Voices of Joe New England

10/04/2023

On Sunday, October 1, Correctional Officer Robert Clark was escorting two offenders from the dining hall when one offender assaulted him from behind with a homemade weapon. The other offender stepped in to assist Officer Clark and was also assaulted. Both Officer Clark and the offender who assisted were transported to local hospitals.

Officer Robert Clark, 42, began his GDC career at Smith SP in April of this year, and has tragically succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. The offender who assisted remains hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

“The entire GDC team is mourning the loss of one of our own and we collectively express our deepest condolences to Officer Clark’s family and friends,” said Commissioner Tyrone Oliver. “We will support them as they navigate this tragedy over the coming days, weeks and months.”

Offender Layton Lester, GDC # 1000168433 will be charged in the assault and resulting death of Officer Clark, as well as the assault of offender Marko Willingham, GDC # 1137040.

Further details of the incident will be made available as soon as they are confirmed.

10/01/2023

Words cannot express our sadness.

https://www.wtoc.com/2023/10/01/correctional-officer-dies-after-attack-inmate-smith-state-prison/

09/07/2023

CRUNCH TIME:

We have been making some inroads with the Prison Cell Phone Jamming Act of 2023 in terms of getting some attention and “listening ears” in a few of the legislative offices we need to support this bill.

We would like to take advantage of the upcoming Senate Judiciary’s Oversight meeting this coming Wednesday with the Bureau of Prisons. It would be to our advantage to bring some of the members of that committee up to speed on this ongoing problem, and how it is continuing to play out in our Federal Prisons.

WE NEED some more current examples of how hazardous technology in the form of cell phones in the hands of inmates is creating a problem both inside and outside of your walls. Here are a few questions we are asking you to answer:

Have you had any cell phone related incidents to report? Have you seized contraband cell phones? Was anyone caught in the act of “doing business” with a cell phone? Those are just a few things we need. Anything you can offer is valuable as long as it is factual and able to be supported. It is this kind of concrete data that will help us gain the understanding of the legislators as to the scope and severity of this problem.

As we intend to reach out to selected law makers early in the week, we are asking that you take a few moments to respond to this data request and email it to:

[email protected]. We need your response by the close of the business day tomorrow, Friday Sept. 8, 2023. Thank you.

Don Williams President, Voices of JOE

08/09/2023

Not taking action costs lives

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/prison-cellphone-jamming-reform-act-of-2023-2?fbclid=IwAR14hBuCZjgeeBsZibl9UKW6ZdC4V2JVvwkdYWhDJf4v1WVZNEuXz7_3nyI

08/08/2023

07/24/2023

Voices of Joe Merchandise has a home! Please feel free to browse the items available at the link below. A few pictures of items available can be seen here as well. All proceeds will be used by Voices of Joe to support our mission.

https://voices-of-joe.square.site

07/19/2023

From Charles Jones at VOJ- Southeast. I’m taking it as I couldn’t have said it better myself.

“SUPPORTERS,

We had a great zoom call with Don last night and I wanted to remind the group members how they can continue to help us meet our goals,

Please share the group with other, we allow anyone that wants to become a supporter. This platform is a way to show how supporters can help the the VOJ meet its goals. The most effect tool we have is the network of supporters we create and the larger the network the larger the impact we can have!!! I appreciate all the supporters that we have and the ones that have helped buy T-shirts and write letters when the action alerts come out. Your efforts are helping this group make change; however, we need to continue to expand our supporters and keep taking action with letters when requested. These letters help show the support we have in their communities to the elected leaders and drives their decisions on bills. This is how we make change and your efforts are greatly appreciated.”

07/10/2023

VOJ New England recently sent out letters to all Federal Senators and Representatives in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut regarding on the ability to bypass metal detectors at facilities in these states. Each letter included a copy of the letter in our previous post to the Director and Deputy Director of the Bureau of Prisons.

We are dedicated to ensuring our officers make it home.

06/08/2023

https://www.corrections1.com/capital-punishment/articles/mo-executes-man-for-murders-of-2-cos-in-2000-TzrLXUy5CUDr744P/?fbclid=IwAR2fv7_JBSIPA2uJl-UA1KOfoyFhi1FkqWD3H_hchfltigPkrxENy7fcHgI_aem_th_Aeo81Qk1xLcq-kWUSLA2v599htz16dhDnwqFNYUzbTENGzUDnlUJr8M4PRIAUUBDzZk&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

Michael Tisius, 42, died by lethal injection at 6:10 p.m. for killing two COs during a botched jail escape