On June 11th, hear from advocates on the frontlines about how they're pushing back against jail expansion.

Prison Policy Initiative updates for May 29, 2025 Exposing how mass incarceration harms communities and our national welfare

WEBINAR: Fighting Jail Expansion: Lessons from the Front Lines [[link removed]] Learn how advocates are responding to shifting arguments for new jail construction. [[link removed]]

by Emmett Sanders

For decades, calls for new jail construction were largely accompanied by “Tough on Crime” rhetoric that ignored the fact that jails often house the most precariously situated members of our society. While these dehumanizing narratives persist, in many places jail construction has taken a carceral humanist turn that depicts cages as places of care and compassion and the jail as a service provider for those with mental health or substance use support needs.

This is just one of the ways in which arguments for new jail construction have evolved over time, leading communities to spend millions and sometimes even billions of dollars on new jail construction, even as public safety initiatives are being viciously defunded. Fortunately, those on the frontlines who oppose new jail construction have evolved their own arguments and have developed new strategies to push back.

Join Prison Policy Initiative [[link removed]] on June 11, 2025 at 2 PM EST, as we bring together a panel of activists who have pushed back against jail expansion in communities from Atlanta, Georgia, to Sacramento, California, all the way to Oahu, Hawai’i. We’ll discuss how arguments for new jail construction have shifted over time, go over some useful strategies and tools for responding to these arguments, and talk about how our advocacy department can help support efforts to challenge new jail construction in your area.

Panelists will include:

Carrie Ann Shirota: Policy Director, ACLU-HI with the Reimagining Public Safety in Hawai’i Coalition [[link removed]] Liz Blum-Gutierrez: Co-founder Decarcerate Sacramento [[link removed]] Michael Collins: Senior Director of Government Affairs, Color of Change with the Communities Over Cages Coalition [[link removed]]

Register here [[link removed]]

We hope you’ll join us as we explore strategies communities can use to resist jail expansion.

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: Waiving prison medical copays can't fix a broken system [[link removed]]

In most states, people incarcerated in prison must pay medical "copays" to access health care.

In this new briefing [[link removed]], we explain that policies that waive these fees are limited, inconsistent, and certainly don't fix the problems with charging incarcerated people for care.

Prison gerrymandering is distoring democracy; state lawmakers can fix it [[link removed]]

The Census Bureau counts incarcerated people in the wrong place — a prison cell — rather than in their true homes. This gives communities that have prisons more political power, at the expense of everyone else.

In a new series of reports, we look at how prison gerrymandering is distorting democracy in Oklahoma [[link removed]], Louisiana [[link removed]], and North Carolina [[link removed]], and explain what state lawmakers can do to stop it.

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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Prison Policy Initiative [[link removed]]

PO Box 127

Northampton, Mass. 01061

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Prison Policy Initiative

PO Box 127 Northampton, Mass. 01061

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