[WestMALocals] FW: SHaRC demo THIS THURSDAY

[davidrolde at comcast.net]

-------------- Forwarded Message: --------------
From: kmilberg at comcast.net
To: sharc at lists.riseup.net (SHaRC), MaSHaRC at yahoogroups.com (MaSHaRC), ariseaction at yahoogroups.com (AriseAction),  AriseBoard at yahoogroups.com  (AriseBoard)
Subject: [SHaRC] SHaRC demo THIS THURSDAY
Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2006 02:13:24 +0000
> Hi all,
> 
> Attached (and below) is the press release for our next montly demonstation at 
> the site of the Chicopee women's jail.  This month we will focus on voting 
> rights.  Hope to see folks there!
> 
> peace,
> kim
> 
> Statewide Harm Reduction Coalition and Jail/Prison Moratorium Endorsers
> American Civil Liberties Union – Massachusetts (Moratorium Endorser)  .  
> American Friends Service Committee - National   .  American Friends Service 
> Committee - NE Region  .   American Friends Service Committee - Western MA  .  
> Felix Arroyo, Boston City Council  .  ARISE for Social Justice  .  BAGLY   .  
> 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 (Moratorium Endorser)  .  
> Critical Resistance  .  Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts  .  Efficacy  .  
> Freedom Center  .  Grammas for Ganja  .  Holyoke Girls, Inc.  .  Jericho – 
> Boston  .  Peter Kocot, 1st Hampshire District Rep. (Moratorium Endorser)  .  
> Mass. Welfare Rights Union  .  Out Now  .  Paloma House  .  Prison Book Program 
> – Quincy  .  Prison Book Project – Western MA  .  Root 9 Collect
> ive  .  Springfield Catholic Workers   .  Survivors Inc.  .  Through Barbed Wire  
> .  Tom Mooney Local Socialist Party USA  . Traprock Peace Center  .   UAW Local 
> 2322   .  Western Massachusetts International Action Center/Troops Out Now  . 
> Women's International League for Peace and Freedom - Boston
>  
> 
> 
> Press Release
>  
>  
> 
> 
> For Immediate Release
> Contact: Holly Richardson
> Statewide Harm Reduction Coalition (SHaRC)
> www.stopchicopeejail.org
> (413) 348-8234
>  
> Statewide Harm Reduction Coalition Demands Voting Rights for Felons
> CHICOPEE, MA – On Thursday, July 27, 2006 at 9:00 am, organizers and allies of 
> the Statewide Harm Reduction Coalition (SHaRC) will gather for the tenth 
> demonstration to resist the construction of the new Chicopee women’s jail (701 
> Center Street).  While previous gatherings have focused on human rights abuses 
> within prisons, healthcare, and low-income housing, this press conference will 
> call attention to the voting rights for those who are incarcerated and 
> consequently the racial disparity that has resulted from the voter 
> disenfranchisement of felons.
>  
> In 2000, Massachusetts became the only state in recent history to further 
> restrict voting rights for felons.  Prior to a ballot question that year, there 
> were no voting restrictions for felons in Massachusetts. This changed when the 
> Massachusetts constitution was amended to include, “’Persons who are 
> incarcerated in a correctional facility due to a felony conviction’ may not 
> vote” (Mass Const. Art. III as amended in 2000).  
>  
> This restriction of voting rights for felons leads to prisoner 
> disenfranchisement, which disproportionately affects poor people and people of 
> color.  As a result of systematic injustices and the State’s inability to 
> provide the services needed to sustain healthy communities, marginalized people 
> make up a majority of the people held in our prisons and jails. The impact of 
> felon disenfranchisement is huge. "Almost 1.5% of Black adults in Massachusetts 
> are disenfranchised. This is 6 times the rate for White adults. Over 3% of Black 
> men are disenfranchised in Massachusetts. Blacks are only 5.5% of Massachusetts 
> citizens, but are 29% of the state's disenfranchised. Latinos are 6.8% of the 
> state, but are almost 24% of those barred from the polls"  
> (http://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/mass_disenfranchisement.shtml). Elena 
> Lavarreda, Arise/SHaRC member, comments, “The whole thing is a ridiculously 
> vicious cycle. Many of the people who are negatively affected by the system of 
> government tha
> t is in place, a system that often gives people no choice but to commit crime in 
> order to survive, don’t actually have a way to change the negative laws and 
> policies that affect them because they don’t have a vote to do so.”
>  
> Members of SHaRC are opposed to the restrictions placed on the voting rights of 
> those incarcerated for felony convictions. Currently, a lawsuit is pending 
> before a federal court judge to establish a ward representation system of city 
> government for Springfield. Kimberly Milberg, Arise/SHaRC member states, “One of 
> the claims by opponents is that the reason blacks and latinos can’t win city 
> council seats under our current system is because they do not vote in large 
> enough numbers.  However, under our current system, a large number of people of 
> color are being prevented from voting because of their incarceration.” Chino 
> Rios, Out Now/SHaRC community organizer expresses, "I'm only 16 years old, but 
> being openly gay and living in one of the poorest districts of Springfield; and, 
> an area of high incarceration, I sure would like to see city council 
> representation for my community at some point in my future."
>  
> Last year, members of ShaRC met with the sheriff of Ludlow jail to ask whether 
> or not they were able to assist people incarcerated in the jail with voter 
> registration.  They were denied the ability to do so and told that inmates would 
> receive information about voting upon release. Regardless of this—if it is even 
> done—there seems to be a clear attempt to prevent certain populations from 
> exercising their right to vote.  The majority of the population at Ludlow jail 
> is there pre-trial or post-trial for a misdemeanor and they are completely 
> eligible to vote.  
>  
> The injustices surrounding voting rights for people who are incarcerated 
> question the very existence of democracy in our society. “Under the current law 
> in Massachusetts, the criminal justice system essentially decides who gets to 
> vote and who doesn’t. If they decide that you have committed a felony then you 
> loose your right.  How can we allow a system that is extremely flawed itself— 
> riddled with institutionalized racism, classism, sexism, and homophobia, be the 
> judge of who gets heard and who is silenced?,“ said Elena Lavarreda, Arise/ 
> SHaRC member. Jessica Netto, another member of Arise/SHaRC, continues, “It 
> appears as if the state is intentionally not allowing for rehabilitation and 
> solely relying on punitive measures.  We must demand that our justice system 
> treat the members of our community differently.  We are calling for an end to 
> all jails and that more resources and money be put into community services such 
> as healthcare, jobs, etc.”
>  
> -END-
>  
>