AICsAdvocate

AICsAdvocate Advocating for those behind the WALLS—
raising voices, demanding change, & standing 4 accountability.

📢 Why You Should Email ODOC and Your Local Leaders — TodayWhen prison cells hit 10–20 degrees hotter than outside, it be...
06/16/2026

📢 Why You Should Email ODOC and Your Local Leaders — Today

When prison cells hit 10–20 degrees hotter than outside, it becomes more than discomfort — it becomes danger. People inside are getting sick, fainting, and living in heat levels that would shut down any workplace, school, or animal shelter. And every year, ODOC allows it to continue.

Emailing matters because:

Public pressure forces accountability — every email becomes part of the official record.

Extreme heat is a preventable hazard — and leaders are responsible for preventing harm.

AICs cannot safely advocate for themselves — your voice protects people who risk retaliation for speaking up.

Staff are suffering too — unsafe temperatures create unsafe environments for everyone inside.

Silence tells the state you accept this — and we don’t.

If the community doesn’t speak, nothing changes. When hundreds of families email at once, the state cannot look away.



📧 ODOC Contacts to Email

Copy, paste, and send:

Director of ODOC — Michael Reese
[email protected]

Deputy Director — Heidi Steward
[email protected]

Assistant Director — Joshua Highberger
[email protected]

Executive Assistant — Jessica Hale
[email protected]

Office of the Governor - Ombudsman - Kristina Rice-Whitlow
[email protected]

_____________________________________________

Dear ............

I am writing as a concerned family member, of an Adults in Custody to demand immediate action regarding the extreme heat conditions inside Oregon’s prisons. Every summer, temperatures inside cells rise 10–20 degrees higher than outside, and most facilities still lack air conditioning or effective cooling systems.

These conditions are unsafe, inhumane, and amount to cruel and unusual punishment. People inside are suffering in temperatures that would be unacceptable anywhere else. Even staff working in these units face dangerous heat levels without relief.

We urge you to take immediate steps to protect lives and uphold basic standards of humane treatment:

Provide consistent access to water, ice, and ventilation.

Conduct temperature checks and report conditions publicly.

Implement emergency cooling measures and long-term climate control plans.

Heat should never be part of anyone’s sentence—or anyone’s job.

Respectfully,

[Your Name] Concerned Family Member / Friend / Loved One

06/16/2026

📢 Summer Heat Advisory for Families, Friends, and Loved Ones of AICs

As we move into the summer months, it’s important for our community to understand what this season means for the people living and working inside Oregon’s prisons. Every year, temperatures inside cells rise 10–20 degrees hotter than the outside air, and most ODOC facilities still do not provide air‑conditioning for Adults in Custody (AICs).

A few institutions have swamp coolers, but once temperatures climb, those systems offer little to no relief. In past years, battery‑powered fans were available on canteen; availability now varies by facility. Even with a fan, the heat can be overwhelming.

For those in the community, imagine sitting in your car in the sun with the windows rolled up, no AC, and only a fan blowing warm air. That is the reality many AICs face for months at a time.

🔹 What Families Should Keep in Mind

Hydration reminders — Encourage your loved one to drink water consistently. Ice machines, where they exist, often cannot keep up with demand during heat waves.

Watch for heat‑related illness — If your loved one feels dizzy, nauseous, faint, or overheated, they should contact medical immediately.

Ventilation options — If their unit allows window openings, even a small breeze can make a difference.

Advocate when needed — Document concerns and elevate them when conditions become unsafe.

🔹 This Is a Long‑Standing Issue

These heat conditions are not new. Year after year, AICs and staff endure extreme temperatures with no meaningful improvements to living or working environments. This is not only a health and safety issue for AICs — it also affects the officers and staff who must work in the same conditions without the ability to adjust uniforms or access cooling.

Oregon must address this. Safe temperatures are a basic standard of humane treatment and a workplace safety issue for staff. Heat should not be a punishment.

06/15/2026

H‑Pylori in ODOC: A Growing Health Risk
I’m not a medical professional, but through my research and the reports coming out of ODOC facilities, one thing is clear:

H‑pylori is spreading inside Oregon prisons — and it’s a real health concern for AICs and staff.

Medical research shows H‑pylori is highly transmissible, especially in crowded environments with limited sanitation. That describes ODOC perfectly.

What’s even more alarming is that AICs are being given the same antibiotics repeatedly, even when symptoms return. Research shows that when the same antibiotics are used over and over, they become less effective, and the infection becomes harder to treat.

This isn’t just a medical issue — it’s a public health failure.

ODOC needs to put real procedures in place to:

identify repeated cases

stop recycling ineffective treatments

investigate environmental sources

ensure proper medical evaluation

Ignoring this puts everyone at risk.


06/09/2026

Oregon DOC’s June update breaks down new tablet changes, and what’s coming next as the system moves toward 1:1 tablets.

06/09/2026

June brings three powerful truths that speak directly to the lived experiences of incarcerated men and women — freedom, rebuilding, and mental health. These aren’t just observances. They’re the reality of people surviving a system built to break them.

Juneteenth reminds us that freedom in America has always been uneven — delayed, denied, or conditional. And for the men and women still behind the walls, the legacy of the 13th Amendment’s punishment clause is not history. It’s daily life.

Forced labor. Racial disparities. Families torn apart.

Juneteenth is a celebration of liberation — and a reminder of the liberation still unfinished.

National Rebuild Your Life Month honors the strength it takes to rebuild after trauma, incarceration, and systemic harm.

Men and women returning home face more legal barriers to housing, employment, education, and stability.

Yet they rebuild anyway.

Families rebuild anyway.

Communities rebuild anyway.

Rebuilding is resistance.

Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month shines a light on a crisis that affects everyone inside.

Men carry trauma long before prison.

Women carry trauma long before prison.

Inside, that trauma is ignored, punished, or used against them.

Su***de, isolation, and untreated mental‑health needs are not “issues” — they are emergencies.

This June, we honor every man and woman fighting to stay whole in a system that was never built for their healing.

We honor the families holding them up.

We honor the communities demanding better.

And we honor the truth that freedom, rebuilding, and mental health are human rights — not privileges.

June isn’t just a month. It’s a call to action.

06/09/2026

Let’s talk about this $6.9 million lawsuit Joe Bugher just filed against the Oregon Department of Corrections.

Because the way he’s trying to flip this story is wild.

Bugher wasn’t fired for being a whistleblower.
He was fired because he failed to do the job he was paid over $20k a month to do — oversee medical care for every adult in custody in Oregon.

Under his watch, ODOC’s own investigation found:

• Delayed surgeries and cancer care
• Retaliation against staff who tried to advocate for patients
• A six‑month rule that forced providers to re‑present cases over and over, delaying treatment
• Humiliating and harmful practices in women’s health
• Explanations investigators called “not credible” and “not truthful”

This wasn’t a small mistake.
This was system‑wide harm happening while he was the overseer.

And now, after being fired for those failures, Bugher has moved into a leadership role at Fora Health Treatment & Recovery in Portland — serving as their Chief Administrative Officer. A position that again places him in charge of vulnerable people who rely on ethical, timely, and competent care.

Now he wants millions because ODOC finally held him accountable for the damage done on his watch.

How does that make sense.

If Bugher had done his job — if he had ensured AICs got the medical care they needed instead of denying or delaying it — he might still have that job today.

But instead of owning the harm, he’s trying to cash out from it.

The real victim here is not Mr. Bugher.
They’re the adults in custody who suffered through delayed care, denied treatment, retaliation, and trauma.

Bugher wasn’t the solution.
He was part of the problem.

And this lawsuit doesn’t change that — it exposes it.

06/09/2026

All Linktree links have now been fully updated.

Inside the Linktree, you’ll find every official page connected to Justice for Eddie Dungan, Justice the Inside Truth Newsletter, and AICsAdvocate—including ways to support our work.

When making a donation, please note whether it is for AICsAdvocate or Justice for Eddie Dungan / Justice the Inside Truth Newsletter, so funds are used exactly where you intend.

Your continued support keeps this advocacy moving forward—public records, research, and the long hours it takes to bring truth and accountability to what happens behind the walls. Every share, every donation, every message of encouragement truly matters.

Updated Linktree: https://linktr.ee/AICsADVOCATE

Thank you for standing with us and helping ensure these stories are never ignored.

06/08/2026

Justice: The Inside Truth — Subscribe & Support the Work
Our community keeps this movement alive.

Justice: The Inside Truth is more than a newsletter — it’s a lifeline of truth, connection, and advocacy for AICs, families, and everyone impacted by Oregon’s prison system.

Subscriptions are just $5 a month or $55 for the full year.
And when you subscribe, you can add one AIC to our monthly printed mailing list so they receive the newsletter directly inside.

Your support doesn’t stop there.
Every dollar raised goes right back into printing, postage, supplies, and the community activities we run throughout the year. You’re helping us keep people informed, connected, and seen.

If you prefer to pay directly, you can send your subscription through:
PayPal • CashApp • Facebook Pay
$Fight4aChange

If you take this route, please put “JTIT Newsletter” in the memo line and then message me with:

your email, and

the AIC’s name and SID

I’ll manually add you to the Substack subscription and make sure your loved one is added to the printed mailing list.

Your support means everything — to us at Justice for Eddie Dungan, and now to the growing community behind Justice: The Inside Truth.
Together, we’re building truth, dignity, and connection from the inside out.

Link in the comments

AICs at Snake River Correctional Institution have raised ongoing concerns about unequal treatment compared to other ODOC...
06/07/2026

AICs at Snake River Correctional Institution have raised ongoing concerns about unequal treatment compared to other ODOC facilities. Reports include limited access to ice in extreme heat, no winter sweatshirts, missing NA/AA and reduced programming, restricted clubs and family events, and inconsistent conditions during leadership visits. Many describe SRCI as a punitive environment with few opportunities for growth.

ODOC responded stating that housing units are air‑conditioned, ice is restricted for safety, sweatshirts are only issued at minimum, NA/AA is paused due to volunteer shortages, GOGI is still offered, food and staff conduct follow policy, Nintendo Switch devices are banned due to charging limitations, and family events such as Pow Wows and Daddy Day Camp are available.

AICs continue to call for equitable treatment, consistent standards, and access to meaningful rehabilitative opportunities equal to those offered at other ODOC institutions.

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Tangent, OR

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