Schwenksville, PA – On Wednesday, July 17th, seven members of the grassroots campaign Decarcerate PA will go to court to face criminal charges for their participation in a civil disobedience at the construction site of two new prisons being built in Montgomery County. This protest was the first ever act of civil disobedience to block prison construction in Pennsylvania.
Early in the morning on November 19, seven protestors blocked the construction access road with school desks, notebooks, a “little red schoolhouse,” and their own bodies, halting construction of the $400 million prison expansion project for over an hour. The schoolhouse imagery highlighted the disparity between the governor’s decision to continue spending $685 million on prison construction statewide while slashing funding for education by over a billion dollars.
The seven protestors each face three misdemeanor charges: Defiant Trespass, Failure of Disorderly Persons to Disperse upon Official Order, and Persistent Disorderly Conduct. They have all been released on bail. The charges will be heard in front of the Honorable Albert J. Augustine in Schwenksville’s Magisterial District Court at 2:30PM.
You can make a donation to help offset the cost of legal fees here: http://decarceratepa.info/help-support-graterford-7
Schwenksville, PA – On Wednesday, April 10th, seven members of the grassroots campaign Decarcerate PA will go to court to face criminal charges for their participation in a civil disobedience at the construction site of two new prisons being built in Montgomery County. This protest was the first ever act of civil disobedience to block prison construction in Pennsylvania.
Early in the morning on November 19, seven protestors blocked the construction access road with school desks, notebooks, a “little red schoolhouse,” and their own bodies, halting construction of the $400 million prison expansion project for over an hour. The schoolhouse imagery highlighted the disparity between the governor’s decision to continue spending $685 million on prison construction statewide while slashing funding for education by over a billion dollars.
The seven protestors each face three misdemeanor charges: Defiant Trespass, Failure of Disorderly Persons to Disperse upon Official Order, and Persistent Disorderly Conduct. They have all been released on bail. The charges will be heard in front of the Honorable Albert J. Augustine in Schwenksville’s Magisterial District Court at 11:00AM.
- See more at: http://decarceratepa.info/calendar/graterford-7-court#sthash.er5IQWHj.dpuf
