Following a five-day stand-off, Georgia prisoners are reportedly returning to work, according to a spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Corrections.
Starting at noon Tuesday, prison officials began the process of returning four state prisons to normal status, according to Kristen Stancil, a corrections spokeswoman. Since Dec. 9, the prisons have been on lockdown.
“On Tuesday, December 14th, inmates left their cells and reported to work in the kitchen and laundry areas of the facilities. Today, there were no incidents reported as inmates went to breakfast and lunch,” Stancil said in a statement.
A group of activists claimed inmates were refusing to work at their non-paid prison jobs as protest for lack of pay and bad living conditions. The Department of Corrections has never said why the prisons were on lockdown, but Stancil now says prisons are back to work.
Prior to Tuesday, inmates at Hays State Prison in Trion, Ga., Macon State Prison, Telfair State Prison and Smith State Prison had been on lockdown, denied free movement, showers and access to television.
“Inmates will have restricted movement, which requires them to be escorted outside of their living unit,” Stancil said. “Inside the living units, inmates can move around freely and have access to telephones, showers and televisions.”
Inmates reportedly were coordinating the strike via contraband cell phones. Outside organizers, who went by the name “Concerned Coalition,” were reportedly communicating with the inmates via those phones.
For complete details, see tomorrow’s Chattanooga Times Free Press.