Maddesyn George is a young Native mother, a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes, and a survivor of sexual and domestic violence. She has been incarcerated since July 2020 for defending herself against her attacker. Instead of receiving support after suffering a traumatic experience, Maddesyn was incarcerated and denied bail, and separated from her infant daughter and community. She is being prosecuted by the U.S. federal government. Maddesyn has accepted a plea deal and is currently awaiting her sentencing hearing, which has been rescheduled for November 17. She faces up to seventeen years in prison.
Maddesyn’s story is emblematic of the ways U.S. criminal legal systems all too often neglect or exacerbate harm against Indigenous victims and survivors of violence. The targeting of Native women for violence is a fundamental aspect of settler colonialism both historically and today. Visit the full campaign website here.
This week, we are asking volunteers to:
- Call the DOJ comment line
- Call or email the prosecutors
- Email a news outlet
- Share recent press coverage with your networks
- Post to your social media accounts
- Engage friends about the campaign via text
The Campaign to Free Maddesyn George delivered our drop-the-charges petition to the Dept. of Justice on Monday, October 4!
Please call the DOJ comment line today and urge them to heed the petition: 202-353-1555, SELECT OPTION #1
Here is a phone script:
Hello. My name is [NAME]. I am calling to urge the Department of Justice to drop the charges against Native survivor, and mother Maddesyn George. Maddesyn is currently facing 17 years in federal prison for defending her own life. I am one of the more than 7,000 people who has signed a petition urging the DOJ to drop the charges against Maddesyn. We should be responding to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in a humane way, with compassion for their unimaginable circumstances and the abuse they suffered, not by punishing them with incarceration. For these reasons, I implore the DOJ to drop the charges and allow Maddesyn to return home to her family and community.
Want to personalize? You can add things like:
I am ....a domestic violence advocate, a teacher, a parent of a young child, a student, a survivor of violence, etc.
I live in...
I am particularly concerned about this case because...