Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women

Massachusetts Governor, Deval Patrick, has planned, with the legislatures approval, a $550 Million bond revenue allocation to build and expand county jails for women and prisons for aging and dying prisoners. This decision has been made completely closed off to public opinion and without input from advocates for harm reduction and evidence based alternatives to incarceration.

Most women serving county jail sentences are non-violent offenders and victims themselves of domestic violence, sexual assault and addiction related illnesses. They do not need more jail beds. They need help and healing from within their communities where they can effectively address their issues and remain connected to their children and families.

More than $120 million each year will be needed to operate new prisons and jails. (MA already spends more than 1 billion a year for jails and prisons.) The tens of millions will come from the Commonwealth's yearly operating budget and force more cuts to schools, social services, libraries and public transportation.

Our legislators and the Governor need to shift their priorities away from longer sentences and more prisons and jails and redirect money to alternatives to incarceration including bail reform, intensive community-based drug and alcohol treatment, job training and job creation and strengthening our schools to end the school to prison pipeline. Communities demand to be heard BEFORE these disastrous, harmful and costly decisions are made.

What is needed is transparency from government and input from tax payers and the communities most impacted. We say NO to $550 million to build more jails for women and YES to creating more effective, harm reduction and evidence-based alternatives to incarceration.

Please sign and forward to others!
http://www.change.org/petitions/the-governor-of-ma-stop-the-spending-of-...