Day 30 of a Hunger Strike: A Family Still Without Answers
The Issue
December 20, 2025, marks Day 30 of a hunger strike inside the Alabama Department of Corrections.
Kenneth “Swift Justice” Traywick is not just another name lost in the headlines. He is a husband, a son, and a father—a flawed but compassionate man who believes that dignity, safety, and accountability should not end at prison walls.
On this 30th day without food, Swift’s protest demands our attention—not because it is disruptive, but because it is desperate. He has taken this step only after every other avenue failed.
This hunger strike is not about spectacle.
It is about being heard.
Swift Justice has chosen nonviolence and conscience to call attention to retaliation, unsafe conditions, denial of communication, and the absence of meaningful oversight within Alabama’s prison system. It is deeply troubling that in 2025, a man must risk his life to advocate for basic human rights that should already be guaranteed.
A Wife Left in the Dark
While Swift refuses food, his wife has been met with silence.
Despite signed medical release forms, repeated phone calls, formal letters, and public advocacy, she has been unable to identify a clear decision-maker within ADOC who will engage in good-faith dialogue or provide consistent, written medical updates.
Phone calls go unanswered.
Messages are routed in circles.
Responsibility is blurred.
Transparency is absent.
No spouse should have to fight this hard simply to confirm that their partner is alive, monitored, and safe.
Who Is Swift Justice?
Swift Justice is not perfect. Like many incarcerated people, he carries past mistakes. But he is also known for advocating for others—particularly those with mental health needs—through grievances, legal filings, and peaceful protest when he believes harm is occurring.
He has spoken out when it would have been safer to stay silent.
He has accepted consequences for that choice.
What he should not have to accept is medical neglect, retaliation, or disappearance behind bureaucratic silence.
A hunger strike lasting this long is not symbolic—it is medically dangerous. Prolonged starvation carries serious risks, including cardiac complications and life-threatening refeeding syndrome. Monitoring alone is not enough. Clear contingency planning, transparency, and communication are essential.
Why This Matters to the Public
This is not just about one man.
Alabama’s prison system has been repeatedly cited for unconstitutional conditions, inadequate medical care, and systemic failures of oversight. Recent reporting has raised serious questions about accountability within the state’s corrections and parole systems—concerns echoed for years by families, advocates, and journalists.
When a state agency refuses to communicate during a medical crisis, public trust erodes.
When families are shut out, harm deepens.
When peaceful protest is met with silence, it sends a dangerous message about whose lives matter.
With approximately 25,000 people incarcerated in Alabama, the implications extend far beyond Swift Justice. What happens here sets the standard for how the state treats every person in its custody—and every family waiting on the outside.
We Are Calling For
Immediate, written confirmation of Swift Justice’s medical monitoring and contingency planning
Identification of a responsible ADOC decision-maker empowered to resolve this matter
A scheduled meeting between ADOC Commissioner John Hamm and Swift Justice’s wife
An end to retaliatory practices and meaningful engagement to address the underlying concerns
This petition does not ask for special treatment.
It asks for basic human dignity, transparency, and accountability.
Families do not stop being families when their loved ones are incarcerated.
Human rights do not end at prison walls.
Please sign and share this petition to help ensure that Swift Justice is seen—not as a number, not as a nuisance—but as a human being whose life and family matter.
WHO TO CONTACT
Public accountability requires public engagement. Respectful, persistent contact matters.
Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC)
📞 Commissioner John Hamm
Phone: 1-855-WE-R-ADOC (1-855-937-2362)
Role: Final authority over inmate safety, medical oversight, and departmental accountability
Bullock Correctional Facility
📞 Phone: (334) 738-5625
📍 Location: Union Springs, Alabama
Request: Written confirmation of medical monitoring, identification of responsible decision-makers, and humane resolution
Governor of Alabama
📞 Governor Kay Ivey’s Office
Phone: (334) 242-7100
Silence should never be the state’s response to a man risking his life to be heard.
53
The Issue
December 20, 2025, marks Day 30 of a hunger strike inside the Alabama Department of Corrections.
Kenneth “Swift Justice” Traywick is not just another name lost in the headlines. He is a husband, a son, and a father—a flawed but compassionate man who believes that dignity, safety, and accountability should not end at prison walls.
On this 30th day without food, Swift’s protest demands our attention—not because it is disruptive, but because it is desperate. He has taken this step only after every other avenue failed.
This hunger strike is not about spectacle.
It is about being heard.
Swift Justice has chosen nonviolence and conscience to call attention to retaliation, unsafe conditions, denial of communication, and the absence of meaningful oversight within Alabama’s prison system. It is deeply troubling that in 2025, a man must risk his life to advocate for basic human rights that should already be guaranteed.
A Wife Left in the Dark
While Swift refuses food, his wife has been met with silence.
Despite signed medical release forms, repeated phone calls, formal letters, and public advocacy, she has been unable to identify a clear decision-maker within ADOC who will engage in good-faith dialogue or provide consistent, written medical updates.
Phone calls go unanswered.
Messages are routed in circles.
Responsibility is blurred.
Transparency is absent.
No spouse should have to fight this hard simply to confirm that their partner is alive, monitored, and safe.
Who Is Swift Justice?
Swift Justice is not perfect. Like many incarcerated people, he carries past mistakes. But he is also known for advocating for others—particularly those with mental health needs—through grievances, legal filings, and peaceful protest when he believes harm is occurring.
He has spoken out when it would have been safer to stay silent.
He has accepted consequences for that choice.
What he should not have to accept is medical neglect, retaliation, or disappearance behind bureaucratic silence.
A hunger strike lasting this long is not symbolic—it is medically dangerous. Prolonged starvation carries serious risks, including cardiac complications and life-threatening refeeding syndrome. Monitoring alone is not enough. Clear contingency planning, transparency, and communication are essential.
Why This Matters to the Public
This is not just about one man.
Alabama’s prison system has been repeatedly cited for unconstitutional conditions, inadequate medical care, and systemic failures of oversight. Recent reporting has raised serious questions about accountability within the state’s corrections and parole systems—concerns echoed for years by families, advocates, and journalists.
When a state agency refuses to communicate during a medical crisis, public trust erodes.
When families are shut out, harm deepens.
When peaceful protest is met with silence, it sends a dangerous message about whose lives matter.
With approximately 25,000 people incarcerated in Alabama, the implications extend far beyond Swift Justice. What happens here sets the standard for how the state treats every person in its custody—and every family waiting on the outside.
We Are Calling For
Immediate, written confirmation of Swift Justice’s medical monitoring and contingency planning
Identification of a responsible ADOC decision-maker empowered to resolve this matter
A scheduled meeting between ADOC Commissioner John Hamm and Swift Justice’s wife
An end to retaliatory practices and meaningful engagement to address the underlying concerns
This petition does not ask for special treatment.
It asks for basic human dignity, transparency, and accountability.
Families do not stop being families when their loved ones are incarcerated.
Human rights do not end at prison walls.
Please sign and share this petition to help ensure that Swift Justice is seen—not as a number, not as a nuisance—but as a human being whose life and family matter.
WHO TO CONTACT
Public accountability requires public engagement. Respectful, persistent contact matters.
Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC)
📞 Commissioner John Hamm
Phone: 1-855-WE-R-ADOC (1-855-937-2362)
Role: Final authority over inmate safety, medical oversight, and departmental accountability
Bullock Correctional Facility
📞 Phone: (334) 738-5625
📍 Location: Union Springs, Alabama
Request: Written confirmation of medical monitoring, identification of responsible decision-makers, and humane resolution
Governor of Alabama
📞 Governor Kay Ivey’s Office
Phone: (334) 242-7100
Silence should never be the state’s response to a man risking his life to be heard.
The Decision Makers
Petition Updates
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Petition created on December 20, 2025