Systemic injustice inside Maine’s prison system
Every year or two, the Maine Department of Corrections (MDOC) engages in a rulemaking process that is open to public comment. The latest one just ended. Under review was Policy 20.1: Adult Resident Discipline. This 39-page cudgel has been a source of frustration and arbitrary abuse to incarcerated Mainers since long before I stepped inside MDOC’s walls nearly two decades ago.
I’ve since become intimately familiar with many MDOC policies. Along the way, I’ve experienced moments of hope and encouragement. I’ve seen what is possible when people come together across lines of political and structural power differences to shape policies that reduce the harms caused to both incarcerated people and staff by this inherently violent system.
Much more often, though, I have experienced moments of frustration, anger, and despondence. By the time this latest rulemaking process began, I felt so fed up and beaten down that I wanted nothing to do with it. Several of the men incarcerated with me raised their voices, wrote comments, and collaborated with outside advocates to push back against a longstanding avenue of extra-disciplinary punishment allowed by Policy 20.1.
Links to the language of this and other policies can be found in the PDF at the end of this column. The paragraph in question allows prison staff and administrators to inflict a variety of punishments upon an incarcerated person “regardless of whether there is an informal or formal resolution of the [alleged] violation.” I insert alleged here because, according to the next sentence in the policy, “A dismissal or a finding of not guilty does not preclude taking any such action.”
So, even if a person did not engage in behavior “constituting a disciplinary violation,” or if they already received punishment through the formal disciplinary process (e.g., losing good time, money, and/or freedom of movement), they can still be punished in a variety of ways. These include:
1.) Change in custody level, entailing additional restrictions and avenues for extra-disciplinary punishment when a resident is classified as a higher security risk. If the person’s custody level is increased at one of MDOC’s other facilities, they can then be transferred to Maine State Prison (MSP) as punishment.
2.) Transfer to another housing unit or facility, almost invariably to a more restrictive housing unit or a less desirable pod within their current housing unit. As I was informed when I attempted to appeal an unjust move last year, no avenue of appeal exists beyond the warden.
3.) Drop in privilege level. Even though the Privilege Level System policy generally prohibits staff from dropping a person’s level based on a single incident, it happens regularly. Rather than serving as a system of “incentives,” this system is repeatedly weaponized to punish people outside the disciplinary process.
4.) Issuance of a “resident performance report” (RPR), if one’s conduct is deemed “unsatisfactory,” can result in monthly good time being withheld. This is worse than losing good time through the disciplinary process, because when good time is taken, it can be earned back through prolonged good behavior; if it is withheld, those are extra days in prison that can never be earned back.
5.) Modification of a case plan. Based on the results of a classification tool held secret from the people whose lives it is used to direct, a case manager or the Unit Team can decide to force an incarcerated person to take programs related to a write-up (e.g., anger management) for which they were found not guilty. This can set back meaningful progress toward a successful reentry.
6.) Restriction, suspension or termination of privileges. Anything labeled a “privilege” can be taken away at any time for any (or no) reason, at the discretion of almost any administrator. This includes, but is not limited to, “mail, phone, in-person or video visits, text messaging, state-issued or personal tablet, and computer and/or internet access privileges.” All family and community connection can thus be arbitrarily cut off.
7.) Staff and administrators are given license to take any other punitive actions as long as they can say with a straight face that the measure is “in the interest of the resident, in the interest of the resident population or in the interest of safety, security, or orderly management.”
Despite having been found not guilty, and having other allegations dismissed, I’ve experienced most of the above punishments in the past two years. In fact, I account for three of the 18 grievances filed in state or federal court against the MDOC in 2024, as reported by Emma Davis for the Maine Morning Star (“A longstanding loophole in prison disciplinary policy allows for punishment regardless of guilt,” Aug. 20, 2026).
Davis asked the MDOC how often people found not guilty, or who have charges dismissed, are punished anyway. MDOC “said those instances are not tracked in the aggregate,” she reported, “so they could not say.”
No, I’m sure they couldn’t. But now is their chance to start.
Leo Hylton is a PhD student at George Mason University’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, currently incarcerated at Maine State Prison. His education and work are focused on Social Justice Advocacy and Activism, with a vision toward an abolitionist future. You can reach him at: Leo Hylton #70199, 807 Cushing Rd., Warren, ME 04864, or leoshininglightonhumanity@gmail.com.
