We are the friends and family members of prisoners currently serving time in Iowa Park, TX, Allred Unit in G5. If you sign this petition, you aid in the fight for better living conditions within G5 at Allred Unit in Texas. 

G5 is one of many terms for disciplinary segregation, or “23 and 1”. The prisoner is taken out of general population and placed in a 6 x 9 foot cell for often small infractions such as, talking back to a guard or failing a drug test. Here, they are confined to these small prison walls with a toilet and another cell mate for 23 hours a day for months on end. 

Lately, there has been cause for alarm as we are noticing a dramatic decline in health and weight loss amongst these men. We fear that malnutrition will leave these men with lasting health issues, or worse, death. The prisoners are often served inedible food, and portion sizes small enough for a child. 

On top of these already inhumane conditions,  these men are going days without being let out of their cell. They are going days without walking around, without access to commissary or any glimpse of a real sense of normalcy. Their visitation rights are limited to 2 days a month, through a glass window. This is the only time these prisoners get real meals.  The idea of inflicting this kind of harm to someone in order to rehabilitate them to lead better lives outside of prison one day is laughable. G5 is a concept that was created to keep the inmates and guards safe from violent people. What Allred is demonstrating is that G5 is where we put men to let them be forgotten. 

Take a look at the men who are serving life sentences and death row: they have access to commissary, they have tablets which allows them access to the outside world, they have less strict visitation rights. One might ask why these men have more rights than our friends. 

What this boils down to is a lack of management, or a huge oversight that has gone on for far too long. We ask for the state of Texas to audit Allred Unit G5. We ask for better systems to be put in place. We ask that our family and friends in G5 to simply be treated as human beings.