Lynda Bablin, a former mayor of Hudson Falls, New York, never imagined she’d spend her later years fighting for justice inside the state’s prison system. But when her godson, Mario Mannino, began describing the abuse he and others were enduring at Midstate Correctional Facility, she couldn’t stay silent.

In a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul, Lynda detailed what she calls “crimes being committed by the Department of Corrections” — including assaults, medical neglect, and retaliation against people in custody who speak out. Her godson, incarcerated for more than three decades, has been denied medical and dental care for years. At one point, he was placed in a cell smeared with human waste and refused medical treatment when he became sick. Mario and several others have since begun a hunger strike to protest the abuse and demand access to basic rights, including outside medical care, protection from retaliation, and enforcement of the state’s HALT Solitary Confinement Law.

Lynda has appealed to state officials for help, including members of the Senate’s Corrections Oversight Committee, but says her concerns have been met with silence.

“These men are not asking for help — they are begging for it,” she wrote. “Enough is enough.”

Her story is one of heartbreak and persistence — a reminder that the fight against violence and neglect behind bars doesn’t end at the prison gates.