Articles tagged prison industrial complex

#CAHungerStrike: 24 Hours of Actions for the 5 Demands!

Posted 11 years ago on July 27, 2013, 9:09 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Tags: prisoners, #CAhungerstrike, california hunger strike, solidarity, prison abolition, call to action, prison industrial complex

Imgur
image from Prison Art Project broadsheet on California hunger strike

via prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com:

INTERNATIONAL CALL FOR SOLIDARITY ACTIONS

24 Hours for the 5 Demands!
Starts 5PM Tuesday July 30th to stand with the California prison hunger strikers against torture

HOW:

Make a highly visible and non-violent action in solidarity anytime 5pm July 30th – 5pm July 31st.

Let the world and politicians know you support the California prison hunger striker’s Five Core Demands against torturous treatment. Post your events to the Upcoming Events Calendar. Don’t forget Facebook and Twitter (tweet #CAHungerstrike #PBHungerstrike and follow @CAHungerStrike)! Afterward, send in your photos and stories of solidarity action to inspire others! Outreach materials are available online.

Join a solidarity fast wherever you are to show your support.

WHY NOW:

Hunger striking prisoners are enduring retaliation on top of starvation! You can help stop their suffering now.

California Governor Jerry Brown is ignoring their demands! He must be forced to account for his inaction.

CA Department of Corrections is hiding their inhumane treatment from the press and public. They must be stopped and held up to the Five Core Demands.

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7 Decarcerate PA Activists Arrested for Blocking Prison Construction

Posted 12 years ago on Nov. 26, 2012, 1:52 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Tags: pennsylvania, decarcerate pa, philly, prison industrial complex

photo of activists blocking construction, described further below !

Last week, seven members of Decarcerate PA set up school desks, banners, and a little red schoolhouse to block the entrance to the prison construction site in Montgomery County, PA. They then sat at the desks, linking arms and refusing to move or allow construction vehicles onto the sight. Construction was delayed for over an hour before all seven protesters were arrested and taken away. The new prisons are being built on the grounds of SCI Graterford in Montgomery County. If completed, they will cost $400 million and house 4,100 people.

Decarcerate PA statement:

Decarcerate PA is determined to stop Governor Corbett from spending $400 million to build two new prisons outside of Philadelphia. These new prisons represent an expansion of mass incarceration in Pennsylvania and a continuation of policies that lock people up instead of giving our communities the resources they need to thrive. The money used to build these prisons is money that is being stolen from our schools, our healthcare, reentry programs, social services, and the environment.

To stop the prison construction in Montgomery County, Decarcerate PA has taken to the streets. We’ve written letters to the governor. We’ve called our elected officials. We’ve interrupted the governor’s town hall meetings to demand a prison moratorium. We’ve publicly called out the Department of Corrections on their lies and misinformation. We’ve raised awareness about the construction through opinion pieces and a social media campaign that was viewed by thousands. And yet the construction continues.

That’s why, this morning, seven members of Decarcerate PA put their bodies on the line to stop the prison construction in Montgomery County. They engaged in this action at the construction site to increase pressure on Governor Corbett and to shine a spotlight on his irresponsible and destructive expansion of Pennsylvania’s prison system.

Learn more about Decarcerate PA, a grassroots campaign working to end mass incarceration in Pennsylvania and demanding that PA stop building prisons, reduce the prison population, and reinvest money in our communities.

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