About 50 anti-prison activists from the group Decarcerate PA are finishing up a 10-day march from Philadelphia to Harrisburg to protest Pennsylvania's plan for new prisons.
Exhausted after walking from Pottstown to Reading on Wednesday, Melissa Gamble took time to discuss why she was marching from Philadelphia to Harrisburg to protest planned construction of two new state prisons.
"I'm marching for women who are incarcerated and have little hope," she said during a stopover in Reading. "I was once one of them waiting in prison for help that never came."
Protesters gather outside Montgomery County Courthouse during a rally organized by Decarcerate PA May 26. Photo by TONY FIORIGLIO
With chants of “Educate, don’t incarcerate,” Decarcerate PA, DreamActivist PA and local citizens gathered on the steps of the Montgomery County Courthouse May 26 to urge the local government to “Invest in the Future, Not Fear!” according to a press release from Decarcerate PA.
Dozens of protesters with Decarcerate PA lined the intersection of Route 29 and Main Street in Collegeville on Monday while marching to Harrisburg to object to the state's expanding prison system.
"Educate, don't incarcerate, decarcerate PA," was chanted from the side of the street, while a woman with a sound system explained the goals of the march - to tell legislators to fund education, not the prison system.
Decarcerate PA, an anti-prison activist group, has organized a 10-day march from Philadelphia to Harrisburg beginning Saturday, and will spend the weekend walking through Norristown and Collegeville to Pottstown, stopping for a protesting to end prison expansions along the way.
The 113-mile trek has been labeled the “March for a People’s Budget: Stop the Prison Expansion Now!,” and will begin Saturday at noon with a rally in Love Park.
On Sunday, June 2nd, about two dozen opponents of prison expansion will arrive in Harrisburg as part of their ten-day march from Philadelphia to Harrisburg. The march is being organized by Decarcerate PA, a grassroots coalition, and is co-sponsored by a broad alliance of community groups, nonprofits, labor organizations, education advocates, and formerly incarcerated organizers. The “March for a People’s Budget: Stop Prison Expansion Now!” began on May 25th.
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A coalition of groups opposed to mass incarceration has announced plans to hike from Philadelphia to Harrisburg and call on the legislature to stop building new prisons.
Decarcerate PA’s Joshua Glenn says the protestors will turn into lobbyists after the ten-day march that kicks off May 25th in Love Park.
May 31, 2013
Ron Devlin 
Published: Thursday, May 30, 2013
Author: 
For Immediate Release
