[statecom-discuss] Fwd: [SHaRC] -- 5/8/07 Moratorium Hearing -- CALL TO ACTION

[David Rolde]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: kmilberg at comcast.net
> Date: May 5, 2007 4:32:37 PM EDT
> To: sharc at lists.riseup.net (SHaRC), MaSHaRC at yahoogroups.com (MaSHaRC)
> Subject: [SHaRC] URGENT -- 5/8/07 Moratorium Hearing -- CALL TO ACTION
> Reply-To: sharc at lists.riseup.net,kmilberg at comcast.net
>
> CALL TO ACTION
>
> On Tuesday, May 8, 2007 at 1PM in the Massachusetts State House  
> Room A-2, the Joint Committee on the Judiciary will host a public  
> hearing on H 1723 – An Act Relative to Incarceration and its Impact  
> on Public Safety.
>
> This bill calls for a five-year moratorium on the construction of  
> new jails, houses of corrections, and prisons.  It creates a  
> Special Commission to study and make recommendations for  
> alternatives to incarceration. Read the bill here.   http:// 
> www.massdecarcerate.org/download/H1723.pdf
>
> What is needed now. Please help by doing one or more of the following:
>
> 1.  CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS (www.wheredoivotema.com) and ask them  
> to contact judiciary committee members in support of H1723.
>
> 2.  PROVIDE TESTIMONY (written)** from as many people as possible  
> about the many aspects of why a moratorium is necessary (including  
> economic impact, social impact, impact on youth, CORI, substance  
> abuse, human rights, etc.)
> 3.  ATTEND the hearing. Good TURNOUT is needed to show there is  
> public so that legislators will take us seriously – so that they  
> know that there is public support for this bill.
> 4.  MEDIA COVERAGE including letters to the editor supporting the  
> moratorium bill.
>
> THIS IS WHAT WE HAVE BEEN WORKING FOR – to finally have a  
> legislative forum to present our case for an end to prison and jail  
> expansion in Massachusetts.
>
> **For more information or to provide written testimony, please  
> contact info at massdecarcerate.org or call (617) 372-5760.
>
>
> Support Massachusetts House Bill 1723
> An Act Relative to Incarceration and its Impact on Public Safety
>
> Why Support This Bill?
>
> 1.         The War on Drugs is waged more harshly against poor  
> communities and communities of color as demonstrated by higher  
> arrest and conviction rates; longer sentences and higher  
> incarceration rates.[1]
>
> 2.         People struggling with addictions are not criminals.   
> For 80% of people incarcerated in the United States, the crimes for  
> which they have been convicted can be linked to drug and alcohol  
> abuse.  Drug addiction is a public health issue, not a criminal  
> justice issue.[2]
>
> 3.         Human rights violations – ranging from degrading and  
> humiliating treatment by guards to sensory deprivation  
> (internationally recognized as a form of torture) – are rampant in  
> prisons and jails.  Expansion will exacerbate these problems and  
> will manufacture even more hopelessness and long-term harm.   
> Successful return to the community will become problematic for even  
> more people.[3], [4]
>
> 4.         It is our assertion that the mass arrest, jailing, and  
> deportation of immigrant detainees are unnecessary for public  
> safety.  These practices fuel expansion of the police and courts  
> and are used as moneymaking schemes for Massachusetts jailors.[5]
>
> 5.     &nbs p;   If we build healthy communities we will not need  
> to build new jails or prisons.  Prison expansion draws funds from  
> desperately needed community services.  Taxpayer dollars are wasted  
> on perpetuating an ineffective system rife with abuse.[6]
>
> 6.         Some people argue that building new jails is necessary  
> in order to keep parents close to their children.  However,  
> families are best served when parents – the majority of whom have  
> been convicted of non-violent crimes of survival – can remain at  
> home to care for and support their children.  Prison expansion,  
> including the creation of “gender responsive prisons” will not  
> reduce the harm done to families by incarceration – it will only  
> bring it closer to home.[7]
>
> 7.         An end to prison expansion will mean fewer people  
> incarcerated and therefore fewer people with criminal records  
> (CORIs ) who are unable to access affordable housing and living  
> wage jobs.  With access to affordable housing and living wage jobs  
> people will no longer be forced into crimes of economic survival…  
> and the cycle will be broken.[8]
>
>
> [1] http://www.sentencingproject.org/Admin/Documents/publications/ 
> rd_sentencing_review.pdf
> [2] http://www.hawaii.edu/hivandaids/ 
> BehindBarsSubstanceAbuseandAmericasPrisonPop.pdf
> [3] http://www.massdecarcerate.org/PICS.html
> [4] http://www.hrw.org/prisons
> [5] http://www.massdecarcerate.org/immigrants.html
> [6] http://www.realcostofprisons.org/
> [7] http://www.fcnetwork.org/Resource%20Center/what-happens.html
> [8] http://www.unionofminorityneighborhoods.org/marc/
>
>
>
> Moratorium Endorsers*/SHaRC Members
> American Civil Liberties Union-MA*   *   American Friends Service  
> Committee   *    Felix Arroyo, Boston City Council   *   ARISE for  
> Social Justice   S   BAGLY   S   Boston Workers Alliance*   *    
> Will Brownsberger, 24th Middlesex*   *   Center for Popular  
> Economics   *   Chuck Turner, Boston City Council   *  Citizens for  
> Participation in Political Action   *   Community Change, Inc. -  
> Boston   *   Community Church of Boston   *   Connecticut River  
> Valley Green-Rainbow Party   *   Criminal Justice Institute,  
> Harvard School of Law   *   Critical Resistance   *   Denis e  
> Provost, 27th Middlesex*   *   Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts    
> *   Efficacy - Hartford, CT   *   Freedom Center   *   Grammas for   
> Ganja   *   Green-Rainbow Party of Massachusetts   *   Holyoke  
> Girls, Inc.   *   Jericho - Boston   *   MA Coalition for Healthy  
> Communities   *   MA Welfare Rights Union   *   Peter Kocot, 1st  
> Hampshire*   *   Out Now   *   Paloma House   *   Prison Book  
> Program - Quincy   *   Prison Book Project-Western MA   *    
> Reverend Filipe C. Teixeira, OFSJC, Northeastern Diocese of Saint  
> Francis of Assisi, Catholic Church of America*   *   Carl  
> Sciortino, 34th Middlesex*   *   Springfield Catholic Workers   *    
> Survivors, Inc.   *   Through Barbed Wire   *   Tom Mooney Local  
> Socialist Party USA   *   Traprock Peace Center   *   UAW Local  
> 2322   *   Western MA International Action Center/Troops Out Now    
> *   Women's Fightback Network   *   Women's International League  
> for Peace and Freedom-Boston
>