October 17
GUEST: Andy Pragacz, community radio producer (WBDY), teacher at SUNY Cortland, and a founding member of Justice and Unity for the Southern Tier (JUST), talks about changing the criminal justice system and ending mass incarceration.No New Jails in New York State!
I wonder if this movement is all across the country. We know of many locations already, where taxpayers are tired of all the money spent on jails. Here in Dutchess County, the legislature gets unlimited campaign contributions from outside contractors, and guess what, they are building a 200 million dollar new jail.
It doesn't matter that hundreds are in jail because they can't afford bail, are addicted to drugs, need mental health services, or are simply people of color. All the services that could keep people out of join have been cut back or eliminated. Even after serving their time, ex prisoners have to navigate a complex probation maze that often sends them right back to jail. The system is set up to generate convicts. Is it any surprise that the US has the highest incarceration rate in the world?
It is well past time to question the prison industrial complex, that mixture of racism and barbarism that ends up calling for endless new jails. Politicians have to keep those contractors happy.
