I’m excited that some of Decarcerate Monroe County’s ideas have become projected into the mainstream media, like this from a July 26 Herald Times op-ed:
Some of his numbers also should give pause to our criminal justice hierarchy. Why is it that while incarceration rates have gone up nationwideby 38 percent from 1994 to 2007, the rate here has gone up 53 percent? And why is it that fully 87 percent of the jail’s inmates haven’t been convictedof anything but are simply awaiting trial?
INVITATION TO COMMUNITY MEETING AGAINST JAIL EXPANSION
SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 3:00-6:00 p.m.
GREAT HALL, TRINITY CHURCH, 111 S. Grant St.
Childcare will be provided
Decarcerate Monroe County (DMC), with the encouragement of Citizens for Effective Justice, UU Friends of Prisoners Task Force, and New Leaf/New Life, is pleased to invite you to a community update and discussion on Monroe County’s plan to expand incarceration. Please come to share information and personal stories about incarceration, coordinate efforts to fight the expansion, and begin developing effective, long-term strategies and proposals to reduce incarceration!
BACKGROUND
In the fall of 2008, the Monroe County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (MCCJCC) held a series of meetings ostensibly to solicit public input regarding the proposal to construct new criminal justice facilities, including a new youth lockup, to replace the current jail. The meetings gave criminal justice personnel opportunities to present their assessment of the current situation and to make their arguments in favor of the County’s plan for expansion. The final meeting offered a platform for the presentation of construction plans by the Noblesville-based design and construction contractor PMSI, Project Management Solutions Incorporated. Despite overwhelming opposition expressed in public comments, County officials seem to have emerged from the meetings with continued determination to pursue the expansion plan.
COMMUNITY MEETING
As an alternative and follow-up to this series of meetings, Decarcerate Monroe County has called a genuine public forum for Saturday, January 31st, in the Great Hall of Trinity Church. This afternoon will offer information, facilitate a broad-ranging public conversation, and plan continued active response. People should bring their experiences and ideas to contribute to working out practical solutions to the problems the jail purports to solve but actually only worsens.
WHAT IS DMC?
Decarcerate Monroe County is an open coalition that works to challenge the belief that cages, coercion, and confinement keep our community safe. DMC believes that people are safe when they have their basic needs met and when they feel empowered and free. DMC works to build access to meaningful, non-coercive options for dealing with problems and resolving conflict. We resist expansion of incarceration, including the proposed adult and youth jails; we support shrinking the existing punitive justice system in Monroe County.
While the group calling the meeting is explicitly against jail expansion, the Community Meeting will welcome the broadest array of opinions — please come and let’s all work together to make Monroe County a safer and more just place!
Decarcerate Monroe County/Critical Resistance Fundraiser “Vegan Dessert Party!”
–Saturday, September 13th.
–2pm-8pm
–110 N Maple Street
Support local jail resistance and help us get to CR10 in Oakland, CA!! Decarcerate Monroe County(DMC) is a Bloomington-based coalition resisting jail expansion and working toward meaningful alternatives to incarceration. CR10 is the tenth anniversary conference of Critical Resistance, a national grassroots organization working against the prison industrial complex- DMC will be hosting a panel of local anti-jail campaigns at CR10!! Please join us for a dessert party. The cost is only $5, and the food is served buffet style, so you can try whatever you like. There will be a number of different items, from cakes to pies, cookies to breads. All of the items are vegan and many will be wheat-free. Refreshments (tea, coffee, etc) will also be served. Please stop by, have a bite to eat, and support DMC. To donate $$ directly over the internet, please visit: http://criticalresist.live.radicaldesigns.org/article.php?id=55 Just click on the orange “donate now” button at the bottom of the page, and please specify that you want your donation to go into the CR10 travel fund, on behalf of Bloomington, IN.