Dear John,
Thank you – many of you already took action to tell Congress to rescind the funds to build a harmful new prison in eastern Kentucky, FCI Letcher. We need your help again to stop its construction from moving forward.
Kentucky Representative Hal Rogers wants a fourth federal prison in his district to create jobs, but there are better ways to invest in communities. FCI Letcher isn’t needed – both the Trump and Biden administrations agreed.
Rural prisons hurt incarcerated people, their families, and public safety. The people incarcerated in FCI Letcher would likely be hundreds of miles away from their homes and loved ones, placing an enormous burden on their families to visit.
Federal prisons are also already experiencing a staffing crisis – a new prison in rural Kentucky will make that even worse. Few prisons can hire enough correctional officers, let alone medical and psychiatric staff, and hiring is even more difficult in remote areas, endangering the lives of both the people who are incarcerated there and the people who work there.
Environmental groups also have deep concerns about FCI Letcher, including the devastating damage its construction would do to the neighboring old-growth forest home to endangered species.
Unfortunately, the House and Senate are considering budget bills that wouldn’t stop FCI Letcher’s construction. The House bill even contains a dangerous provision that would stop community members from voicing their objections to the prison and block lawsuits.
We need your help. Tell your representatives that you still don’t want them to build FCI Letcher and that it’s wrong to silence the voices of concerned citizens.
