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Mandatory-minimum sentences don't work

Letters to the Editor  - August 21st, 2012

THERE IS A GROWING national consensus that mandatory-minimum sentences simply don't work. Despite this, Pennsylvania legislators are on track to pass yet another misguided bill, HB2331, which would create five-year mandatory-minimum sentences for illegal gun possession (Daily News, Aug. 17).

More mandatory-sentencing laws will not make us safer. They will, however, add thousands of people to our already out-of-control prison population at a time when Pennsylvania cannot afford to build more prisons.

Citizens at Graterford Prison Protest Pennsylvania’s Prison Expansion Plans

Schools Not Jails 

by JOHN GRANT
Weekend Edition July 20-22, 2012

About 50 people converged on Tuesday afternoon July 17 along Route 29 in Montgomery County near the Graterford State Prison to declare their opposition to the building of more prisons and the expansion of existing prisons like Graterford in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Graterford is already a massive institution.

Protesters question need for two new state prisons

BY SEAN CARLIN and Daily News Staff Writer

July 19, 2012

LAST WEEK, Gov. Corbett signed a prison-reform bill that aims to keep nonviolent drug offenders out of state prisons, but for one group in the state, true reform means refraining from building any more prisons.

Decarcerate PA, which seeks to reduce the prison population and advocates for a moratorium on new prison facilities, spent Tuesday afternoon protesting two correctional facilities under construction in Skippack, Montgomery County.

Protest of Graterford Prison Expansion Scheduled for Tuesday

By Keith HeffintrayerHatboro-Horsham Patch
July 17, 2012

The protest seeks to raise awareness of the $400 million Graterford Prison expansion at a time when the state is cutting budgets elsewhere.

Members of the Decarcerate Pennsylvania movement will once again take aim at Governor Corbett on Tuesday afternoon, as a planned protest seeks to raise awareness to the $400 million Graterford Prison expansion at a time when state funding for education and health services is on the decline.

Communities Rally Against Prison Expansion

For Immediate Release: July 17, 2012

Pennsylvanians demand an end to two new prisons in Montgomery County

Skippack Township: Community members from Montgomery County and Philadelphia will rally on Tuesday, July 17, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the intersection of Route 29 and Graterford Road to protest the construction of two new prisons on the grounds of SCI Graterford in Montgomery County. Part of a growing campaign against the controversial prison expansions, the demonstration calls on Governor Corbett cancel the construction while still in its early stages and reinvest the remaining tax dollars in institutions that strengthen communities. 

“Pennsylvania does not need another prison,” said Sarah Small of Decarcerate PA, a statewide coalition of more than 75 organizations opposing prison construction and supporting policies that reduce the number of people in prison. “Other states are finding ways to reduce their prison populations and close prisons. It’s time Pennsylvania caught up to the rest of the country.”

BUDGET PROTESTS GO VIRAL

For Immediate Release

July 2, 2012

“Picture This!” campaign illustrates costs of prison expansion

Governor Corbett just signed off on a controversial budget that he says will put the state on a “diet.” But when it comes to prisons, the governor continues to loosen Pennsylvania’s belt.

The 2012-2013 budget completely eliminates General Assistance and fails to restore last year’s  $840 million cut to public education, yet continues to fund the $685 million plan to build two new prisons in Montgomery County and a third in Centre County. These new prisons—along with the expansions of nine existing facilities—add over 5,000 beds to the state prison system even as Department of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel has set a goal of reducing the prison population by approximately 5,000 people over the next five years.

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