Category Archives: ACLU

Quakers and others organized private prison hearings in Tucscon

Churches don’t always sit quietly on their hands when there is injustice impending for their communities. Sometimes they help organize hearings in which pro and con are discussed and recorded, as the American Friends Service Committee did in Tucson last year.

According to Mari Herreras in Tucson Weekly, 26 October 2010,

The American Friends Service Committee, Private Corrections Working Group, UA Latino Law Students Association, and St. Francis in the Foothills United Methodist Church have organized a series of private prison hearings across the state that kick off tomorrow in Tucson at Pima Community College, Downtown Campus at 1255 N. Stone Ave., in the Amethyst Room from 6 to 8 p.m., moderated by yours truly, Mari Herreras.

The public is invited to present testimony, but the AFSC has also invited representatives from the Arizona Department of Corrections, Corrections Corporation of America (expected to build a new prison in Tucson) and Management and Training Corporation (which manages the Marana Community Correctional Treatment Facility). Word is no one has responded from those organizations, but AFSC organizers know the following presenters will be there to provide critical information on the private prison industry: Stephen Nathan, editor of Prison Privatization Report International; Joe Glen, spokesman for Maricopa and Pima Juvenile Corrections Associations; Brent White, UA law professor; Jim Sanders, real estate appraiser; Susan Maurer, retired corrections commissioner from New Jersey; and Victoria Lopez, from ACLU of Arizona.

The hearing will include the following community leaders who will hear testimony and ask questions: Pima County Supervisor Richard Elias; Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik; Assistant Tucson City Manager Richard Miranda; Representative Phil Lopes; and Mark Kimble, former associate editor of the Tucson Citizen.

They even made sure both the basic positions and the actual debate would be recorded: Continue reading →

STPP: Dismantling the School to Prison Pipeline Symposium

Did you know that:
Children are far more likely to be arrested at school than they were a generation ago.

The vast majority of these arrests are for non-violent offenses such as “disruptive conduct” or “disturbance of the peace.” Five year olds are being led out of classrooms in handcuffs for acting out or throwing temper tantrums. Students have been arrested for throwing an eraser at a teacher, breaking a pencil, and having rap lyrics in a locker. These children do not belong in jail.

Why do we pay more to incarcerate people than it would cost to educate them?
Why is this happening? “Zero tolerance” policies criminalize minor infractions of school rules and high-stakes testing programs encourage educators to push out low-performing students to improve their schools’ overall test scores. Students of color are especially vulnerable to the discriminatory application of discipline and push-out trends.
Here’s a chance to do something about it.
The School To Prison Pipeline (STPP) refers to a disturbing national trend in which students are funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. Most of these kids are children of color, and many have learning disabilities or histories of poverty, abuse or neglect, and would benefit from additional educational and counseling services. Instead they are punished and isolated.
The Valdosta Dismantling the School to Prison Pipeline Symposium is one of a series throughout the state of Georgia. It’s 9:30AM – 4PM 30 Oct 2010.

-jsq