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<DIV><STRONG>CALL TO ACTION</STRONG><BR><BR><STRONG>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. <BR></STRONG><BR> This bill calls for a five-year moratorium on the construction of new jails, houses of corrections, and prisons. It creates a Special<BR> Commission to study and make recommendations for alternatives to incarceration. Read the bill here. <BR> <A href="http://www.massdecarcerate.org/download/H1723.pdf" target=_blank>http://www.massdecarcerate.org/download/H1723.pdf</A><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR>What is needed now. Please help by doing one or more of the following:<BR><BR>1. <STRONG>CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS</STRONG> (<A href="http://www.wheredoivotema.com/">www.wheredoivotema.com</A>) and ask them to contact judiciary committee members in support of H1723.</DIV>
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<DIV>2. <STRONG>PROVIDE TESTIMONY</STRONG> (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.)<BR></DIV>
<DIV>3. <STRONG>ATTEND</STRONG> the hearing. Good <STRONG>TURNOUT</STRONG> is needed for legislators to take us seriously – so that they know that there is public support for this bill.</DIV>
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<DIV>4. <STRONG>MEDIA COVERAGE</STRONG> including letters to the editor supporting the moratorium bill.<BR><BR><STRONG>THIS IS WHAT WE HAVE BEEN WORKING FOR</STRONG> – to finally have a legislative forum to present our case for an end to prison and jail expansion in Massachusetts.<BR><BR>**For more information or to provide written testimony, please contact info@massdecarcerate.org or call (617) 372-5760.<BR><BR><BR>Support Massachusetts House Bill 1723<BR>An Act Relative to Incarceration and its Impact on Public Safety<BR><BR>Why Support This Bill?<BR><BR>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] <BR><BR>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] <BR><BR>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]<BR><BR>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]<BR><BR>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]<BR><BR>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]<BR><BR>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]<BR><BR><BR>[1] <A href="http://www.sentencingproject.org/Admin/Documents/publications/rd_sentencing_review.pdf" target=_blank>http://www.sentencingproject.org/Admin/Documents/publications/rd_sentencing_review.pdf</A><BR>[2] <A href="http://www.hawaii.edu/hivandaids/BehindBarsSubstanceAbuseandAmericasPrisonPop.pdf" target=_blank>http://www.hawaii.edu/hivandaids/BehindBarsSubstanceAbuseandAmericasPrisonPop.pdf</A><BR>[3] <A href="http://www.massdecarcerate.org/PICS.html" target=_blank>http://www.massdecarcerate.org/PICS.html</A><BR>[4] <A href="http://www.hrw.org/prisons" target=_blank>http://www.hrw.org/prisons</A><BR>[5] <A href="http://www.massdecarcerate.org/immigrants.html" target=_blank>http://www.massdecarcerate.org/immigrants.html</A><BR>[6] <A target=_blank hr ef="http://www.realcostofprisons.org/">http://www.realcostofprisons.org/</A><BR>[7] <A href="http://www.fcnetwork.org/Resource%20Center/what-happens.html" target=_blank>http://www.fcnetwork.org/Resource%20Center/what-happens.html</A><BR>[8] <A href="http://www.unionofminorityneighborhoods.org/marc/" target=_blank>http://www.unionofminorityneighborhoods.org/marc/</A></DIV>
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<DIV align=center><FONT size=2><STRONG>Moratorium Endorsers*/SHaRC Members</STRONG><BR>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</FONT></DIV>
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