Learn how to overcome obstacles preventing incarcerated people from participating in state legislatures.
Prison Policy Initiative updates for July 9, 2024 Exposing how mass incarceration harms communities and our national welfare
Webinar: In their own words: Organizing legislative testimony from incarcerated people [[link removed]] Learn strategies advocates around the country are using to help incarcerated people be heard at legislative committee hearings. [[link removed]]
by Emmett Sanders
Americans have a fundamental right to engage with legislators about decisions that affect their lives, and one of the most powerful ways to do that is by testifying at state legislative hearings. People in prison, however, are routinely denied this right. Silencing incarcerated people is not only unjust, but deprives the public of valuable insights and expertise from those most affected by criminal legal system reforms. Even well-intended changes may ultimately be short-sighted or even harmful when created without any input from the people who bear the brunt of their effects.
Advocates across the country are taking advantage of the recent expansion of communication technology to help incarcerated people have their voices heard in legislative committee hearings. Through these efforts, the testimony of incarcerated people has been a driving force behind bills to end the use of solitary confinement [[link removed]], end life without parole [[link removed]], and more in Massachusetts, Washington, and Connecticut, among other states.
Join Prison Policy Initiative [[link removed]] on August 5, 2024 at 3 PM EST, as we host a panel of advocates from around the country for a discussion on the importance and challenges of helping people in prisons testify at legislative hearings and introduce our new legislative testimony toolkit [[link removed]]. Panelists with deep experience in successfully implementing legislative testimony programs will share strategies for ethically and effectively facilitating remote testimony for people in prisons. Panelists will include:
Anthony Blankenship of Civil Survival [[link removed]]; Jesse White of Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts [[link removed]]; Christopher Blackwell, an award-winning incarcerated journalist and Co-founder of Look 2 Justice [[link removed]].
We hope you’ll join us as we explore how to make sure that legislators around the country hear directly from incarcerated people on prison reform issues.
Register for the webinar here. [[link removed]]
Please support our work [[link removed]]
Our work is made possible by private donations. Can you help us keep going? We can accept tax-deductible gifts online [[link removed]] or via paper checks sent to PO Box 127 Northampton MA 01061. Thank you!
Other news: States of Incarceration: The Global Context 2024 [[link removed]]
The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate of any independent democracy on earth — worse, every single state incarcerates more people per capita than most nations.
In this new 50-state report [[link removed]], we provide the data that shows, when looking through the global lens, just how extreme the nation's mass incarceration crisis truly is.
Calling on the FCC to make the most of its upcoming rulemaking on prison and jail telecom rates [[link removed]]
With the passage of the Martha Wright-Reed Fair and Just Communication Act, the Federal Communications Commission has new power to bring down the cost of prison and jail calls.
As the agency prepares to vote on these new regulations, we joined The Leadership Conference (a coalition of over 200 civil rights organizations) in a letter to the agency with recommendations for how it can make the most of this opportunity. Learn more here [[link removed]].
Please support our work [[link removed]]
Our work is made possible by private donations. Can you help us keep going? We can accept tax-deductible gifts online [[link removed]] or via paper checks sent to PO Box 127 Northampton MA 01061. Thank you!
Our other newsletters Ending prison gerrymandering ( archives [[link removed]]) Criminal justice research library ( archives [[link removed]])
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Northampton, Mass. 01061
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Prison Policy Initiative
PO Box 127 Northampton, Mass. 01061
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