Pressure
Writing op-eds, contacting reporters, or submitting anonymous accounts to platforms like Clutch Justice increases accountability pressure.
6. Stay in consistent communication
Even if you can’t call, use:
- JPay/GTL messages – it’s not consistent but it’s at least something
Make sure your loved one knows they are not forgotten and that someone is fighting for them.
This Pattern Must End
What’s happening at Charles Egeler is not an isolated problem. It’s part of a larger issue in which Michigan prisons use collective punishment as a shortcut.
It’s unfair.
It’s harmful.
And it undermines every principle of rehabilitation, justice, and human dignity.
People entering the system for the first time need stability — not chaos. They need support more than anything right now; not silence. This is an especially hard transition for incarcerated individuals and their families alike. And they absolutely deserve discipline that reflects reality, not laziness.
Michigan can do better. And until it does, we will continue to shine a light on these abuses.
