[act-ma] 3/30: Bail Fund Benefit in New Bedford

[B Evans]

Dear friends,

Please join us for a Benefit for the Mass Bail Fund in New Bedford.

Many women and men in Bristol County Massachusetts are locked up, legally
innocent, but unable to post bail, sometimes as little as $150. The longer
they are locked up, the more likely it is that they may lose their jobs,
apartments, connections to social services, counseling & treatment, even
custody of their children.

The Massachusetts Bail Fund pays up to $500 bail so that low-income people
can stay free  while they work towards resolving their cases,  allowing
individuals, families, and communities to stay productive, together, and
stable.

Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson has a new deal with ICE which will
have correctional officers at the jail running background checks on
arrestees to check their immigration status, and holding people who they
suspect of being out of status,  and has outrageously offered to send
incarcerated people to build a border wall.

The Bristol County jails are some of the worst in the Commonwealth. The
main jail in Dartmouth was built for 304 people but currently houses 1004
(330% occupancy). The men are on cots in the old gym. The Women’s Center
was built for 56 people, but houses 82 (146% occupancy). Medical care is a
real problem. People with mental health issues are put "on the eyeball" -
solitary confinement with no clothes or anything else. There is no
medically assisted treatment for addiction. The Ash Street Jail in New
Bedford is the oldest jail in continuous use in the country.

Establishing the Bail Fund here in Bristol County would be a small,
practical effort towards opposing this system.

Here's more about the Massachusetts Bail Fund:
http://www.massbailfund.org/how-it-works.html

Let’s bring the Bail Fund to Bristol County!  Please spread the word!

WHEN:
Thursday
March 30th
5:30pm

WHERE:
Gallery X
169 Williams Street
NEW BEDFORD