This memo was created to give people in prison a better understanding of the grievance procedure. Oftentimes, people inside feel spun by this procedure, but it is critical that people use it in order to exhaust their administrative remedies.
We encourage you to encourage your loved ones to follow the grievance procedure on grievable issues. It is also important that your loved one choose his/her battles wisely and only use the grievance system when something serious has taken place. You can download a pdf of the AFSC memo for easier printing here:
Grievance Procedure . It is also pasted below:
AFSC receives many complaints regarding issues that arise
within the MDOC. Often, the first thing we look for is a grievance about the
issue. Not only is a grievance the proper way to address the issue, it also
provides us with official documentation. If we contact the MDOC about the
problem, a grievance will show: 1) that you tried to resolve the matter under
their preferred method of resolution, and 2) that the appropriate staff have
already been notified of the issue (they can't tell us that they weren't
informed of the matter). That said, there are good ways to write grievances and
bad ways to write grievances. This
memo will attempt to show you outlines for good grievances and examples of bad
grievances.
The grievance policy (PD 03.02.130) states that grievances
will be rejected for being untimely or for failure to attempt to resolve the
matter first. There are other reasons given in the policy, but these are the
two that we see frequently. The deadlines run as follows: when you find out
that something wrong has happened to you, you have two days to attempt to
resolve the matter with the staff member involved. If you are unable to resolve
the issue with that person, you have five days to file a grievance. The
grievance policy calculates dates by the time the grievance is submitted (that
is, when you turn the grievance in; see PD 03.02.130, paragraph S). Pay
attention to these dates and do not exceed them.
Next, it is important to write the grievance clearly and
to-the-point. It is not a legal brief and you should not fill it with case law
or federal statutes. You should state the facts of what happened, the specific
issue in question, the policy that was violated, and state what would be
appropriate to resolve the issue (don't ask for cash settlements - you won't
get them). If you feel the issue may require judicial review, then you will
want to state that the health care staff member is being "deliberately
indifferent to your medical needs." If your issue pertains to the conditions of
confinement, you will need to state that you are being subjected to "atypical
and significant hardship." But you can't just throw these terms out there -
staff has to either be ignoring your health care needs or your conditions must
actually be very different compared to what other inmates go through.
Generally, however, you will not require a court to step in (and, to be honest,
they generally won't). Rather, you will have to rely on a policy directive or
an operating procedure to support your claim. It is, therefore, important to
familiarize yourself with the policies and procedures (all of which are
available in the law library - if you don't know what you're looking for, ask
to see the PD or OP index and go from there).
The top part of the grievance will detail how you attempted
to resolve the matter. Make sure you include the date you attempted to resolve
and who you spoke to. The body of the grievance is where you make your
complaint. State briefly what happened ("Nurse M---- refused to give me my
medication," "Officer N---- conducted a shakedown on my cell and destroyed two
of my books," "ARUS J---- did not call me out to review my PER with me before
submitting it to the parole board," etc.). Include individuals' names of those
directly involved, the date of when it occurred, where it occurred, and how it
occurred.
After the facts of what happened, quote the policy that says
they must, or must not, do what they did. Cite the policy or operating
procedure ("PD 04.05.120, paragraph D," for example), then state how the
individual's behavior violated that policy. In conclusion, request a
resolution. If you have any supporting documentation, attach four copies of
each document to the grievance (make sure you keep a fifth one for yourself).
Make sure the grievance is legible - use a typewriter if you
can, or have a friend type it for you. If you need help writing it, you can get
advice or assistance from other staff (if there's anyone that you think you can
trust with it) or other inmates. Speak to the legal writer, a teacher, or a
librarian. Before submitting it, have someone else read it to make sure it
reads clearly. When it is finished, tear the golden copy off of the back for
your records.
Most grievances will be submitted to the facility's
grievance coordinator (unless the grievance deals with the parole board or
staff corruption - read the grievance policy for more info on those). Once the
grievance coordinator receives the grievance he or she will process it, assign
it a grievance identifier number, and send you a receipt. The receipt will
include a due date for a response. If you do not have a response by that due
date, if the response is inadequate, or if the grievance is rejected by the
grievance coordinator, send a kite to the grievance coordinator requesting a
step II appeal form. Your request must include the grievance identifier number.
When you receive the step II appeal form, complete it, tear
the back copy off for your records, and send it (along with one copy of the
step I grievance and response) to the warden's office at that facility. If the
response you get from the warden is inadequate (or the warden does not respond
timely), fill out the step III appeal at the bottom of that form and send it to
the address indicated on that form (along with one copy of the step I,
response, step II, and step II response).
Once you hear back on the step III appeal, you have
exhausted your administrative remedies (and probably your patience). The
grievance policy states that the whole process should be completed within 120
days, but that is not an absolute limit. If you do not receive a step III
response within the 120 days (from the day the step I was received by the
grievance coordinator), contact AFSC about the matter. Be patient throughout
the process and just keep plugging away. The more good grievances we get, the
better our chances of making real change.
Newsletter #1 
On May 27, 2010, we threw Penny Ryder a big ol' retirement party. Many thanks to all of you who came out to support Penny and share memories. And, thank you to Penny, once again, for her years of dedication and service--rooted in compassion and tempered with practicality--to people in prison in MI and their loved ones.
