HOW TO STOP A PRISONin your town

Contributing Authors: Ashle Fauvre,Michelle Foy, Craig Gilmore, RuthWilson Gilmore, Jason Glick, SarahJarmon, Abby Lowe, Lani Riccobuono,Amy Vanderwarker, Ari Wohlfeiler.

Design: Dave Pabellon, with help fromAmy Vanderwarker

CPMP would like to thank Lois Ahrens,Rose Braz, Leonel Flores, Tracy Huling,Dana Kaplan, Mike Murishigie, LauraPulido, Debbie Reyes, Bridgette Sarabi,Frank Smith, Peter Wagner, and JasonZeidenberg for comments, support andediting; Damon Mayrl for editing assis-tance and the many other people whocontributed stories, comments, photosand support for this project. ChristinaBollo, Jorgen Gullickson, MathewReamer, and Debbie Reyes contributedphotographs.

About the California PrisonMoratorium Project

The California Prison MoratoriumProject seeks to stop all public and pri-vate prison construction in California.

The money saved from California’sprison construction budget should beused to fund and actively pursue alterna-tives to imprisonment for as many peo-ple as possible. As a result, communitieswill have the power to examine the rea-sons people break the law and seek alter-natives to prison.

Most people who are being put in prisondo not need to be removed from societyand could effectively be diverted into

community-based programs. Since themajority of people are being sent toprison for non-violent drug-related oreconomic crimes, we believe these peo-ple should have access to drug treatmentand/or economic assistance (such as edu-cation, affordable childcare, job trainingand placement, or welfare) instead ofprison terms. Even the diminishing per-centage of people convicted of violentoffenses can be helped outside the prisonsystem, through programs that addressaggressive behavior and abusive relation-ships, and drug and alcohol treatment.

We consider prisons to be a form ofenvironmental injustice. They are nor-mally built in economically depressedcommunities that eagerly anticipate eco-nomic prosperity. Like any toxic indus-try, prisons affect the quality of localschools, roads, water, air, land, and natu-ral habitats. We join forces with othergroups working for environmental jus-tice.

We believe that prisons do not make ourcommunities more secure, and thatalternatives will work. As long as prisonconstruction continues, viable alterna-tives will not be utilized to their fullestpotential.

Contact information

www.prisonactivist.org/pmp

(510) 595-4674

P.O. Box 75251

Oakland CA 94612

TABLE OF CONTENTSIntroduction 1

A simple idea 3

Prisons on the horizon: expansion in the 80s and 90s 5

Reality, half lies and prison truths 9

Communities fight back: the story ofFarmersville 19

Research 21Guidelines for research 30

Organizing the opposition 31Sample press release 41How to have a house party 43Using the internet 44

Siting and intervention 47

Conclusion 57

Appendix: Public speaking in your town 59

Appendix: Resources 63

INTRODUCTIONOrganizing to stop a prison

When a couple of friends heard thatthe state wanted to build anotherprison in El Centro, Imperial County,California, they’s had enough. Thesmall rural community already heldtwo state prisons and a massiveImmigation and Naturalization Services(INS - now Immigration and CustomsEnforcement - ICE) detention center.

Folks did not buy the CaliforniaDepartment of Corrections claims thatthe proposed prison would benefit thetown. They had several years of experience to draw from. Residents hadseen few benefits from Centinela StatePrison or Calipatria State Prison; theunemployment rate in Imperial Countyis around 19.2 percent. The majorimmigrant detention center did nothelp unemployment or local businesses.Instead, it taxed already poor social andhealth services, roads, water and sewagesystems. “We already have an overabun-dance of law enforcement in the com-munity,” activists pointed out. “Toomany law enforcement employees don’tmake for a well-balanced communityemotionally.”

Imperial County is a predominantlyagricultural, Latino county. The countypopulation is 72.2 percent Latino and32.2 percent of county residents areforeign-born. It is home to one ofCalifornia’s largest water suppliers, pro-viding irrigation for $1.2 billion inagricultural sales. But the people whosupply labor for the sprawling farms seelittle of this revenue, just like they haveseen little of the supposed benefits fromall the prisons in their town.

Residents in El Centro knew that ifthey wanted to stop the latest prisonthey had to get the word out to asmany people as possible. The groupwrote a quick petition calling on theCounty Board of Supervisors to rejectthe state’s proposal. They arranged tohave a table at the upcoming HoltvilleCarrot Festival. They sat in the warmJanuary sun and collected a few hun-dred signatures on their petitions. Theybegan making phone calls to friendsand organizations, includng theCalifornia Prison Moratorium Project.Within a few weeks, they had gotten intouch with another community thathad successfully fought the same proj-ect and set a meeting to discuss stopping the prison.

By the meeting time, the group knewwhen the first public hearing on theprison proposal was scheduled.Everyone at the meeting was givencopies of the petition and the groupbrainstormed every possible organiza-tion who might be persuaded to jointhe opposition: clubs, churches, unions,chambers of commerce, city govern-ments.

One person wrote a speech, outliningthe many objections to the facility,which was delivered in various forms allover the County (see page XX for thespeech). Calls were made to the localradio, TV and newspapers, and to indi-vidual reporters who were covering thestory. The group made sure as manypeople as possible knew that there wasanother perspective on the proposedprison besides the claims the CDCwere making.

By the time the County Board ofSupervisors voted on whether or not toapprove the project, local organizershad delivered over 15,000 signaturesopposing the prison. The Supervisorsvoted 3-2 to accept the project, butwith a very important condition.Opposition groups had successfullyconvinced the County that the costs ofthe facility would run around $15 mil-lion dollars. The County accepted tothe proposal ONLY if the state offeredthe total amout to offset the costs,instead of the $4 millions they wereoffering.

The group wrote letters to elected offi-cials, from the Governor of Californiato the Mayor. They hired a lawyer, butbefore any lawsuits were filed, the statebacked out. By educating and organiz-ing about the true costs of the prisonfacility, local organizers lost the votebut won the fight: the state wasn’t will-ing to pay $15 million and the Countywasn’t willing to take the project forless.

The California Prison MoratoriumProject’s handbook starts off with thisstory to show how successful localorganizing can be, even if it is on ashort time line, with no money, anddriven by the many people who havejobs and families to take care of. Theresidents in Imperial County usedmany of the strategies we outline in thecoming pages. If all the talk of inter-vention and organizing ever seems over-whelming, hopefully you can refer backto this example and remember howpossible it is to take control of yourtown’s future.

A SIMPLE Idea

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NO ONE IN TOWN REALLYWANTS A NEW PR I SON

No one in town really wants a newprison. So why would people try to getone placed in their town? What gooddoes a concrete building full of cagesdo? Or, more to the point, what gooddo people think and say it will do?What are they really trying to get?

Jobs are always at the top of the list.People want a strong local economy sothat their children will have jobs whenthey grow up. They want increased taxrevenues so their towns can providemore city services: road repairs,libraries, education, summer programsfor kids, a local hospital or clinic.People want their property values tohold steady or to increase. People wantlocal businesses to stay healthy, notonly for the benefit of merchants butfor the community in general. Peoplewant to live in nice places that aren’tclogged by traffic, choked by air pollu-tion, or poisoned by bad water.

Anybody trying to bring a prison toyour town argues that it will bring ben-efits, but the evidence shows that inmost cases the argument doesn’t holdwater. A prison doesn’t bring jobs tolocal residents, it doesn’t make localbusinesses any busier, it doesn’t get thelocal economy back on track. In fact,building a new prison comes with bigdownsides. Prisons damage the environ-ment, and can drain away more moneyfrom city and county coffers than itbrings in.

Wanting the benefits prison boosterspromise is not the same thing as want-ing a prison. People want particularsocial and economic benefits, and aretrying to get them by building a prison.It’s likely that these are the things youwant too. If these are the things every-one wants, but a prison can’t bringthem, then no one in town really wantsa prison.

PR ISONS DON ’T BENEF IT ANYONE

Prisons benefit almost no one. You’llfind that most towns are promised thesame benefits – job creation, employ-ment security, increased city services –but that almost none of those promisescome true. Different groups of peoplein your community are attracted to dif-ferent promises. For each of thesegroups, there is a particular way toexplain why a prison will be damagingrather than beneficial.

Making these arguments means point-ing out what the prison will do. Prisonsmake it harder to attract other indus-tries later on that can bring the benefitspeople really want. They are environ-mentally “dirty” industries—pollutingwater, light, and ground. And, eventhough they’re advertised as “recessionproof” (meaning the jobs will stay evenin economically bad times), recentresearch shows that this isn’t true—prison towns haven’t been immune toeconomic downturns. What’s more, aprison is almost certainly “boomproof.” It’s not an industry that willgrow as the rest of the economy does. Ifa new prison isn’t going to bring new

jobs, or increase city revenue, or be aboost to local business, or improveproperty values, then nobody is goingto benefit. And if nobody is going tobenefit, then everybody is potentiallyyour ally in fighting the prison.

Nobody really wants a prison. Prisonsbenefit few people in a community. Ifyou separate the idea of wanting aprison from the idea of wanting jobs,city services, and other benefits, thenyou can help people figure out howunlikely it is that a new prison willbring those things. We know fromworking with people around the coun-try that people have a vision for theirtown. The challenge is how to makethe vision a reality. And, as we’ll helpshow you, a prison will prevent thevision from being realized. Fighting anew prison doesn’t mean sacrificingeconomic and social benefits, but is infact an important part of fighting forthem. If you show how unlikely it isthat anyone will benefit from a prisonin your town, you’ll be more forceful inshowing that nobody wants it.

PRISONS ON THE HORIZONExpansion in the 80s and 90s

In the United States, “between 1980and 1989, the number of prisonersgrew by 14.5% a year. During the1990s, the growth averaged 6.3% ayear. From 1996 to 1997 alone, thenumber of prisoners behind barsjumped by nearly 12,000.”1 In 2002the prison population in the US passed2 million for the first time in history.There are over 1,600 adult prisons inthe US—and 200 of them have beenbuilt in just the last five years.

HOW D ID TH IS HAPPEN?

Common sense tells us that people goto prison because they committed acrime. After all, why else would they bein prison? So we would expect that theincredible explosion in the prisonerpopulation over the last 20-odd yearsmust be because of an equally incredi-ble explosion in crime.

However, common sense is dead wrongin this case. In fact, crime is at a 30year low. This means that most statesand the federal government didn’t startto build and fill the prisons until aftercrime had begun to decline. So why isit that all of a sudden, we as a societyfind it not only acceptable, but actuallynecessary, to spend tons and tons ofcash to lock up tons and tons of peo-ple?

Let’s start with a fact that may surpriseyou: prisons have only been around forabout 200 years. They’re a relatively

new invention in human history. Ofcourse, there were dungeons and towersand other unpleasant places with lockedcages before that, but those places werenearly always places people went beforethey were punished—usually throughtorture, execution, or banishment.Prisons—places where being locked upis the punishment itself— were actuallyinvented to reform those systems ofphysical torture. So even if today it’shard to imagine a world without pris-ons, we can also recognize that such aworld actually existed only a few gener-ations ago.

Let’s skip the first 180 years of the his-tory of the prison, and catch up to theearly 1980s. Prisons were beginning topop up all over our rural landscapes,and people from urban areas starteddisappearing from their homes andreappearing in cages. Again, this wasn’ta time when crime was rising, and any-body who tells you that we needed pris-ons then (or now) because of risingcrime rates simply isn’t looking at thefacts.

In California, the leader in prisonexpansion in the last 20-plus years, only12 state prisons were built from 1858to 1982. That’s one prison every 10years. However, in just the next 22years, 24 prisons were built. That’smore than one prison a year!

In New York, prison spending has dou-bled in the last ten years. But since

1988, the Empire State’s public univer-sities have seen their operating budgetsplummet by 29% while funding forprisons has increased by 76%. In actualdollars, there has nearly been an equaltrade-off: the Department ofCorrectional Services’ budget increasedby $761 million over that period, whilestate funding for New York’s city andstate university systems declined by$615 million. Across the country, thestory is the same: huge and unnecessaryprison projects have pushed other pri-orities—like education and healthcare—into the background.2

WHAT MOVED MORE PEOPLEINTO CAGES IN TH IS PER IOD?

While the real reasons are a little morecomplicated than a simple crime boom,they aren’t all that mysterious. Here area few of the factors we think are mostimportant. This can help you under-stand your current fight in the contextof the Prison Industrial Complex.*

If you’re fighting prison expansion,prison boosters are sure to make it seemlike you don’t care about communitysafety. However, if you can explain thatprison expansion doesn’t have anythingto do with increasing crime—becausecrime ISN’T increasing—then you’ll beable to explain both that you’re con-cerned with community safety, and thatopposing the prison system actuallyhelps to make us safer.

*The PIC isn’t just prisons. It’s the whole system of dealing with social problems and harm using prisons, police,courts, and punishment. We believe that to really understand prisons you need to understand the whole system. The more you

know about the history of the prison system, the more ready you will be to keep it from harming your community.

Although there may be differences inspecific regions of the country, thesethree factors fit together as a generalexplanation for our increasing prisonerpopulation:

1 Creation of new crimes (newlaws that defined new crimes)

2 Intensified policing

3 Longer sentences.

1 New CrimesThis doesn’t mean that in 1980 a

whole lot of people came up with abunch of ways to do bad things that noone had ever thought of doing before.It does mean that politicians started tochange the laws to make things illegalthat weren’t illegal before, and to makethe penalties more severe for someoffenses that hadn’t been harshly pun-ished before. A crime isn’t just harmingsomeone or something, it’s an act thatis defined as illegal—by Congress, yourstate legislature, or your city council.Starting around 1980, many behaviorsthat had been legal were made illegal—they were criminalized. Some behaviorsthat were completely legal before havebeen made grounds for arrest—likehanging out in groups of three or more,which was criminalized underProposition 21 in California in 2000.Other things that were illegal but car-ried only a minor ticket or citationwere made into misdemeanors or evenfelonies—carrying small amounts ofmarijuana, for example, could only getyou a ticket in the late 1970s, butcould land you in prison today.Misdemeanors were turned into

felonies; felonies that carried short sen-tences were turned into felonies thatrequired long sentences. So even if peo-ple’s behaviors haven’t changed, it ismore likely they will wind up in acage—and stay there longer—today.

2 Intensified PolicingAround the same time, federal,

state, and local governments havebegun to put more and more resourcesinto catching and prosecuting peoplewho broke those laws. During and afterthe Vietnam War, the military began toprovide training and equipment topolice back home. Struggles by blackand brown people against racism madeit more and more legitimate for policeto aggressively monitor communities ofcolor (and gave them a chance to tryout their new helicopters and SWATtactics). And being seen as “tough oncrime” has become more and moreimportant to politicians at all levels—even though that wasn’t true a genera-tion ago. So again we can see that whilepeople’s behavior isn’t changing—thatthere isn’t any measurable increase incrime—more people ended up behindbars because the police were given moreresources to do so.

3 Longer sentencesLike we said above, one of the

reasons sentences are longer today isbecause infractions (which carry no jailtime) have been turned into misde-meanors (which carry sentences of upto one year in a county jail), and mis-demeanors have been turned intofelonies (which carry sentences of overa year and are served in state prisons,not county jails). But there are other

so-called “sentence enhancements” thathave greatly increased the amount oftime people have to do. One sentenceenhancement is the “mandatory mini-mum.” Mandatory minimums createunchangeable minimum sentences thatprisoners must serve if they are convict-ed of a crime. One of the first andharshest versions of this law wasMichigan’s “650 Life Law,” whichrequired a life sentence for possession,sales, or even conspiracy to sell just 650grams of cocaine or heroin. This didn’tmean that people selling these drugswere doing so any more frequently ordangerously than before, nor did itdecrease the number of people doingthose things. It simply made more peo-ple sit in more cages for longer thanbefore.

Another type of sentence enhancementis the “three strikes law” now on thebooks in a number of states. These lawsdrastically increased minimum sen-tences for people convicted of thirdfelonies. In California, which has oneof the harshest “three strikes” laws inthe country, a person who has commit-ted two prior felonies can end up witha life sentence for stealing golf clubs.Again, this doesn’t mean that people arebehaving any worse. It means that weare putting people in cages for moreand more time.

DRUG WAR

The “War on Drugs” has played amajor part in the creation of newcrimes, increasing enforcement, andextending sentences. In 1983, one in

ten prisoners was behind bars for adrug offense. In 1996, the ratio wasone in four. The War on Drugs has dis-proportionately affected blacks andLatinos. As Marc Mauer of theSentencing Project reminds us, “Weknow from national surveys that druguse cuts across all races at roughly equalrates, but drug enforcement tends tofocus on communities of color.”

The “War on Drugs” combines thethree elements of prison expansion wejust talked about:

1 Criminalization. Lots of things that people get sent

away for now (like conspiracy to sell)weren’t crimes 25 years ago.

2 Intensified Policing. Under the cover of “looking for

drug dealers,” police have been able todrastically increase their surveillanceover communities of color and poorcommunities. This is true even thoughwe know drug use is equal across racialand class lines.

3 Sentence Enhancements.Mandatory minimums for drug

offenses is a major factor in the increas-ing prisoner population. For moreinformation on sentencing enhance-ments, check out www.sentencingpro-ject.org

The bottom line is that there aren’tmore prisoners because there’s morecrime. There are more prisonersbecause it’s more likely you’ll be put ina cage for doing something that wasn’t

a crime 20 years earlier, because thereare more police who have moreresources who are out to get you, andbecause prisoners who are sent toprison stay there for longer and longer.

BUT ARE WE SAFE?

It’s hard to let go of the thought thatwe aren’t safe, and that we need morecops and prisons to be safe. Prisonboosters will almost surely say thosethings—that one reason to support theprison is to do you part for public safe-ty, or that people who oppose theprison don’t care about communitysafety. And although we can’t tell youhow to reach every person and explainhow that isn’t true, we hope this chap-ter gives a sort of outline for how youcan make your argument:

Building more prisons has notcut the crime rate.

We don’t need more prisons to besafe, because there isn’t more crimethan there was 30 years ago, whenwe had over 1.5 million fewer peo-ple in cages.

Building prisons wastes moneythat could be used on the thingsthat actually make us safe.

Relying on prisons to deal with ourproblems actually makes us lesssafe. When we spend money andother resources on prisons anddecide that prisons are the waywe’ll deal with problems, then we’reforced to neglect lots of otherthings like education, affordablehousing, sustainable economic

development and health care.

In the end, prisons are notabout safety.

Safety comes from having controlover housing, food, health care,work. Safety comes from havingpeople you trust around when youneed help. Prisons don’t get youany of those things. We don’toppose prisons in spite of ourdesire to live in a safe and fairworld. We oppose prisons becausewe want to live in a world that issafe and fair for everyone.

REALITY, HALF LIES and prison truths

One of the most powerful tools thatthe prison industry has at its disposal isthe promise of a revitalized economy, ofmore and better jobs, of rising realestate prices, and of better services foryou and your family. The promises arethe same, whether the county or stateDepartments of Corrections, theFederal Bureau of Prisons, or a privateprison corporation makes them. Nearlyevery town that the prison industry tar-gets for a new prison is in economictrouble. Therefore, these promises arealways made to people who are search-ing for answers to economic problems.

In order to get to the bottom of thesepromises, to figure out if they’re reallytrue or if they’re just part of a phonysales pitch that prison industry repre-sentatives use to sell a prison in yourbackyard, we need to begin with thepromise itself.

In brief form, the promise might runsomething like this:

“If you allow us to build a prison inyour town, you will see an improve-ment in your town’s economic fortunes.The prison we are planning will bringgood jobs for ordinary working people,and reduce your unemployment rate.Prisons are large institutions that needmany products and services in order torun properly. With a new prison inyour town, the demand for local servic-es and products will rise and local busi-nesses will be able to benefit from someof that new business. Also, with all thenew people who move to your town totake prison jobs, both local retail salesand real estate prices will rise. And

because our planning department hasworked hard to make sure that the newprison will not have negative social,economic, or environmental impacts onyour community, building a prison is areally a win-win situation.”

Does it sound too good to be true? Notonly do we think it does, we have thefacts to prove it — from prison townafter prison town. Prison boosters saythat a new prison will generate all kindsof benefits for your town. But most ofthose “benefits” are dreams that willnever come true. However, by the timeresidents in most new prison towns fig-ure this out, the prison has alreadybeen built, and the town is left to dealwith the repercussions. The prisonindustry wants to sell you and yourtown leadership a most misleading billof goods.

So, one of the most important thingsyou’ll do in the course of your work tostop a prison from being built in yourtown will be to educate your fellow res-idents about the real effects a prison hason the host town. In other words, you’llbe educating your community aboutthe truth behind the sales pitch. In theprocess, you’ll want to show that mostif not all of the promised benefits are amatter of smoke and mirrors ratherthan jobs and dollars.

In the first nation-wide survey of theeconomic effects of prisons, a team ofrural sociologists studied every countyin which a prison had been builtbetween 1965 and 1995. Comparingthese places to otherwise similar coun-ties in which prisons hadn’t been built,

they found that, in terms of employ-ment, for example, counties that don’thave prisons are slightly better off thanthe prison counties. In other words, theaddition of a prison tends to have anegative effect on the host county.3

In this chapter we’ll go through themost commonly promised benefits andshow what effect prisons really have onlocal unemployment and poverty, realestate values, retail trade, tax revenues,costs to local governments, and so on.After that, we’ll move on to talk aboutsome of the negative stuff that comeswith prisons – the stuff prison boostersdon’t want to talk about.

First, the benefits.

PR ISON JOBS

Claim: The new jobs a prison bringswill lower local unemployment.

Truth: Most prison jobs – and all thebetter-paying ones - go to outsiders.

In a February 2003 report titled, “BigPrisons, Small Towns: PrisonEconomics in Rural America,” theSentencing Project revealed the long-term impact of prison construction onrural communities in upstate NewYork. They concluded that, “over thecourse of 25 years, we find no signifi-cant difference or discernible patternof economic trends between the sevenrural counties in New York that hosteda prison and the seven rural countiesthat did not host a prison.” Their find-ings, far from being new, confirm what

small prison towns across the countryhave found: very few local residents getjobs at the new prison, and the fewwho do get the lower paying jobs.

Example

When California planned a secondprison in Delano, the state used fig-ures from the first Delano prison topredict the percentage of new jobsthat would go to local residents.When community activists did themath, they figured out that Delanoresidents would be hired for only4.8% of the more than 1,500 jobsavailable — for a grand total of 72positions. Meanwhile, Delano’sunemployment rate, which wasabout 26% before the FIRST prisonopened in 1991, ROSE to nearly29% by the year 2000. This showsthat a 5,000-bed prison in a town of30,000 actually INCREASED localunemployment.

A new federal prison in Atwater,California, delayed opening at fullcapacity for months because itcouldn’t find enough qualifiedapplicants for staff positions in acounty where one in every six resi-dents is unemployed. The qualifica-tion that kept people from beingeligible was a requirement thatprison employees have good credit.It isn’t unusual for poor workingfolks to struggle with their credit, ofcourse, but unlike a shoe factory, afood processing plant, a callingcenter, or almost any other industry,prison jobs require good credit.Prison employers assume that if you

have bad credit, you can’t be trust-ed.

As the Sentencing Project report states,“Counties that hosted new prisonsreceived no economic advantage asmeasured by per capita income.” Infact, prison counties experienced 9%less growth in per capita income thantheir non-prison counterparts. Thatmeans people’s salaries increased morein counties that decided not to buildprisons. What’s worse, public prisonsdon’t pay property taxes. This meansthat communities miss out on tax rev-enue when they build a prison insteadof a productive industry.

Critics often dismiss these points. Afterall, they say, you have to take into con-sideration the increased number of pris-oners and their families. They drive upthe unemployment rate. These criticsmiss two important points. First: pris-oners are not counted in official unem-ployment statistics, so the number ofprisoners has no effect on a town’sunemployment rate. And second, pris-oners’ families rarely move to the com-munities where their loved ones are incustody. So while it is true that mostprisoners are poor people, it isn’t theprisoners, or their families, who causeprisons to have negative effects onhost communities.

LOCAL ECONOMIC GROWTH

Claim: Outsiders hired at the prisonlive, shop, and pay taxes locally.

Truth: Almost all new prison employeeswill commute from a larger town, or a

better-off county, where most of theirpaychecks will be spent.

Very few of the payroll dollars from aprison will “stick” in your town. Mostof the people hired at a prison are hiredfrom a statewide or regional applicantpool, rather than from the local laborforce. That’s why prisons don’t reduceunemployment.

The further problem is that most ofthose new employees who relocate fromelsewhere do not move to the town thathosts the prison, but to a larger town inthe region — a town with more retailstores, theaters, other amenities, andperhaps better funded schools.Consider the fact that despite the glutof cheap real estate in prison towns,prison guards in California choose, onaverage, to commute more that 30miles to get to work.

Since local residents don’t get the jobsand those who do get them don’t livelocally, businesses in prison towns don’tsee the promised increases in sales.Prison employees do most shopping atregional shopping centers, often buyingonly gasoline, fast food and uniforms inthe host town. As an illustration, let’sdo a little math: say Joe Prisonguardmakes $35,000 working at the prisonbut, like most of his co-workers, helives two towns over, where the localamenities and services are much better.

In a year Joe Prisonguard will spend:

$1,800 on gas (that’s a 20 gallon tankfilled once a week — the other fill-upswill be in his hometown).$1,800 on food ($7 per meal, for 250work days — he gets two weeks offfor vacation).$100 on a new uniform.Grand Total: $3,700 spent in the host-ing town.

Now $3,700 over a year might notseem so bad. But consider, if UncleSam takes $6,000 at tax time, then ofhis $29,000 take-home pay, your townsees $3,700, and the other $25,300goes somewhere else. And this is beforewe consider where in your town he willspend his money. Because if he buys hislunch at big chain fast food joints halfthe week, then $900 will leave yourtown for the corporate offices of Carl’sJr., McDonald’s, and Burger King. Achunk of the gas station money willflow back to Exxon and Mobil. Andeven when he gets a raise and has a lit-tle more cash in his pocket, he may eatbetter, but he won’t eat more often orbuy more gas every week. In otherwords, as his pay goes up, his spendingin your town won’t.

Example

Corcoran, California is host city totwo prisons. The town has 8,500“free-world” residents and 11,000prisoners. Corcoran residents gotonly about 7.5% of the jobs at theirfirst prison. After the second prisonopened and both were fully staffed,

the Department of Correctionsadvertised for another two clericalpositions, starting pay $17,000.More than 800 people lined up inthe rain waiting for the hiring officeto open so they could get applica-tions for the two jobs. What otherbig business would provide so fewlocal jobs?

Since ground was broken onCorcoran I in 1986, California hasspent over $1 billion building andoperating the two megaprisons.Before the state had spent themoney, about 1,000 of the town’s8,900 residents lived below the fed-eral poverty line. After the prisonswere built and $1 billion spent,nearly 2,000 Corcoran residentswere in poverty. If, instead ofspending the $1 billion on a newprison, the state had invested themoney in the county, it could haveprovided 1,000 good jobs with ben-efits for twenty-five years.

So much for economic revitalization.

Claim: Your town’s businesses will getsome ongoing contracts with the prisonfor goods and services.

Truth: Most prison expenses are notlocal purchases.

Most purchases for the prison are donethrough a regional or statewide pur-chasing office, where administratorswork to get low prices by bidding outcontracts to supply the entire system.

Instead of buying food or computers orfurniture from businesses in your town,the prison will buy these from a bigcompany that already has a contractwith other prisons, maybe even acrossthe state. Prison administrators willpurchase very little of what they needto maintain their facility from localmerchants. Other than salaries, thebiggest expense is for utilities (light andpower), and these are also usuallyowned by a large company outside ofthe community.

Example

In Delano, California, the only con-tract given to a local business is forstationery supplies to the prison.That contract also supplies fiveother prisons in the region, whichmeans that means in five othertowns, stationers who thoughtthey’d get prison business didn’tget anything at all.

One way to measure the general healthof local businesses is to look at the year-to-year change in local sales tax per res-ident compared with the same figurefor the state as a whole. (There’s moreon this in the “Research” Chapter.)

Example

In the seven years prior to theopening of Avenal, California’s6,000 bed prison in 1987, the towngenerally did better than the stateas a whole in taxable sales per capi-ta. But shortly after the prisonopened, Avenal’s tax revenuedropped drastically, never to recov-

er. In the state as a whole, mean-while, revenues dropped during therecession of the early 1990s andthen rebounded to pre-recessionlevels. In 2000, Avenal’s taxablesales per capita was only 35% ofwhat it had been before the Stateof California sited the prison there.In other words, local businesseshave been selling fewer goods andservices after the prison openedthan they had sold before it wasbuilt, even though it was originallybilled as a great boost to the localeconomy.

Claim: National retail chains will followprisons, creating jobs and tax revenuesfor the local economy.

Truth: While the chains often followthe prisons, the promised benefits don’tmove in with the chains.

Although a new box store on the edgeof your town will generate new jobs, itis worth pointing out that big chainspay the majority of their workers poor-ly, hire mostly part-time staff, and offerfew or no benefits. We realize that afew no-benefit, 25-hour-a-week jobsbeats no work at all. Be that as it may,jobs such as these are far too weak toproduce the economic recovery or revi-talization that prison boosters claim. Asrecently as 2001, the children of full-time employees of one big-box retailer,Wal-Mart, qualified for subsidizedschool lunches because their parents’take home pay was below the federalpoverty line.

More to the point, the problem withbig chains is that, contrary to the argu-ments you’ll hear from their representa-tives, their stores don’t really help thelocal economy. Why?

The arrival of chain stores often meansthe end for small, locally owned estab-lishments—for instance, a small restau-rant that is put out of business by thearrival of a new Burger King. Thus,many of the jobs that prisons “create”are actually replacement jobs for theones lost in locally owned businesses.And since it takes time for a local busi-ness to go under, these effects will notbe seen immediately, but will, instead,develop over several years. So be waryof prison boosters whose economic pro-jections only show the first year or twoafter the opening of a prison. Most ofthe local businesses that eventually gounder last a few years before the chainspush them off Main Street.

Let’s say that after a prison goes up inyour town, a new McDonald’s opensup on Main Street to serve the thou-sands of new employees in town. Well,the fast food chain hires a crew of 40part-time employees, mostly highschool students, to do the work of 20full-time workers. It will draw businessaway from the three locally ownedrestaurants — two will watch theirclientele dwindle and one will go out ofbusiness. The two that lose customerswill reduce their staff by three each (fora total of six jobs lost), and the nineformer employees of the place that clos-es for good will be on the streets with-out a job. Six plus nine = fifteen lostjobs. Statistically it may look like the

town is better off because even thoughfifteen jobs were lost, McDonald’s cre-ated 20, for an overall gain of five jobs.But there’s more to consider than theraw numbers. Why?

Locally owned businesses keep moneycirculating locally. National chainssiphon their profits out of town. Morethan 90 cents on the dollar of themoney flowing through a locally ownedbusiness is re-spent locally. But forevery dollar spent at a national chain,60 cents leaves your town for good.

Big-box retailers like to build outsidethe town boundaries to avoid payinglocal taxes, something which is easy todo in towns surrounded by cheap land.As they compete with locally ownedbusinesses inside the city limits, theyactually reduce municipal tax incomesby driving local businesses under.

Big-box stores change a town’s culture.They impact the rural landscape andaffect historic commercial centers thatare important to a town’s identity andhistory.

ExampleIn the late 1980s California’sTehachapi prison was expanded.The expansion brought a host ofnational retailers and food chainsthat built on the edge of town. Adecade later more than 780 locallyowned businesses had been forcedout of business.

WE DON’T OPPOSE PRISONS IN SPITE OF OURDESIRE TO LIVE IN A SAFE AND FAIR WORLD.

WE OPPOSE PRISONS BECAUSE WE WANT TO LIVE IN A WORLD THAT IS SAFE AND FAIR TO ALL.

PROPERTY VALUES

Claim: The prison will increase residen-tial property values.

Truth: In the short run, yes. But soonafter the prison opens, values tend tofall, sometimes below where they werebefore the project was first announced.

Many towns see a flurry of real estateactivity (sales, new construction) as theprison project is first approved.Believing that prison employees will bemoving to town and that local residentswill get some of the better paying jobs,developers build or refurbish housesand apartments. Local businesses andowners of commercial real estate oftenborrow money to expand or spruce uptheir holdings.

During the prison’s construction, workcrews spend substantial money in thetown and many become temporary resi-dents who rent housing. This flurry ofbusiness activity makes the investmentsin both residential and commercial realestate look good. Businesses refurbishtheir buildings, and developers planand build homes and retail areas. Butthe honeymoon ends when construc-tion ends. The construction crewsleave, employees of the new prison donot live in town, and things turn sour.Local businesses don’t see increases intheir trade and many have outstandingloans to repay for the improvementsthey’ve just completed.

Residential real estate prices tend toincrease during the prison constructionphase, but when the new buyers don’t

appear, prices fall. Sometimes they fallbelow the level they were when theprison was first announced. Why? Ifnew housing has been built for the newemployees to buy, and if new employ-ees never move to town (because, as wehave said, most better-paid prisonemployees live far away from prisontowns), there will be more empty houses on the local housing market.More vacant property for sale meanslower prices for real estate, which canhave two lasting effects. First, real estatedevelopers, homebuilders and theirbankers will lose substantial amounts ofmoney. Less visible but more devastat-ing is the second effect: the decline inhouse prices threatens the security oflong-time homeowners, often lowincome or elderly residents. MostAmericans who have any wealth at allonly have home equity. When the valueof their house declines, so does theirnest egg. This will impact their abilityto send their kids to college, to pay fortheir own retirement, or plan for longrange financial stability.

Making matters worse, just because realestate prices go down doesn’t mean thatrental prices will also decline. Rentalhousing prices rise during constructionpartly because of the demand from thecrews and partly because owners ofrental housing borrow to spruce up orexpand their rental units in anticipationof new well-paid prison-employee ten-ants. Landlords who have invested intheir units generally must charge higherrents to cover the cost of the improve-ments. So even if average residentialreal estate prices go down, rental pricesdo not. As a result, the dollars of town

residents who live in rental housing arestretched even thinner.

Example

In Crescent City, California, the hostcity’s low income workers foundthemselves poorer after a newprison opened in 1989 becauserents increased 25%-35% duringconstruction and did not go downafter the building crews left town. Infact, when the prison was 70% com-pleted, the residents held a referen-dum on the prison, and found thatnearly half the voters regrettedapproving the prison and wantedthe project permanently cancelled.(It wasn’t.)

A TALE OF TWO C IT I ES :EXPANDED INFRASTRUCTUREWITH NO GROWTH

Claim: A prison benefits a communitybecause it will pay for and maintaininfrastructure improvements that thecity can use to attract other industries.

Truth: Communities often foot the billfor improvements, and the ongoingcost of maintaining and staffing them,without attracting new industrial devel-opment.

A prison is a city, and every city needsextensive infrastructure: roads, sewers,wastewater treatment plans, schools,streetlights, traffic cops, folks who han-dle the immense paperwork that anygovernment demands. Two things makea prison a most unusual city. First,nothing naturally gravitates toward a

prison – there is no related industrythat will set up shop at the edge of aprison the way that various kinds ofexperts, such as tax advisors, ormachinists, or printers, or other specialists cluster around other kinds ofindustries.

At the same time, the prison-city makesgreat demands on infrastructure, butdoes not necessarily pay for them. Thecity and county maintain the roadscommuting employees drive on. Whilethe prison treats some wastewater andsewage, the host community often getsstuck with the ongoing expense. Thenon-prison city and county absorb theadditional burden on already overex-tended government offices and services.The drain on resources is immense.And while a prison may produce a fewhours of donated prisoners’ labor, thosedonated labor hours are likely to dis-place a low-wage resident from a job.

Example

California’s Del Norte County had amillion dollar reserve fund beforethe Pelican Bay Prison was sited inCrescent City in 1987. By the timethe prison opened, the County hadspent all that money and borrowed$1.2 million to pay for new roads,expanded schools, a landfill, andinspectors. In addition to repayingthe $1.2 million infrastructure debt,the county of fewer than 40,000people must both pay a proratedshare of the prison’s quarter-billiondollar loan, and tax itself to main-tain these improvements. At thesame time, only 20% of prison jobs

went to county residents. Many ofthe prison’s best paid employeeslive across the border in Oregon,where they spend the bulk of theirincome and pay none of the taxesneeded to pay off the prison-relat-ed debt.

To sum up the economics: in the end,prisons do little to reduce unemploy-ment, do even less for a town’s taxablesales revenues, and artificially drive upreal estate prices for a brief period oftime before causing them to fall. BobPuls, who raises citrus and cattle inTulare County, California and hashelped to fight back five proposed pris-ons in his county in the last 15 years,said this about the “benefits” thatprison industry backers promise:“Prisons produce nothing, and they buyvery little from the local economy.Most prison guards don’t live in prisontowns. Who are they benefiting?” Notthe residents of the host community.

But prisons affect more than just thelocal economy. They also have othereffects – ones which aren’t advertised byprison boosters, but which have lastingimpacts on the host cities where prisonsare built. One organizer fromTehachapi, California asked: “If theseprisons are so great, how come BeverlyHills doesn’t want one?” The reasonsextend beyond jobs, growth, and realestate: prison construction has negativesocial and environmental consequencesthat no wealthy community would tolerate.

PR ISON DROUGHT

Prisons use water … lots of it. In theagricultural West and other regionswhere water is difficult to come by, thewater that prisons use is that muchmore valuable because of what else itcould be used for. As freelance weddingphotographer Nikki Edwards ofPorterville, California puts it, “You putwater on a cotton field, you get cotton.You put water on a field of vines, youget grapes. You put water in a prison,you get sewage.”

Example

In Avenal, California, prison officialsplanned to sink wells in order todevelop the prison’s water supply.Local farmers sued the state to pre-vent the prison from depleting thelocal aquifer, which would haveincreased their costs to deliverwater to their crops. As a result, thecourt ordered the Department ofCorrections to use water from acanal (“surface water”) rather thangroundwater. But the story doesn’tend here: the prison expandedwithout local permission or consul-tation and soon held twice as manyprisoners as originally planned.Because of the prison’s excessivedemands on surface water, thetown of Avenal is left withoutenough water to do any new pro-ductive, commercial, industrial, agri-cultural or residential development.In other words, not only did theprison in Avenal seriously depletethe local water supply, the problemis so severe that it prevents the kindof economic development that

might lead to real revitalization.

SOC IAL D I SORDERS

Prisons also bring with them less visi-ble, but no less devastating, increases indomestic violence, violence in schools,and alcoholism. The increase in socialdisorder in prison towns can’t beblamed on prisoners or their families.The prisoners are locked up and theirfamilies rarely move to the towns wheretheir loved ones are locked up.

Example

After the High Desert Prisonopened in Susanville, California,Linda McAndrews, director ofLassen Family Services, a domesticabuse and rape service provider,reported that she got 3,000 crisiscalls from women in a single year.Susanville has a free-world popula-tion of 6,900. In Susanville, unlikemany other prison towns, someguards do live in town.

Colleen McGrath (New York StateOffice for the Prevention ofDomestic Violence) told TracyHuling: “Domestic violence in lawenforcement families is a subjectthat up until recently nobody want-ed to touch….Based on self-reports[…] the rate of incidence wouldseem to be higher—not dramatical-ly higher, but markedly higher.”

Crescent City, California saw a sub-stantial increase in burglaries ofunoccupied homes after PelicanBay State Prison opened. They dis-

covered that a group of guards’teenage children were responsiblefor the burglaries. As a juvenile pro-bation officer in Susanville explains,“These kids [guards’ kids] live in apara-military household. But theyreally don’t have much supervision.They’ve got nothing to do.”

BR IGHT L IGHTS , B IG PR I SON

One of the most contentious issuesabout prisons in rural towns is lighting.Residents of small rural towns revel inthe natural beauty of their region andmost enjoy seeing the star-filled skieslong forgotten in urban or suburbanneighborhoods. Yet, one Wasco,California resident told us, “One of theworst things about the prison is that welost our beautiful sunsets to the glare ofthe prison lights.” Why? Because pris-ons use intensely bright lights and theyburn them all night, every night.

A Susanville resident described hertown before the prison and after: “Idrove over Highway 36 and saw thetown below us like a little constellationof stars. It was so dark all around andthe town seemed to hang there in mid-air, like some fairy village. Now you seethis tremendous area rimmed with hor-rible yellow lights — and it’s all youcan see.”

Even as residents in Susanville andother prison towns continue to fight(so far unsuccessfully) to get back theirnight skies, the harm done by suchpowerful lighting goes well beyondruining picturesque sunsets and post-card vistas. All living creatures, includ-

ing humans, have daily rhythms thatdepend on light and darkness.Migratory birds and a variety of otherlocal species are killed or have theirmating and feeding patterns seriouslydisrupted by the mega-bright prisonlights. Agriculture suffers because 24-hour lighting interferes with the rela-tionship between darkness and plantgrowth and pest control. And peoplewho cannot get a proper night’s sleepliterally go crazy.

PR ISON RACEWAYS , PR I SON GR IDLOCK

Since it’s common for prison employeesto live dozens of miles away from theprison, traffic during the three shiftchanges is often intense by local stan-dards. Let’s say a prison has 1,000employees (typical for California’s pris-ons), with 80% of employees workingevery day. That’s 800 daily trips to andfrom the prison. Commuters, rushingto get home, regularly speed along nar-row country roads used by local cars,school buses, and agricultural equip-ment in prison towns. In places whereair pollution is a problem, the tens ofthousands of additional commutermiles ever year can make air qualityeven worse, increasing health risks toresidents. Air pollution makes a regionless attractive to productive industriesthat might otherwise be interested inlocating in your town.

PR IVATE PR I SONS : JUST AS BAD AS PUBL IC ONES

One issue we have not addressed out-right until now is the question of pri-vate vs. public prisons. From what

we’ve heard from people like you, inprison towns or towns that have foughtprisons, we’ve found that the differ-ences between public and private pris-ons are very small. In terms of impactson employment, impacts on the envi-ronment and impacts on local infra-structure, they are largely the same.Private prisons may have to pay proper-ty taxes, whereas public prisons do not.But many private prisons pay less intaxes than you might think. As theInstitute on Taxation & EconomicPolicy: Good Jobs First found in theirreport Jail Breaks: EconomicDevelopment Subsidies Given toPrivate Prisons (see appendix), over70% of private prisons received somekind of subsidy from federal, state orlocal governments. One third of theseprisons received tax breaks. We will dis-cuss these issues more in the handbookand also have references for resourceson private and public prisons in theappendix.

RECAP

We’ve now gone through some of themost common claims that boostersmake when they want to build a newprison, and we’ve given you some ideasabout the arguments you can use tofight their questionable claims. But itstill remains for you to provide someproof for your arguments to give themthe strength to stand up to scrutiny byyour opponents. You can’t assume thatyou’ll be able to convince people thatyou’re right by giving arguments thatare critical of your opponents, no mat-ter how well you argue.

The proof, as they say, remains in thepudding. In the next chapter, we’llshow you how to do some basicresearch to prove the arguments in thischapter — and to shape them moredirectly to your town’s situation.

If you need help understanding any ofthe material in this chapter or the restof the manual, or if you’re coming upagainst arguments for which you don’thave a good reply, give us a call or dropus an email.

PROFITING OFFSOMEONE ELSE'S

MISERY IS NOKIND OF BUSINESS

FOR A HEALTHYCOMMUNITY TO

DEPEND ON.

Farmersville is a small town in eastern Tulare County,California. Established in the 1860s, Farmersville, likemany towns in “the valley,” is primarily an agriculturaltown that produces dairy, citrus, grapes, walnuts, cotton,tree fruit and alfalfa. Much smaller than its closest neigh-bors Visalia and Exeter, Farmersville has remained a quietplace to live and grow up. Leaving the chain stores andmovie theaters to much larger and busier areas,Farmersville is a town with three main streets, one night-club, one high school, and a small volunteer library. Thetown has a many churches as restaurants, and you can stillget a 3-bedroom/2-bath home for under $100,000 there.

Like many of the smaller agricultural towns in the CentralValley, Farmersville has fallen on hard times over the pasttwenty years. With unemployment higher than 20% andan average (median) family income of about $17,000 peryear, the city watched the so-called “boom economy” of the1990s sweep across the state from the sidelines. Because theeconomy has struggled here, prison officials, prisonbureaucrats and pro-prison politicians have been able toturn the region into “prison alley” by persuading the citymanagers of many small towns like Farmersville that pris-ons are the best (and perhaps the only) way to bring “eco-nomic revitalization” to their towns.

But in spite of its similarities to other towns in the CentralValley, Farmersville stands out because its residents said“no.” When the City Council was considering a proposalto bring the prison industry into their town, the residentsof Farmersville saw past the prison boosters’ promises ofshiny new chain stores, increased employment, and moretax dollars, and recognized that these promises were large-ly empty. They successfully argued that while they werefor economic revitalization, they were strongly opposedto building a prison as the way to do it. They broughttogether a wide cross-section of the community to opposethe proposed prison plan. And they were able to do all ofthis in four days.

On Thursday, September 9, 1999 a local United FarmWorkers (UFW) employee learned that the followingMonday the City Council was meeting to approve con-struction of a 550-bed prison by the WackenhutCorporation. Wackenhut is a self-described “provider ofsecurity-related and diversified human resource services tobusiness, industry and government agencies” whose mainbusiness is to build, staff, and run prisons. Although theyare a private corporation, this story would be the same evenif the prison were public, as most prisons are. After talkingto the local UFW union office, the UFW organizer foundthe Prison Moratorium Project’s contact information onour website, and contacted us. They also began alertinglocal community members of the Monday meeting, whohadn’t heard about the prison proposal. By Saturday, resi-dents were organizing with the help of sympathetic neigh-bors from nearby towns who had fought against prisons inthe past. They spent most of Sunday in a meeting to planwho would say what to the City Council come Mondayevening. One of the things they did was divide up theinformation from the California Prison MoratoriumProject handbook “What Good Is a Prison?” so that eachperson could make a separate but related point about whythe proposed prison would not benefit Farmersville.

On Monday night, more than 20 UFW members showedup at City Hall to oppose the prison. There, they werejoined by students from Farmersville high school, who hadstaged a march from their school to the city offices to chal-lenge the proposal. They all testified, in Spanish and inEnglish, about how a prison would create problems anddamage the quality of life in their town without reducingunemployment. At the same time local ranchers, led byBob Puls, a cattle rancher from nearby Lindsey who hasbeen fighting to keep prisons out of Tulare County for overa decade, argued that the prison would consume too muchof one of the area’s most precious resources – its water.After hearing the testimony of more than 40 residents whocame out to oppose the building of a prison, the CityCouncil made two decisions, according to the local paper.

Communities Fight Back: The Stor

The Story of FarmersvilleFirst, it denied Wackenhut a permit; and second, the

council went on record stating that it would neverapprove a prison of any sort in Farmersville. Much cele-bration followed.

The Farmersville story shows how people saw throughthe prison lies and illustrates some key ideas that areimportant to this handbook as a whole:

Lots of different people don’t want a prison intheir town and are willing to fight to keep oneout.

Where else are you going to find Republicanranchers and landowners standing side by sidewith migrant farmworkers? Or high school stu-dents with small business owners? Strangethough it may seem, these are powerful coali-tions precisely because the alliances are sounlikely.

When people work together to organizethemselves, they have a tremendous amountof power over important decisions in theplaces where they live.

In only one weekend, community members ofFarmersville were able to stop the prison plandead in its tracks. Your actions (or inactions)count.

It’s never too late to act.

The Farmersville story shows that no matterwhere your town is in its decision-makingprocess, you still have time to start organizing.

If you oppose a prison in your town,you’re not alone.

Residents who opposed prisons from nearbytowns, the UFW, and Prison MoratoriumProject provided their organizing support andpublicity materials to help the people inFarmersville win their struggle. And more andmore people are coming to the same conclu-sion about prisons: profiting off someone else’smisery is no kind of business for a healthy com-munity to be dependent upon.

RESEARCH

This section is an overview on how tofind out the actual effects of prison sit-ing in communities like your own. Halfthe work is being sure you ask the bestquestions. In fact, sometimes goodquestions alone can change the out-come of a potential prison siting.

Example

The City Manager of Mendota, asmall town in California’s CentralValley, approached his County’sRural Economic DevelopmentDepartment to ask for a $4 milliongrant to improve the city’s infra-structure. The town was trying towin approval to be a site for a newfederal prison, and the prisonboosters believed that the FederalBureau of Prisons would give themthe prison if the town could prom-ise to build new roads, sewers, andso forth. The Director of RuralDevelopment for the County knewthat communities in the CentralValley were not prospering fromstate or federal prisons, and shereached out to grassroots peopleagainst the prison to find out whatshe should know. As a result of herinquiry, she asked the City Managerone question: How many unem-ployed residents of his town couldexpect to get the new prison jobs.The answer was ZERO. The CountyRural Development Board refusedto give the city a grant until the CityManager presented a real develop-ment plan that would truly benefitthe town’s residents.

WHAT I S RESEARCH?

Research is four things everyone alreadydoes every day.

Ask good questions;

Figure out what people orsource can answer your ques-tions and patiently follow up;

Put all of the answers togetherto get an overview of the prob-lem you’re trying to solve;

Keep a record of how you havegathered your information sothat somebody else who followsthe same steps will arrive at thesame answers.

You’ve already done research to buy acar or a television, to figure out whereto get the best sandwich in town, or tofind the quickest route from your houseto the nearest post office. When you seeresearch for what it really is — goingthrough steps to arrive at the answer—then you see you do it all the time.Talking to neighbors about how theyget to the post office is research.Comparing sandwiches from your twofavorite restaurants is research. Andtelling a friend how you figured outthat the TV you bought is the best dealis also part of research.

Doing research makes you an expert. Itmay be that your town’s elected officialsdon’t want to see you as an “expert,” orthat the guy who lives down the streetdoesn’t think you’re an “expert.” But ifyou follow the four steps, it won’t mat-ter what others think. You will be anexpert.

The most important quality anyresearcher must have is patience. Thatis because the people and offices withthe answers to your questions are scat-tered far and wide. Generally they’reoverworked and understaffed. It takespatience to figure out where to get thethings that you need. You might haveto make a few phone calls to get a sin-gle answer – but that’s somethingeveryone experiences, whether ques-tioning a utilities bill, getting informa-tion about their kid’s school, or settingup a group activity for people theywork with. The point is, patientresearchers get the job done.

Now we’re ready to move on to thestep-by-step guide. And if the guidanceyou need is not in the pages of thishandbook, please call or email us andwe will help you.

DON ’T ASSUME THEY ’RE R IGHTAND YOU ’RE WRONG .

The way to start researching to stop aprison in your town is to question eachof the claimed benefits of prisons oneat a time. In the previous chapter wereviewed a number of the most popularclaims about prison benefits, andshowed how the truth is quite differentfrom the promises. We suggest you usethose claims as a guide for yourresearch.

You should begin your research by find-ing out who is for the prison and why.Don’t be discouraged by big words andfancy talk. Ask boosters to say whatthey mean — in detail. Don’t acceptwords like “recovery” and “revitaliza-

tion” or “economic stimulus.” Instead,ask them to say, in plain language, whatthey mean by these fancy words. Dothey mean jobs? How many jobs? Whatkind of jobs? Do they mean increasedsales for local businesses? How much?Over what period of time? Ask forspecifics, and ask for them in writing.Never, ever take an “expert’s” view atface value. And most importantly,always ask the person who’s makingthe claim how they arrived at thatconclusion!

Once you’ve identified the claims,you’ll evaluate them, one by one. Howdo you do this? In three easy steps:

Think through the claims to fig-ure out what they actuallymean.

Make a list of your own ques-tions about each claim.

Find the answers to your ques-tions.

TH INK THROUGH THE CLA IMSTO F IGURE OUT WHAT THEYACTUALLY MEAN .

When a booster claims a benefit, he orshe believes the benefit will appear inone or more forms. For example, “eco-nomic growth” can mean lots of differ-ent things: new jobs, or new businessfor old or new companies, new resi-dents who will need new housing,roads, schools, sewers, wastewater treat-ment, and health care. To get to thebottom of a claim, you should first askboosters to spell out what they mean.Remember, though, that they won’t

necessarily give you all their reasons —they might want to save some “bene-fits” for a time and place when theythink they can catch you unprepared.In other words, some boosters act ingood faith, and some don’t. Don’t besurprised to encounter both kinds offolks.

Once you’ve gotten prison supportersto explain what they mean by eachclaim, figure out which of the proposedbenefits is likely to seem important toother residents of your town. Youmight find this out by reading thenewspaper, or writing a letter to theeditor to see who responds, or just talk-ing with a group of neighbors, orcoworkers, or people from your houseof worship about the problem as yousee it. Talking things over in some waywill help you figure out which researchto do first. It will also help you gather aresearch team – which is to say peoplelike you who want to know what isreally likely to happen if a prison getsbuilt in your hometown.

Once you figure out what boostersactually mean by their claims move onto step two.

MAKE A L I ST OF YOUR OWNQUEST IONS ABOUT EACHCLA IM .

A prison is a city. What are the effectsof putting a small city (a prison) nextto another small city (your hometown)? The federal and state govern-ments have built so many prisons dur-ing the past twenty years that there isnow a lot of information out there you

can use to find out just what the effectsof a second city right next to yours willbe. This research boils down to twotasks: figure out who to ask and what toask them.

To begin, make a worksheet for eachquestion to guide your research (see thesample worksheet at the back of thishandbook). A worksheet helps you getorganized by helping you figure outwhat you already know, what you stillneed to find out, and where youlearned what you know (whether thesource was reliable or not). Also, whenpeople ask how they can get involved,you can give them research worksheetsand ask them to answer particular ques-tions.

In thinking of the questions to ask, youshould be creative. Remember, you willfind the answers to the questions youask. Therefore, you should ask thequestions that make a difference to youand your fellow residents as you consid-er what a prison will do to the placewhere you make your home. For exam-ple, you might decide that most resi-dents think that any new developmentin town should include better child- orelder-care. Or you might want to knowwhether a town with a new prison hasmore activities and work opportunitiesfor teenagers to take advantage of.

As with much of this work, it helps todo it collectively. One really smart per-son trying to come up with all thequestions after a full day’s work is goingto be less effective than 10 tired peoplefocused on the same task. More headsmeans more ideas, more input, more

possibility to cover all your bases. Takeadvantage of the group.

We have provided a list of questions toget you started. Doubtless you’ll becoming up with many more topics andquestions that apply more specificallyto your town. Remember to involveyour friends and neighbors. Keep up onother people’s thoughts and concernsabout the prison. The more people youtalk to, the more chances you’ll have tohear about what issues are important toyour community. Add these issues toyour research list. If you can’t think oforiginal questions do two things: beginwith the ones we’ve provided, and usethem as a base to come up with newquestions. If you still can’t figure outwhat else to ask about, give us a call.

Remember, find out from the peopleyou ask how they arrived at theiranswers. A good researcher will neverjust rely on the word of a so-called“expert,” no matter how qualifiedshe/he seems to be.

When you’ve challenged each prisonbooster’s claim by coming up withgood questions, you can push forwardto step three.

F IND ANSWERS TO THE QUES-T IONS YOU ASK .

The level of detail you get for the ques-tions you ask depends on how patientyou are, how much time you have, andwhat you want to do with the informa-tion. Sometimes, a good, focused ques-tion, and a general answer, will leadyou to all the information you need.

Here are some questions to ask aboutthe most common issues that concernresidents about a proposed prison.Because building a new prison is reallyjust like building a new city next toyours, many parts of your town will beaffected.

Jobs• What kind of jobs are they?• What are the average qualifica-tions of people who get such jobs?• Are the average qualificationshigher than the minimum require-ments for the jobs?• How many jobs are being prom-ised to local residents?• Can a town demand that jobs bereserved for current residents?• Can a town or prison require non-resident employees to move to thetown?

Businesses• What kinds of business activity doprisons support?• Does the prison itself spendmoney locally?• How much? And on what? (If theydon’t put utilities at the top of thelist, somebody isn’t telling thetruth).• What goods/services are pur-chased outside the local area?• Do employees spend moneylocally? On what?

New business activity• Do new businesses work side-by-side with existing ones, like momand pop restaurants, grocers, autoparts stores, and so on?• Or, do small, local businessesclose up because of new chainstores?• Do chains leave as much moneyin the local community as locallyowned businesses do?

• How much? What percentage?

Residential growth• Will the prison increase the town’spopulation?• How?

• And by how much?

EnvironmentThe environment is where we live,work, learn, and play. A new prisonwill produce air pollution and affectthe environment in other ways. Whatis the current status of your environ-ment?

• Is your current environmentimportant for what already happensin your area – such as recreation,agriculture, or the ordinary enjoy-ment you take from living whereyou live?• What will adding a small city toyour town do to the environment?• How will you benefit from, or beharmed by, the changes?

Health Care• Are the existing doctors, nurses,therapists, hospitals, and clinicsadequate for your community?• Will the prison increase the healthcare capacity of your town, ordilute the health care for folks bothinside and outside of the prison?

Roads

New houses and businesses and,especially, the prison itself, willautomatically create a great strainon current infrastructure.

• How many more roads will be required?• Where will they run?• Who pays to build them?• Who pays to maintain them?• Will roads have to be widened ornew traffic signals added to accom-modate more cars on the road?

Traffic• If more people live in your town,or if new employees work in yourtown but live elsewhere, what hap-pens in terms of road congestion?• What does increased traffic meanfor the safety of children going toand from school and activities?• Air pollution?• Traffic control? Will a new prisonrequire new police officers toensure safe roads at rush hour/shiftchange?

Schools• Are your schools currently ade-quate?• Will the prison increase enroll-ments if the children of the prisonstaff enroll?• If so, by how much?• Who pays to increase school size?• How will these increases beimplemented without a drop ineducational quality?

Sewers• How much more sewage will beproduced by the prison?• By new businesses?• Who pays to develop more capacity?• Who pays to maintain it?

Water

• How much of an increase in wateruse will the prison cause?• Is there enough good water tosupport a swelling in the popula-tion?• What is the timeframe they’reusing to make their calculationsand forecasts?• If the water supply got strained,what other options would peoplehave? • Will wastewater be recycled?• Who will pay?

Example

In El Centro, California, concernedcommunity members challenged

the claim that skilled nurses wouldmove to their town to work in theproposed prison. By contacting thestate Department of Health andHuman Services, community mem-bers learned that the entire statesuffers from an acute shortage ofnurses. So it was unlikely that a newprison would lead to a significantincrease in qualified health careprofessionals when such individualswere so scarce throughout thestate. As a result, many othersjoined in opposition to the prisonbecause they did not want to jeop-ardize the health of school childrenand elderly retirement home resi-dents.

WHERE TO BEG IN?

You can begin to seek out the answersto your questions by making contactwith communities that have prisonsthat were built in the past twenty years(prisons constructed before 1984 werebuilt under very different conditions).We have met community groups thatsent small delegations to towns with aprison to see and hear with their owneyes and ears. This is a great way tobegin your research. Likewise, it is alsoa good idea to contact folks who havekept prisons out of their town. How doyou find such communities? The easiestway is to contact us at PrisonMoratorium Project.

Touring a Prison Town

Once you’ve found a town to visit, putyour question worksheets on a clip-board and take a tour. Look at the

RESEARCHING HOW TO STOP A PRISON

BEGINS WITH QUESTIONING EACH OF THE CLAIMED BENEFITS OF PRISONS,

ONE AT A TIME.

downtown, travel the streets, visit theprison, ask all your questions. Forexample, ask the guards where they live.Ask the business people along MainStreet what benefit they think they’vegotten from the prison. Also ask themhow the businesses in town havechanged over time. Are there more?Fewer? And over how many years didthese changes take place? Make a noteof the answers you get on your work-sheets. Also, take along some blankworksheets to use in case new questionscome up.

If the town you decide to visit has anewspaper, the editor will generally bean excellent source of information. Theeditor will be able to recall what thearguments for and against the prisonwere, and will know about the currentopportunities and problems in thetown. She or he will probably knowwho led both the support and opposi-tion to the prison and might even havean idea about how to contact theseindividuals.

Still, you’ll want more sources of infor-mation, since with more informationyou will get a more complete picture ofwhat has happened in that town sincethe prison was built. If the town has asenior center, you might want to startthere. Often, retired people pay theclosest attention to what is going onaround them. The high school princi-pal will have a sense about changes inthe size of the local schools, as well asabout changes in employment opportu-nities for teenagers and recent gradu-ates. Go to service at local places ofworship. If the opportunity arises, talk

to people on the street. A random citi-zen of the town may have ideas that noother organization or individual youhave plans to meet with would ever tellyou. And the Chamber of Commerce,generally a pro-prison organization, willbe able to tell you of the comings andgoings of businesses since the prisonwas sited.

When asking questions about jobs,businesses, poverty, and other indica-tors of changing prosperity, you have toget at least two answers to each ques-tion:

What was the situation twoyears before the prison opened(it takes about two years fromwhen a prison site is approvedto when the prison opens)

What is the situation today?

MEASUR ING CHANGES INPR I SON TOWNS

Alright, you know what kinds of thingsyou want to find out about (jobs, sales,population, etc.). But how do you finda trustworthy method for finding thesethings out, short of relying on some-body else’s (perhaps questionable)expertise? And how do you do it insuch a way that your answers will standup to the inevitable scrutiny from theprison’s boosters? A general rule ofthumb is to compare information fromtwo years before the prison was built totwo years after, as well as the present.That way you are evaluating a period oftime that would be long enough toshow any significant changes that

occurred since the prison was built.

We’ll take on some of the most com-mon measures of change one at a time.

JobsHow do you measure jobs? A few ways.A good question to begin asking isalways: what was the unemploymentrate in the town two years before theprison opened? What is the currentunemployment rate? You can get thosenumbers from city hall, or the countyemployment development office, or thestate labor department. The informa-tion is a few short phone calls away.

But you will also want to know whogot jobs at the prison and whether ornot prison workers live in the localcommunity. Sometimes the prisonhuman resources office will give you azip-code list of employees, which willsimply show you who lives locally. InCalifornia, fewer than one out of fiveprison jobs of any kind goes to peoplewho already lived in the host commu-nity. And the people who get theremaining 80% of jobs don’t move tothe town. They make their homes else-where.

Businesses Again, a town’s local Chamber ofCommerce can tell you about the com-ings and goings of member businesses.That won’t be everybody, but it willgive you a general idea of change overtime. It is always important to ask peo-ple to describe the differences betweennew and old businesses in terms ofownership (Independent, Chain, or

Franchise?) so you can get an idea ofhow much of the revenue that circu-lates through the place is likely to bene-fit the town as a whole rather than aremote owner.

Business activity There are different ways to measurebusiness activity, and the way you do itdepends on where you live. If you livein a place with sales tax, then your jobis relatively straightforward:

You will first want to ask whether thehost community’s per capita sales taxtotals have risen or fallen, and whetherthat change has been the same as or dif-ferent from the county or state as awhole. Remember the general rule, andcompare two years before the prison isbuilt to two years after, as well as thepresent.

The state office in charge of sales taxrevenues can usually provide you withthe answers to these questions, thoughit will likely take a while to get areport. Try to be patient. And push thisto the top of your list of answers to get,to give yourselves plenty of lead-time.

In addition, you can often find stu-dents or faculty at local colleges or universities, especially in departmentsof planning, economics, or rural sociology, who have access to this kindof information and who will probably figure out the answers for you at nocharge. We can try to help you findsomebody to do this if you ask.

Whether you have sales tax or not,another question to ask is what thetotal size of local payroll is. This is alsoa question that a nearby planning, economics, or rural sociology depart-ment could help you answer.

Poverty This is actually a hard one. In recentyears, the definition and eligibility criteria for family assistance haschanged so dramatically that the answerto a question about poverty can bequite misleading. How so? Well, it’svery likely that the way they countedpoverty in 1995 was very different thanhow they count it now. So comparing1995 poverty rates to current oneswon’t give you an accurate picture ofpoverty in the host community.

It might be the case that the number ofwelfare caseloads in a particular townhas dropped since the prison opened,but that drop might be because peoplelost their eligibility for benefits ratherthan because they got jobs at, or relatedto, the prison. With the Federal govern-ment’s push to move people off of wel-fare, such declines in official povertynumbers are not uncommon. You can,however, find out how many childrenin the school district are eligible forsubsidized lunches, and how that num-ber has changed over time. Also, youcan look at the changes in the percent-age of folks who receive Aid to Familieswith Dependent Children (AFDC) orTemporary Assistance to NeedyFamilies (TANF). The answer won’t beperfect, but it will give you a sense ofhow well or poorly low-income house-holds are doing in the community.

Residential and CommercialConstruction By driving around a town you can see ifnew construction is happening. You canalso ask realtors in the area how hous-ing and other real property stock andprices have changed over the time peri-od you’re wondering about. Realtorscan also give you a sense of how rentshave changed over time. Be sure to askwhether rising rents have kept pacewith, lagged behind, or outstripped thechange in sale prices for comparablereal estate. If rents are higher, but houseprices have fallen, that means low-income people in the community areworse-off than they were, while elderlyand retired people who own homesmight be in worse condition as well(see the previous chapter’s discussionabout real estate values). You shouldalso look at building permits, to seehow many of the projects that filed per-mits were actually completed.

Infrastructure Since a prison is a city, it needs all thestuff every city needs: roads, sewers,wastewater treatment plants, powerplants, etc. New facilities will have tobe built. Local resources (especiallywater) may not support the hugeincreases in utilities that prisonsdemand. And someone will always haveto pay for such increases. For this rea-son, your worksheets should alwaysinclude questions about who paid forthe infrastructural development, whohas paid to maintain it since it wasdeveloped, how they paid for it, andwhat the repayment plan is on anyloans.

Environment Everything we’ve covered so far, plusmore, can reasonably fit into this cate-gory. In a sense, “environment” meanspretty much everything — what yourtown looks like, how it operates, whatimpact it has on the surroundingregion, and how it supports the lives ofthose who live in it. When you askquestions about the environment, whatyou’re trying to get at is how a prisonwill enhance or degrade life for all liv-ing things in your town — whichmeans not just the human residents ofyour town, but your town’s representa-tives from the animal and plant king-doms as well. Insofar as one of theimportant benefits of living in a small,rural area lies in your proximity to andconnection with the natural surround-ings, questions about the environmentare neither unimportant nor secondary.

Example

Concerned community membersfrom Hartford County, Marylanddecided to visit a prison town tofind out what the future might holdfor them. At the prison, theynoticed that at sunset all theprison’s guards put on their sun-glasses — to shield their eyes fromthe glare of the prison’s brightlights, which burn throughout thenight, each night. What a way tolearn that prisons are never dark,and that communities where prisonsare sited lose the night sky! Andyet, if you don’t ask these questionsabout the environment, you mightnever know of such consequencesuntil it’s too late, and your new,

280-acre neighbor steals your nightsky from you.

Besides talking to local residents andusing your own eyes, ears, and noses,you should try to get copies of environ-mental impact reports, if any exist, forany prison host-city. These reports arewritten before a prison is built, andthey predict what the effect of a prisonwill be on the environment, and some-times the economy too. You can com-pare the estimated impact to what hasactually happened since the prison wasbuilt. Beware that these reports are longand complex, mostly written for “spe-cialists” in the field. We can help yousort through them if you need it. Totrack down these reports, try contactinglocal libraries, newspapers, city coun-cils, or the state or federal bureau ofprisons.

RECAP

All right, so now you’re ready to go offand turn yourself into an expert onyour town’s possible future. Next, we’llturn from the subject of research to themeat and potatoes of your campaign tostop the prison in your town organizing fel-low residents to stop it. It’s no good tohave spectacular research if you have noway of getting the word out to yourneighbors and convincing them thatyou’re not just a busy-body trying tomake trouble for your town’s electedofficials.

CLAIM I AM INVESTIGATINGThe prison is a cost effective industry for the City of Mendota.

QUESTIONWhat are the associated costs to building a prison in Mendota?

WHERE I WILL FIND THE ANSWER:Mendota city planners, the Enivronmental Impact Report for the project, CityManager, public utility and service officials, city officials in Delano who havealready built a prison and are building another.

WHAT I FOUNDThe EIR says that Mendota will need more power than the city has capacity forright now, and it does not say those costs will be covered by the Federal Bureau ofPrisons.

WHERE AND WHEN I GOT THE ANSWERDraft Environmental Impact Report, page 60.

NEW PIECES OF INFORMATION I NEED TO FINDHow much power does Mendota have capacity to supply right now, how muchpower a typical prison use, and how much maintenance and construction costs ofsuch a power supply run.

WHAT I FOUND The city planner I interviewed said there would significant impacts on trafficbecause of all the commuters who will work on the prison and be driving throughtown. This makes new roads out to the prison necessary

WHERE AND WHEN I GOT THE ANSWERInterview with City Planner, 5/28/04.

NEW PIECES OF INFORMATION I NEED TO FINDHow much does it cost to build new roads.

We have filled in some example ques-tions to give you an idea of how to usethis sort of worksheet. The worksheetis only a guide for you to develop ahelpful way for you to organize theinformation you find. All examples areficticious. The worksheet answers thebasic questions:

• What you need to know aboutabout a claim

• Where you’ll get the answers

• What you found, includingsources and dates

• Additional information you need to find

Guidelines for research

ORGANIZING the opposition

WHAT I S ORGANIZ ING ANDHOW DO I DO I T ?

Having the facts and knowing yourallies are a couple of very importantsteps in the fight against a new prison.Now you’ve got to figure out how touse these tools to do a few other impor-tant things: spread the word so thatmore people in your town will beinformed, increase the number of peo-ple who agree with you and are willingto help out, create and carry out a strat-egy to keep the prison out, and use thelocal and regional news media to coveryour side of the issue. When puttogether and done well, these fourthings are “organizing”. We can’t guar-antee that organizing will keep a prisonout of your town, but we can guaranteethat if you don’t do it, you will loseyour opportunity to influence the deci-sion.

Just as with research, what you mightlack in experience, you can make up forwith commitment and perseverance. Atbottom, organizing is really about onlytwo things — communication and per-suasion — with a good dose of creativi-ty thrown in. In this chapter, we’ve laidout many of the basics for organizing.As you begin to organize, you’ll findthat some of what we’ve suggesteddoesn’t apply to your situation or that itdoesn’t work in your town, and youwill develop your own strategies thatweren’t mentioned in this handbook.We hope that you will let us knowwhat did and didn’t work for you, sothat we can make future versions of thishandbook better. With that, let’s talkabout the pieces of organizing. A lot ofwhat’s in this chapter comes from

Organizing for Social Change: AManual for Activists in the 1990s bythe Midwest Academy.

CALL ING AND HOLD INGMEET INGS

Meetings are the basic building-blockof any organizing campaign. Meetingsare the place where community mem-bers come together to meet one anoth-er, make plans for a campaign, makedecisions on goals, and determine howthey can achieve those goals. They arethe places where people new to theissue find out what you’re all about.And, they are the place where peoplebegin to see the power that they havesimply by coming together in commoncause and letting others know about it.This may seem a little on the touchy-feely side for some of you, but you’llhave to keep in mind that one of themost common reasons for inaction isisolation. Your job as an organizer is tomake sure that no one in your townfeels isolated from the debate aroundthe new prison.

Having said that, many examples ofsuccessful organizing against prisonconstruction in California have startedwith just one or two people, meetingover coffee and talking about why theydo and do not want a prison in theircommunity. These informal discussionscan develop into campaigns and meet-ings that bring the force of the commu-nity together to fight for common goalsand a common vision for their town.Because meetings are so important, wethought we’d talk a little about how tohold one, how to get things accom-

plished once you’ve gathered, and somelogistical stuff for making them runsmoothly.

Goals First, every meeting should have agoal. It is important for participants tofeel like they are accomplishing some-thing toward their overall goals. Forinstance, an initial meeting to stop aprison might have the goal of develop-ing a plan for the campaign to stop theprison, finding ways for communitymembers to express their opposition,finding avenues for directing that oppo-sition, and making a timeline forimplementing those actions. Or a meet-ing might focus on the subject of howto bring more people in the communityinto the campaign. Keep your goalssimple at first. While you all, ultimate-ly, want the same thing (no prison),you’ll get there through the many smallsteps you take as a group. There’s nosense rushing ahead if the group isn’tready, since your greatest strength is inthe group itself.

• Have you set concrete, realistic goals?• Have you made sure that yourgoals allow everyone to partici-pate?

Logistics Meetings should be held in places thatare comfortable and familiar to thefolks you want in attendance. It doesn’twork to hold a meeting at a spaciouscommunity center if it’s not a conven-ient distance for the majority of the res-idents in your town or for the groups

you hope to draw to a particular meet-ing. Here are some other things to con-sider:

• Newsprint and markers • Easel and chalkboard• Outlets for audio-visual equipment• Sign-in sheets and table• Refreshments• Microphone set-ups• Have you arranged for childcare?• Do you have transportation forthose who need it?• Do you have a plan to increase your turnout and enough peoplemaking calls to insure a good-turnout?• Do you have a system for compar-ing those who said they wouldcome with those who actuallycome?

As you plan your meeting, it can helpto determine roles for people alreadyinvolved in the campaign. For instance,every meeting should have a chairper-son — someone who helps to developthe agenda of the meeting, encourageseveryone to participate in the meeting,and directs discussion towards makingdecisions or accomplishing particulargoals.

Though it may not always be conven-ient, it’s best to change the chairpersonfrom meeting to meeting. Chairing ameeting is a leadership opportunity,and by giving many members of yourgroup the opportunity to be the chair-person, you will build your group’s

capacity to lead. This leadership experi-ence will be important as your groupgrows. For instance, if a single personhas always chaired your meetings, whenyour group becomes sufficiently largeto split into two subgroups, there willbe no other person with chairing expe-rience to take over with the new sub-group. Chairing a meeting is also anopportunity to practice public speaking— something you’ll want many of yourmembers to have some experience with.In the end, each aspect of the work youdo to stop the prison is some kind ofopportunity to increase your group’sability to act and organize. The strongerthe skills of the entire group are (asopposed to the skills of a single orselect few individuals), the stronger areyour chances for success. Have youasked people to serve as the:

• Chairperson/facilitator?• Note-taker?• Timekeeper?• Presenters?• Tone-setters — to open and closemeetings?• Greeters — to welcome peopleand get names, phone numbers,addresses and e-mails?

Many of the small towns in Californiathat have faced a prison have a signifi-cant population of non-English speak-ers (and English-only elected officials).By holding meetings exclusively inEnglish or forgetting to accommodateother languages, you may be cuttingyourself off from a potentially richsource of support for your campaign.In doing so, you’d be repeating exactly

what prison officials and their support-ers do in virtually every attempt tobuild a new prison. They figure, thefewer people involved in the debate, theeasier to control the debate — andthey’re right. More people joining yourgroup will increase your chances forsuccess.

Other considerations • Is the site familiar, accessible, rep-resentative and adequate?• Are the date and time good for those you want to attend?• Do you have a chairperson forthe meeting? Has the chairpersonbeen involved in preparing theagenda or been fully briefed?• Do you have adequate translationfor non-English speakers?

Agendas You can think of an agenda as some-thing like a script. Try to imagine howmuch you’d get done as the director ofa multi-million dollar movie without ascript. Not very much. Similarly, meet-ings need agendas to make them effi-cient. When you create an agenda, con-sider beginning the meeting by present-ing a particular proposal for the groupto act on. It is a good way to makeyour meeting move toward concretegoals, to generate discussion, and tokeep large gatherings manageable.Imagine a small community group thathas made headway in its effort to con-vince a city council member that a newprison will not bring any of the prom-ised benefits to their community. Thegroup sponsors a meeting and invitesthe council member. Because a large

number of people attend and there isno clear agenda, the meeting deterio-rates into a shouting match and theopportunity to gain an elected official’ssupport is lost. Score one for the prisonsupporters.

• Does the agenda:Accomplish your agreed-upon goals?Encourage commitment and involvement?Provide visible leadership roles?

• Do you need:Printed agendas?Background materials?Proposals? Assignments

A key component to a meeting is deter-mining what steps need to be takennext and who will do what. This can bedone either by assigning and/or askingfor volunteers for particular tasks or bycreating “workgroups” to handle vari-ous aspects of a campaign. If yourgroup is large enough, you might haveworkgroups for research, fundraising,outreach and canvassing, media, andmany others. However you organizeyour tasks, be sure to leave plenty oftime at meetings to go over actions andsplit up responsibilities for tasks. Whenyou end your meetings, make sureeveryone is crystal clear about:

• Who will do what tasks? • How long will each task take? • Who else will help?

SETT ING A STRATEGY

A strategy is a plan to getting to yourgoal. It is about understanding who canhelp you achieve your goal, and whowill be opposed to what you are doing.It is also the “how” part of the organiz-ing equation — How will you win?What will you need to do in order towin? Will you pressure city council andother local government agencies to can-cel the hosting of the prison throughmedia work and attending hearings?Will you hold a demonstration? Whowill get in your way and what kind ofpower do they have? How can you winopponents to your side, and with whatarguments?

More than any other part of the anti-prison work you will do, strategiesdepend upon the specifics of your situ-ation. While the details of organizingchange from community to communi-ty, there are some general guidelinesthat we can refer to for meetings, out-reach, fundraising and media that wecan be reasonably sure you will use inyour community. But strategy is a littletrickier – it always depends upon thespecifics of a situation. The fact thatsomeone in your group is a good friendwith one of the city council membersmight play an important role in yourstrategy. Or maybe your kid punchedthe City Manager’s kid in the mouth acouple years ago, so she/he won’t beyour ally. The point is that strategizing

is hard to teach and almost impossibleto learn by memorizing a set of rules.

Having said that, we don’t want toleave you without any advice. Here aresome things you can do to make sureyour strategizing is effective:

• Assume everything will takelonger than you think.• Murphy’s Law is, as usual, in fulleffect: Anything that could possiblygo wrong will go wrong. Alwayshave a backup plan. • Never over-commit yourself toany one particular strategy. Whencircumstances change, you shouldbe able to change your strategyalong with them…• … Which means you shouldstrategize and re-strategize. Make ahabit of re-examining your cam-paign strategy at regular intervals.• With changes in goals will comechanges in strategy.• In general, strategies that relyupon the strengths of the groupwill be more sound than strategiesthat depend upon the work of indi-viduals.

As with everything else in a campaignthat has a definite end-point, timing isalways important. So make sure to askyourselves these key questions whenputting together a campaign strategy:

What is the schedule for imple-menting the plan to build theprison?

How and when will you inter-vene in the plan?

What tasks will need to happenand in what order?

F IND ING AND DEVELOP INGALL IES

While it may be obvious, the impor-tance of allies bears repeating in theorganizing context. The more peopleyou have on your side, the more likelyyou are to stop a prison from beingbuilt in your town. Broad support forkeeping a prison out of town translatesinto real political power. While thereare many different kinds of allies, we’regoing to focus on the two most likelyto be the bread and butter of yourgroup — residents just like yourselvesand other organizations.

Outreach Outreach is basically talking to people,over and over and over. While it is acrucial part of any effective campaign,it is often the most time-consumingand basic part of your organizingefforts. To get a lot of people to hearyour message and agree with you, youhave to start at the beginning – lettingthem know what is going on. As you

get people interested, you can let themknow what they can do to help out. Becreative in finding different ways forpeople to become involved in the cam-paign. There will be people who cannotbe involved in everyday planning butwould come to a protest. Those peoplewill be important when it comes timeto show city officials how much sup-port you have, and they need to bekept in the loop about your actions.

A general plan for outreach often startsby getting basic information to as manypeople as possible, and following upwith those people. As more peoplebecome involved, your network willexpand, and you will start to build acircle of organizers and a circle of sup-porters. Always use the connections themembers of your group have to con-duct outreach in new places. If some ofyou work at the local high school, havethose people make announcements atstaff meetings. If some of you are in theParent-Teacher Association for the ele-mentary school, make announcementsthere.

When building a mental picture of thevarious connections the members ofyour group have to other groups, it isimportant to think about who you aretrying to reach and what the best way isto reach them. You may have to use dif-ferent strategies for different audiences.Making announcements at meetingsmay be effective for one community,but going door-to-door may be neces-sary to get another community onboard. Maybe everyone attends church,and by getting the support of thechurches you will get the support of

everyone involved. Maybe a lot of peo-ple in your town work for one employ-er, and getting the workers there tosupport you would be really important.Do a lot of people speak another lan-guage besides English? Try to find lead-ers in communities of all languagegroups, so that you can reach out to allof your potential supporters.

Doing outreach is like offering anopportunity to everyone you talk to –it’s about making people excited, mad,curious, and giving them a place tofocus these emotions. Always leave yourcontact information and the date, timeand location of the next meeting sopeople feel like there is some action tobe taken. Here are a few first steps todoing outreach that you may be able touse or modify in your town:

• Develop a flier that sets out yourbasic reasons why a prison is a badidea: Are the points short and easy toread? Do they let people know whythey should care about the prison?Is it visually striking….will your fliercatch people’s eye? Do you havecontact numbers in an obviousplace so people know who to call ifthey want more information? Doesyour flier suggest a next step, likeattending one of your meetings ora town hall meeting?

• Distribute your flier: Everywhere. Hand out fliers atplaces that receive a lot of foot traf-fic – popular stores, local shows orfairs. Put them up on bulletinboards, in schools, at City Hall, in

the library – anywhere that you canpin it up, pin it.

• Sign everyone up: At every meeting and every timeyou talk to someone, get contactinformation so you can let themknow about other things you areorganizing. Keep a master list of allthe phone numbers or emails youhave.

• Call everyone on your list: Call them when you have a meetingor when you have a large event tak-ing place. Send out a mass email.Remember, however, that althoughemails are a good way to let a lot ofpeople know what is going onquickly, many people do not haveemail access.

CoalitionsAnother way that you can strengthenthe influence of your group is to joinwith other groups engaged in commonor overlapping causes. When twogroups come together in common causewe call this a coalition. Why formthem? Because two groups are betterthan one. Because building a coalitionmight effectively increase your group’smembership. And because coalitionshave the power to reach many moreindividuals with their message than doindividual groups.

The state of New York was developingplans to build a new youth prison inupstate New York. Youth and adultactivists from New York City, who were

trying to curb the incarceration ofyouth (the vast majority of whom camefrom a few neighborhoods throughoutNew York City) began to look at inter-vening in order to force the state tofund youth programs rather than youthprisons. At the same time, residents ofBainbridge, one of the upstate townstargeted for the siting of the prison,began organizing against the prison.Soon thereafter, urban youth activistsand the rural residents of Bainbridgejoined forces, demanding that the $75million that the prison would have costbe spent on real economic developmentin rural New York and real programs,jobs and housing. In May of 2002,under the pressure of the coalition andtheir organizing work, New York Stateremoved the prison from the budget.

This alliance may seem unlikely, butremember: prisons benefit no one, sopotential allies are everywhere. As theFarmersville story demonstrates, it isimportant to think about what youhave in common with other people thatyou can use to unite people for a com-mon good.

Just as with strategizing, there are nohard and fast rules for building coali-tions. You take them where you canfind them and use them to further yourgoals. The important thing to keep inmind here is that you should always belooking to form coalitions. With somany potential negatives involved witha prison, there will be any number ofpotential groups that might want tojoin in coalition with you —organiza-tions of parents worried aboutincreased traffic, farmers concerned

Here is an example of a petition localorganizers put together as part of anon-going campaign against a federalprison in the small town of Mendota,California.

We, the residents of Mendota,demand that the City Council andMayor cease all proposal negotia-tions with the Federal Bureau ofPrison to build a federal prison inour community. We demand thatthe City Council and Mayor imme-diately run front-page advertise-ments in the Mendota Newspaperand all other Fresno county Spanishand English media notifying all resi-dents of the March 8, 2004 dead-line for comments to the FederalBureau of Prisons.

We, the residents of Mendota andFresno County demand that newhearings be held regarding theproposed prison in Mendota, afterthe publication of a new environ-mental impact report fully inSpanish. We demand that theseand all hearings concerning prisonconstruction in and around FresnoCounty be conducted in at leastboth Spanish and English. We chal-lenge all levels of government,Local, State and Federal electedofficials, to extend fair and timelynotification to all the residents ofFresno County and Mendota sothat concerned citizens can plan toaddress environmental justiceissues concerning the building ofexcessive prisons in Fresno Countyand the surrounding Central Valley.

with the loss of groundwater, environ-mentalists who want to prevent the lossof native habitat for wildlife, etc.Because the prison will help almost noone and will harm many, almost every-one is a potential ally and the possibili-ties for creating new coalition partnersis unlimited.

PublicityA major factor in your success will behow well you get the word out to asmany people as you can. You can thinkof this as educating your neighbors, aspublicity, as public relations, or as sell-ing your ideas. However you imagineit, you must inform more people aboutthe real effects of the proposed prisonand convince them to take action.It is useful to think of every part of thecampaign in terms of publicity or edu-cation value. When you’re stuck aboutwhat to do next or how to chooseamong a list too long to finish, askwhich actions will get the word outmost effectively. When planning anysort of activity, think about how to useit to publicize the campaign.

There are dozens of creative ways to getout the word: putting up signs in peo-ple’s yards and businesses; printing upT-shirts with slogans; hanging bannersacross the fronts of buildings; and hold-ing parties, concerts, and speeches. Butbefore we talk about any of the meansof getting your message out, let’s spenda minute talking about your message.

First, who are you? It is fine to speakfor yourself, but it’s also useful to havean organizational identity. A nameshould catch people’s eye and imagina-

tion and tell them a little about youand/or the campaign. Stop ThisOutrageous Prison (STOP) is oneexample from a group in ruralCalifornia.

Second, spend a little time definingyour group. Who are you? TheEducation not Incarceration Coalitiondefines itself like this:

Education Not Incarceration is agroup of teachers, parents, stu-dents, and community memberswho are outraged by the currentcuts in education funding. Webelieve that the state budget needsto prioritize education funding, aswell as funding for other importantsocial services, over increasedspending on prisons.

Try to express a positive message inyour group’s definition. You’re not justagainst a prison. You are residents whowant to see development with real ben-efit to the community.

Third, you need to develop your coali-tion’s key talking point. A talking pointis a simple, one or two sentence state-ment which summarizes the argumentsagainst the prison in as straightforwarda manner as possible. Here are a coupleof examples:

Studies show that local residents won’tget most jobs at the prison, and thatmost of the people who get them won’tlive here.

The proposed prison will cost thecity/county $X million in infrastructureimprovements, which won’t benefit anylocal residents.

You should put together a list of talkingpoints and pass them out to membersof your group.

Now that you have a name, an identity,and a message, you’re ready to blast thatmessage out. Some of your outreach,especially in the early stages, will beone-on-one or in small groups that youinvite to lunch or coffee, to the park, orto your home. That’s how you pulltogether your initial organizing group.Later in the campaign, you’ll still doone-on-one outreach, especially to indi-viduals who you’ve identified as poten-tially very useful to have as part of thecoalition — perhaps your group doesn’tyet include a local farmer or rancherand you think other ranchers wouldhear the message more readily from oneof their own. Or maybe you don’t haveany Spanish speakers to do outreach toresidents who are not comfortablespeaking in English.

As important as those small-scaleencounters are, you also have to reachout to larger groups. One of the mosteffective ways to do that is to use localand regional media. Get TV or radio toreport on the proposed prison. Getnewspapers to write stories about yourgroup. Use public meetings to raiseyour views in front of the media. Goon talk radio and local TV interviewshows to talk about the proposedprison.

A PRISON WILL HELP ALMOST NO ONE ANDWILL HARM MANY...

...ALMOST EVERYONE IS A POTENTIALALLY IN YOUR FIGHT.

The media is a powerful tool both inlocal campaigns to stop specific prisons,as well as in the long-term work ofchanging the “terms of debate” aboutprisons in this country. Often times,the myths about prisons and the “bene-fits” of prisons are the prevailing mes-sage in the media, whether in localpapers and radio or in the nationalmedia. In your efforts to gain publicity,you can move the issue in a directionyou would like it to go. For instance, ifa prison is presented as a solution tohard economic times and a quick solu-tion for jobs, you can move the debateto the issue of what kind of jobs will begenerated. Activists all across the coun-try have effectively used the media toeducate the public about the real effectsof prisons on rural and urban commu-nities. Rather than thinking of themedia as friend or enemy, you mightconsider how you can best use it to fur-ther your goals. Therefore, an organiz-er’s job is not just to make the mediacover her or his issue, but to create andimplement a plan for using the media.

It’s helpful to think about all of yourorganizing work as a publicity cam-paign. In a way, what you’re doing istrying to convince people of your pointof view. Every time you call a friend,potential ally, or elected official, passout a flyer at a meeting, or make a sign,you’re doing publicity. In other words,you’re presenting your views to otherpeople, and making a case for why theyshould agree with you. So every timeyou communicate with people, it’simportant that your information is easyto understand. It’s also important thatthe information and arguments you

make are consistent with your finalgoals

GETT ING THE MED IA ONBOARD

In order to get the local media to evencover your story in the first place, youhave to convince them that your cam-paign is newsworthy. It’s not helpful tojust call the local newspaper and say,“There is a meeting where the CityCouncil is going to discuss whether ornot to build a prison.” They’ll think tothemselves: “So? Why should someonecome for that? Don’t those kinds ofmeetings happen all the time?” Instead,you need to present whatever newswor-thy event is taking place from a certainangle – a “hook” – something thatwould catch the media’s interest.

What sorts of things make a good“hook”? One way is to connect yourlocal story to a larger problem, that is,show how something happening rightin your own community is an exampleof a national issue. For instance, youcan focus on how prisons get sited justlike hazardous waste facilities — inpoor, rural, and seemingly “powerless”communities, underneath the public’sradar. Or, if a local politician, who sup-ports the prison, has some kind of con-flict of interest (for example, he owns aconstruction company that would likelyget a contract to help build the prison),that could be a potential hook for talk-ing about the lack of accountability andlack of democratic decision-makingthat happens in the process of siting aprison. Those sorts of hooks can helpyour story have “legs,” bringing themedia back to it over and over. For

many local papers, the fact that a groupof local residents is opposing a projectcan be enough, especially if they knowthere will be multiple people speaking

in public. If you want to draw TV cov-erage, give them something visual toshoot — banners, posters, signs, T-shirts, puppets. At any public event towhich you’ve invited the press, makesure to have some of your group mem-bers easily identifiable as “press con-tacts.” These are people who the mediacan approach and interview. Rememberyour talking points and repeat them.Are there other short term goals for anyparticular event? Can you use the pressto announce your next meeting?

It will be worth your while to spendsome time putting together a media list– newspapers, radio and TV stations,local, county-wide, regional and so on.What papers do people in your townread? People in the county seat?National media can be helpful too.When The Los Angeles Times and NewYork Times wrote major stories aboutthe Delano II prison, the campaign gota big boost.

However, reporters are just like every-one else in this world. You need to havea relationship with your local media ifyou want to get really complete, consis-tent coverage. This requires a littlebackground work. First, identify whatreporters and editors cover the kinds ofstories you will be pitching. If yourstrategy is to highlight the backroompolitics of the prison deal, look throughthe papers for a few weeks and identifywriters who cover similar stories.

Second, cultivate a relationship withthese reporters and editors. If you tellthem you have a great “human interest”story and they should cover the townmeeting next week on the prison siting,call them afterwards and follow up withthem.Call them and thank them if theycame, and ask them if they have anyother questions. Just like you build arelationship with the allies in yourstruggle, build a relationship with spe-cific members of the press.

Press ReleasesOne of the most important forms ofgetting the media’s attention is by issu-ing a press release. You should put out arelease around a newsworthy event, likea big meeting, or a demonstration. Youneed to think carefully about what kindof event you are hoping to draw thepress to, and if you realistically expectreporters to come. The release shouldpitch your issue, incorporating all yourhooks and strategies as reasons why thisparticular event is a great news story.Here are some quick tips to guide yourpress release.

• Is the release on organizationalletterhead? Since you’ve given yourorganization a name, it is easy withtoday’s computers to create simpleletterhead, with your group’s name,address, phone number, etc.• Is the release dated and markedeither 1)“for immediate release” or2) to be released at a later, specificday and time? • Is the contact person’s name andphone number (day and evening)listed at the top of the release? If

you have a cell phone, list it, alongwith the name of the person whowill be carrying it at the event/pressconference.• Do you have a bilingual or multi-lingual contact person, especially ifyour community is bilingual? Haveyou done outreach to media in lan-guages other than English?• Is the headline short and to thepoint? (Don’t struggle too hard incoming up with a headline. Themedia probably won’t use yoursanyway.)• Is the copy double-spaced?• Does the first paragraph explain

who, what, why, when and where? • Have you quoted key leaders in

the second and third paragraphs? • Have you cleared the quoteswith them first? (Remember thatwho you quote is an organizationaldecision. Often, the quotes willcome from members of yourgroupyou have become localexperts on the proposed prison.You are the experts.). • Have you listed your organiza-tion’s name several times? • Are all names, titles, and organi-zations spelled correctly?• Is each sheet marked with anabbreviated headline? (Try to keepyour release to two pages. One isbetter.) • Is a PHOTO OPPORTUNITY men-tioned if there is one? (If so, send acopy of the release to the photoeditor.)• Did you put “-30-“ or “####” atthe end of the press release? (Why?

It’s just the way press releases aresupposed to end, and it makesyour press release look official.)

Another great thing about having apress release is that it’s easy to trans-form into an opinion piece for a paper,or a short article for any organization’snewsletter. Make each point from thepress release into a short paragraph.That way, when organizations needsomething to print quickly, they canuse the expanded press release and takethe points that are most suitable fortheir issues. This also allows plenty ofroom to tailor your article to a specificorganization. For instance, if a teachers’association wants to publish an articleon why a prison would not help thetown’s youth in their newsletter, youcan pick the points from the article thatwork the best. Maybe you have alreadywritten that a prison doesn’t address theneeds of people in your town, and youcould simply add onto this statementso that it specifically emphasizes theneeds of your schools and children.

The Press ConferencePress conferences are great ways to fol-low up on a release and to create a stir.They make you highly visible and getyour point of view out in public. Thinkof press conferences as mini demonstra-tions – they need to be very public andopen, with articulate, concise speakerswho can present your talking points ina way that is easy for everybody todigest. Press conferences usually consistof a few speakers who briefly addressdifferent aspects of your issue and rep-resent your organization. They need tobe located in a place that is easily acces-sible. You also need to have press pack-

COLORADO SPRINGS: The Colorado Prison MoratoriumCoalition (CPMC) has announced a challenge to the state'splans to convert the Fort Lyon Veteran's Hospital into aprison. Today the CPMP sent a letter to the state Departmnetof Corrections (DOC) requesting a more thorough study ofthe potential impacts that the new Fort Lyon correctionalFacility (FLCF) could have on the people of Bent Conuty.

Before the hospital can be converted into a prison, a federally-mandated environmental review must be completed. TheDOC released a Draft Environmental Assessment in mayconcluding that the conversion would have little impact onthe environment, but the CPMC asserts that the documentdoes not contain a sufficiently thorough discussion of the pos-sible social and economic effects.

According to Stephen Raher, the Co-Coordinator of theCoalition (and author of the letter), “rural towns in Coloradoall too often view a prison as a wonderful way to spark eco-nomic development. Unfortunately the reality is that prisontowns are burdened with many long-term collateral costs inreturn for a handful of jobs.”

Raher explains on the most severe effects could be on localmedical agencies. “the whole state and southeastern Coloradoin particulat is experiencing a severe nursing shortage, andDOC wants to hire 110 nurses to work at Fort Lyon. If theyare going to meet their goal, it almost certainly will be at theexpense of local hospitals and health care facilities, which can’toffer wages and benefits that compete with the state’s com-pensation plan.”

In addition to outlining areas for further study, the CPMC’sletter asks the DOC to prepare an Environmental ImpactStatement, which goes into greater detail than theEnvironmental Assessment that the Department has alreadycompleted. “My primary concern,” said Raher, “is that thepeople of Bent County are not getting a full and fair

explanation of what might happen. The environmental reviewprocess is supposed to be about gathering public input, butit’s a meaningless activity if people aren’t given a balancedpresentation of the facts.”

After Governor Owens expressed strong public support forthe jobs that FLCF would bring to southeastern Colorado,the legislature approved the prison over the objections ofSenator Penfield Tate (D-Denver) who warned his colleaguesthat “if we continue to look at prison construction as a formof economic development in our state, we’re lost.”

The Rural Prisons Initiative was created at the CPMC whenCoalition members saw that prisons are being marketed torural towns as economic development tools. The Coalition isa network of over 80 organizations and faith communitiesfrom across the state who have come together to call for anend to further prison expansion in order to redirect fundingand policy priorities to crime prevention, drug, alcohol andmental health treatment, and alternatives to incarceration.

Coalition Co-Coordinator Christie Donner explains that FortLyon is just one of several new prison projects which are cur-rently underway. “The Department of Corrections is thefastest growing department in the state government,” com-mented Donner, “and it is growing at the expense of educa-tion, health care, transportation, and other areas theColoradans are concerned about.” In fact, the DOC receiveda 13.4% increase in General Fund dollars for Fiscal Year2001-02, the second largest increase of any department.

Donner warns that “for the long term health of Colorado, wemust begin to follow the lead of other western states andreevaluate our use of prisons as a panacea for social problems.”

###

Sample Press Release

For Immediate Release: June 14, 2001

Contact: Stephen Raher, (719) 475-8059 or stephen@epimethian.org

NEWS RELEASE

Community group charges State with cutting corners inFort Lyon prison planning process

ets on hand. These are folders of infor-mation that provide reporters withbackground material on your issue,your organization, and contact information.

When organizing a press conference,here are some things to think about.

• Have the date, time, and placebeen cleared with all the speakers?• Are there other media conflicts(e.g. another major event or pressconference)?• Do you need to reserve the spacedays in advance?• Is the room large enough?• Will you need a public address

system?• Have volunteers been recruited

to set up and clean up the room before and after the press conference?

• Who is sending the press releas es?• Do you have a good list of localand regional press contacts?Newspaper, radio & TV? • Can you do outreach to media inlanguages other than English? Doyou have press contacts who speakother languages? Can you producematerials in other languages? MostSpanish language radio and TV willrespond to an English languagepress release if it lists a Spanishspeaking contact.• Who is making follow-up phonecalls to the media?• Is there a script and/or talkingpoints available for those making

follow-up calls to the media?• Are there visuals, charts, orgraphs needed at the press confer-ence?• Who is writing each person’s pres-entation? Are there good, quotablesound bites?• Is someone drafting a questionand answer sheet for anticipatedquestions at the press conference?• Is a time set for speakers torehearse their presentations andanswers to the anticipated ques-tions? • Are materials being prepared forthe press kit?

Press releaseBackground information on

speakersFact sheetOrganizational backgroundCopies of speakers’ statements

• Will your organization’s name beprojected well through signs,posters, buttons and so forth?• Is there someone to greet themedia? • Is someone in your group goingto take photographs?•Are volunteers assigned to watchfor stories in various media?

BEYOND THE MED IA

As we said in the beginning of this sec-tion, a lot of the organizing work youdo doubles as publicity. Don’t thinkthat getting your message in papers andon television is the only way to get theword out. While having a strategy forattracting media is important, outreach

is just as important. Many of the strate-gies we listed in the outreach sectionare also other ways you have to spreadthe word. Here are a few other thingswe have seen towns do that you can useto help get your message out:

• Sponsor an event with a local artist •Hold a community forum to discuss the prison and related issues.Invite both sides to a forum inwhich you’ve determined the agen-da, the questions to be discussedetc. This will keep the meetingopen to everyone, but also allowyou to keep some control over themeeting.• Hand out fliers at popular eventsin town• Set up a table with a few infor-mational fliers at fairs, outside of supermarkets, other foot-trafficfriendly place and staff it so youcan talk to people who expressinterest• Make announcements at othermeetings• Hold a house party

• What are your goals for the party? More volunteers? Fund raising? Persuading certain people that the prison is a bad idea? Make sure that everyone working on the party is clear about the goals.

• Make sure you pick a good dateto have your party. Check if there isanother big event people will wantto go to, or maybe host it on a longweekend.

• Tell people far in advance - thatway the date will stick in their heads.Call and remind people close to thedate.

• Do you have some sort of enter-tainment? Make sure you have music- whether it is a big pile of CD’s or agreat DJ.

• Be certain you collect people’snames and contact information witha sign-in sheet.

• Who will speak? It is good to havesome time for everyone as a groupto ask you – the experts - questions,as well as to have unstructured timefor one-on-one conversations.

• Pick a good location.

• Do you want to have food? If so,will there be a buffet or will therejust be some snacks? Do you haveplates, forks, knives, cups, etc?

• Do you have some sort of decora-tions? Remember why you are host-ing the party - any fliers, banners, orsigns you have against the prisoncan be set out.

• Make fun fliers that also drawattention to why you are hosting theparty.

• Leave yourself plenty of time theday of the party to get ready. Theworst feeling is to be rushing aroundwith a million odds and ends to fin-ish up.

• Do you have someone to help youset up and clean up? A little moralsupport is always welcome.

• Anyone who has had a party alsoknows they cost money. You couldalso have a box for donations, passthe hat at the party, or charge acover at the door.

How to have a house partySince organizing often begins among friends who share a common cause, host-ing a house party can be a good way to draw all of you together, raise awarenessand enthusiasm, and get new people involved. It also shows your campaign ispeople-friendly, which can win a lot of points when you are fighting a bureau-cratic, impersonal arm of the government. If you have ever thrown a partybefore, which many people have, you’ll know it requires a little more planningthan you think it will, but it always ends up being worthwhile.

Using the InternetSome of us don’t have access to computers, and some seemunable to live without them. But these days, a lot of people learnnews and get involved politically through initial contact throughthe Internet.

There are a couple ways you can use e-mail and the internet tohelp organize. At every event you hold, you’ll have a sign-insheet. Make sure that you collect people’s email addresses alongwith their phone numbers. It’s a good idea to have a checkboxfor people to mark whether they prefer to be contacted via emailor phone. Set up at least two lists (or groups) of email addresses.One should include the organizers, those who have been attend-ing coalition meetings and who are working actively on the cam-paign. The second should include the sign-ins who aren’t activein the day-to-day but who might be turn out for a meeting atcity hall, a march to the high school, or a demonstration. As youset up subcommittees, those groups might also have their ownemail lists.

If you have an Internet savvy high school student or small busi-ness owner or teacher among you, you probably have the skillsto set up a simple web site. At first it might contain only yourorganization name, contact phone and email and the next meet-ing date. As you develop press releases and other written materi-al, you can post them on your website, along with photos ofyour activities. Many Internet providers offer space for a simplewebsite to their email subscribers for little or no cost. As anexample, take a look at the Education not Incarceration site at:http://www.ednotinc.org

PUBL IC SPEAK ING

You’ll notice that many of these ideasrequire speaking in front of many peo-ple, unafraid to argue for your cause.Many people dread public speakingbecause they think they “just aren’tgood at it,” but all it requires is a littlepractice. A good way to get the neces-sary practice is by using a standardspeech at all your public speakingopportunities – that way you get plentyof practice saying it!

Start by spending some time on yourspeech. Write it in advance and practiceit with everyone you know. Write itusing statements you are very comfort-able making, the ones that you say overand over to people when trying toprove your point.

Your standard speech should have a fewopening paragraphs that lay out yourkey talking points. First, list the reasonsthe proposed prison is bad for the townand the region. Explain why the prison-supporters miss the bigger picture. Butyou can then insert a few paragraphsthat tweak the speech for the audience.Using these guidelines, you can take abasic speech that you develop on whyyou don’t want a prison and simplyadjust the way you dress it up.

Write versions of different lengths.Sometimes you’ll have 5 minutes tospeak at an event. Other times you’llhave 15 or 30. Once basic talks of dif-ferent lengths are written, all membersof the group can use them. Using thisplan will make you comfortable with

the material and help you to be a betterpublic speaker….and save you tons oftime by not writing a new speech everytime!

Public speaking is all about finding thebest way to approach people, similar towhen you find allies. Think about whoyou are addressing. What is your audi-ence’s main concern? What do they careabout and how does it relate to a prisonbeing built? What tone is most appro-priate for them – are they younger,older, more conservative, more grass-roots? Will they be most swayed by bigwords or a strong plan of action?

Once you have a basic speech that cov-ers your reasons for why a prison is abad idea, you can use it for many dif-ferent occasions. Much like adjustingyour press release, you will have toadjust your speech for different audi-ences.

Remember, public speaking doesn’thave to be at official meetings or inofficial halls. Any place you think of toconduct outreach, you could also give amodified version of your speech. Try toset up an opportunity to make a briefpresentation on why your town doesn’tneed a prison at organizational meet-ings or conferences.

FUNDRA IS ING

Organizing costs money, though notnecessarily very much. Those who do itover the long-haul have a variety offairly sophisticated methods for raisingmoney for their causes. But becausemost campaigns to stop prisons are on

a very tight timeline, you might findthat you are not able to develop a fullstrategy for raising funds for your cam-paign. Therefore we’re giving sugges-tions for only a few, very specific ideasand resources for short-term and last-minute fundraising.

First, call us, the California PrisonMoratorium Project. We have a smallnest egg for just this kind of thing, soplease don’t hesitate to ask. If we don’thave it, we may have specific ideasabout emergency grants and otherorganizations, like the NationalResource Center for Prisons andCommunities, that may be able to pro-vide emergency funding support toprison moratorium campaigns.

Second, many social justice foundationshave what they call Emergency Funds.They are relatively easy to apply for andyou can get a response pretty quickly.For ideas about funds such as these youcan begin by asking us at PMP, as wellas other organizations that you beginworking with.

Third, look to your own members, andsee if they have networks of people toapproach for money. As you’ll quicklyfind out, every dollar counts andmoney can come from unlikely places.The only sure bet is that if you don’task, you won’t get any.

And lastly, think of all the ways inwhich you’ve raised money for yourother community groups, churches,mosques, etc. Bake sales, dinners, con-certs, ads in programs, garage sales, and

in-kind donations (such as the use ofspace, a car, a sound system, etc.) – allof these are ways to raise funds for yourgroup. There are individuals andorganizations in your town who canand will contribute financially whomight not able to help in other ways.Don’t be shy about asking for financialhelp. The point here is to try to be ascreative as possible and to rememberthat these efforts, though they mayseem relatively unimportant, are, again,opportunities to learn leadership andorganizing skills.

RECAP

We’ve really only scratched the surfaceof organizing. Many of the most usefullessons you’ll learn by diving in andtrying it yourself. Don’t be afraid tomake mistakes. Each mistake is achance to learn from it so that youdon’t make it again. As we said earlier,organizing is about communicating —communicating with your neighbors,communicating with city officials, withthe media, and with other organiza-tions. The more you do it, the betteryou’ll get. From here we’ll be givingyou a more comprehensive look at thesiting process and the opportunities forintervening and gaining leverage tostop it.

Advice from Brian Sponsler andDebbie Hand, two activists whosuccessfully fought off a prison inTehachapi, California.

‘…work the local press asmuch as you can. You needto present it as ‘we have ahot story for you.’”

‘We needed a good agendaat the meetings to keepeveryone from straying offbecause emotions werehigh…”

At the city council meeting:“We arranged for people tospeak on ten areas…thatthe prison would affect us.”

“If anything did it for us inthe organizing it was thephone tree.”

“You basically have to showa good show of force.”

“You have to jump on itright away.”

“It is important you keepyour main points clear andstress these points over andover.”

and interventionSITING

It is very daunting visualizing the exactpoints where your organization canactually stop a prison constructionproject. But, in reality, both federal andstate governments are required by lawto jump through a series of hoopsbefore actually starting to build aprison. This means there are actuallymany opportunities for you to inter-vene—and it may only take one victoryto put an end to the prison

The “siting” process are the bureaucrat-ic procedures that state, regional, andlocal officials must follow in order todecide exactly where a new prison willbe built Siting begins when officialsannounce their plans to build a prison,and it doesn’t end until constructionbegins. It might be possible to stop aprison even after ground is broken, butthe siting process is your group’s bestbet to stop a prison from being built inyour town.

While common sense says that the ear-lier you intervene in the process thebetter your chances for success, we’vealso learned through experience that itis never too late to try. For an example,let’s jump back a few years to 1995 inthe state of Oregon.

In that year, the Governor of theBeaver State, John Kitzhaber, persuadedthe legislature to give him exclusivepower to site and build prisons wherev-er he wished. Two of the communitiespicked under this “fast track” processprotested that they did not want pris-ons, but the Oregon Department ofCorrections ignored them and beganpreparing to build anyway, acquiring

land, designing the buildings, anddeveloping infrastructure.

The communities, however, did notgive up. In Madras, Oregon, the com-munity ran an ad in the local papershowing how poor children and theelderly would be harmed by risingrents. Community members brought intheir own “experts” to discuss theimpact of a prison on the local farmeconomy. In the sixth year of struggle,the prisons were cancelled, thanks inlarge part to the efforts of communitymembers. Oregon’s recent decision toclose several prisons in the state provesthat there was no need for more prisonsin the first place. Imagine if the moneywasted on prison planning and sitinghad instead been used to improve localschools, farm-product market access,and other investments to enhance thewell-being of local residents!

The bottom line is that in spite of astate governor’s plan and a prisonbureaucracy’s action to build new pris-ons, no new prisons were built. Thereason why? Because local residents ofsmall towns were able to intervene inthe siting process.

The Oregon example is somewhatunusual: it is more likely for a town torequest a prison than to have oneforced onto its city limits. For mostindustries of last resort (the kinds ofindustries that locate in a town whenno others will, like incinerators, wasteand recycling facilities, prisons, or ani-mal processing plants), the people whomake initial siting decisions are morelikely to cut backroom deals when resi-

dents aren’t looking or can’t see.Decision-makers try to attract a prisonby sweetening up the deal throughagreements such as land sales, zoningchanges, and promises of locally-paidinfrastructural development. Prisonsupporters then present the bargain tocommunity members as “done deals.”

However, the actual process for creatinga mini-city (which a prison really is) isquite complicated, and there are lots ofchances to break into the process andkeep it from moving forward. In thischapter we list a number of such open-ings according to two criteria: what youcan do and who you need to see inorder to do it.

It is important to understand the sitingprocess. For this handbook we havefocused on the parts that you will beable to most influence. First, either thestate or federal government or a privatecorporation (like Wackenhut) decidesto build a prison. Once a possible site isidentified, the land owner is contacted,and the proposed site is studied tomake sure the prison, if built, wouldmeet all state and federal zoning, safetyand environmental regulations. Oftenthe government will hire a private cor-poration to make these assessments,write up a report, and submit it to localdecision-makers. Usually at this pointthe City Council will vote on whetheror not to approve the project. It is onlyafter the prison is approved by all thevarious regulating agencies—CityCouncil, Water Quality Board, CountyBoard of Supervisors, and so on—thatthe land will be bought and the con-struction will begin.

In order to make this information easi-er to use, we have put it into table for-mat. We have listed out each opportu-nity fopr intervention (WHAT); whoyou need to talk to intervene - theoffice, institution, department or indi-vidual official that has the power tostop a prison from being built — aswell as why they have such power.(WHO); and some strategies to goabout doing it (HOW). We have alsoput in italics the type of strategy we arelisting: Legal remedies include gettinglaws passed or repealed, or going tocourt to challenge a prison’s actual siteor siting process. Political remediesinclude building local opposition to sit-ing amongst the residents so that thedecision-makers in your town will haveto cancel the project (like theFarmersville story). Economic remediesinclude stopping the flow of moneybeing used to build or to start up theprison, preventing the side deals such asextra highway construction from goingthrough, or finding a different buyerfor the land a prison was supposed tobe built on. For example, a local com-munity could start up a communityfarming cooperative to buy the landand use it for farming, rather than forwarehousing prisoners.

The words “legal,” “political”and “economic” at the top ofeach description refer to the typeof strategy it is. Don’t be con-fused if you see more than oneletter after one of the descrip-tions in the left-hand column —often times a particular openingwill require a mix of strategies toget the job done.

What Challenge the prison department’s claim that it “needs” tobuild a particular prison.

WhoState Legislatures, Governors or other Chief Executives.

How You can argue that the money spent on the prison would bebetter spent on preventing imprisonment if it was used forthings like education, job training, economic development,and other things that your town probably really needs.

Your group can schedule a meeting with decision-makers ortheir representatives. If denied or disappointed, you canhold a rally outside the capitol or appropriate local office.Gather signed petitions from people who live in a particularelected official’s district protesting the prison siting. Mostimportantly, don’t be intimidated by fancy titles or offices.These guys are people just like everyone else — and it’sgood for people like you to remind them every once in awhile.

DECONSTRUCTING ‘NEED’Political, Economic

WhatArgue that the prison siting is a civil rights violation.Federal and state Civil Rights Acts prohibit discriminationon the basis of race, class and national origin. The federalact also requires that if a program is receiving federalmoney and is found to be discriminating against people orcommunities, that their funding will be withdrawn.

WhoDepends upon the project, but the federal and stateDepartments of Justice and the funding agencies behindthe prison, such as the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

HowSince so many prisons are located in poor towns of pre-dominantly people of color, often discrimination is an inte-gral part prison siting is a civil rights violation. Federal andstate Civil Rights Acts prohibit discrimination on the basisof race, class and national origin. The federal act alsorequires that if a program is receiving federal money and isfound to be discriminating against people or communities,that their funding will be withdrawn.

You can file a complaint with the agency that is heading upthe siting process, under the US Civil Rights Act. You couldalso file a lawsuit. This sort of strategy requires a lot ofresearch and pouring over site plans, environmental impactreports, and even interviewing decision makers involved inthe process. You need a “smoking gun” that shows howrace or class influenced the siting decision.

WhatInfluence local politics – as your representatives, theyshould represent your views. Make your voices heard.

Who You and your community of voters.

HowGenerally, local governments, such as councils and boardsof supervisors, vote to approve prison siting. If they’vealready voted, If you can target pro-prison officials, eitherto recall them or prevent them from winning the next elec-tions. If there hasn’t been a vote, you can lobby the CityCouncil, showing representatives how clearly your commu-nity does not support the prison. Use petitions, rallies andevents to specifically demand that the Council membersvote NO on the prison. Attend Council meetings and testi-fy. Organize as many people as possible to call local repre-sentative offices, or draft a letter for people to send in, andgather signatures at your rallies.

Community organizer Debbie Hand gained a strong senseof how local politics worked fighting off a prison and hospi-tal in Tehachapi, California. She identified “smart-growth”coalitions and together she learned there was local politicalsupport for well-planned, community based economicgrowth. Like Debbie Hand, you can identify decision mak-ers who are your direct representatives and hold themaccountable for their actions. You can also find out whatissues they have campaigned around to see if they havebroken promises to support community-based develop-ment by voting for a prison. Be sure to attend all CityCouncil meetings that have prison issues on the agendaand testify. Don’t forget, these are your elected officialsmaking claims about what is best for you – you candemand to be part of the process.

REPRESENT!Political

YOUR CIVIL RIGHTS Political, Economic

WhatMake the siting process a long and unpleasant one, withmounting costs for the prison developers and supporters

WhoCorrections Agency Siting Office; local landowners; localand county government; local, regional, and statewide leg-islators.

HowFight the landowners who hope to profit off the sale; thestate, private or contracted officials who have to deal withyour town; legislators who think guiding the prison intoyour town was an easy siting solution; or anybody else plan-ning to get political or economic profits from the project.Make sure you generate a lot of publicity on the motiva-tions of these decision-makers, and highlight all the ways inwhich the community has been excluded from the process –lack of notices, poor translation, or lack of public meetings.Bad publicity can generate a lot of change.

The strategies used in this situation can be as basic as gen-erating a lot of bad publicity for someone who wants to selltheir land so that cages can be built on it.They can be morecomplicated, like tactics opposing the legal legitimacy ofdifferent aspects of the prison. For example, in LosAngeles, a group of six housewives and one husbandformed a group called the Mothers of East Los Angeles (LasMadres del Este de Los Angeles) to stop a prison that thestate had already designated for their neighborhood. Theyfought for nine years to shut down the project. Eight yearsinto the fight, the tide turned in their favor when thelandowner grew tired of waiting to seal the deal with thestate and found someone else to buy his property.

WhatTrack down documents with information that prison boost-ers aren’t sharing. The Freedom of Information allows anyperson to request a copy of federal documents. Of course,there are some things that you won’t be able to get, butmany of the documents that pertain to the prison sitingprocess are ones that you are entitled to see by law. Stateshave similar laws you can use to get state documents.

WhoThe Federal Department of Justice or your state’sDepartment of Justice.

HowGaining access to the paper trail will give you insights intothe strategies that the government itself is using to get theprison built in your hometown. Having this information willmake you aware of more opportunities for you to intervene.It also shows officials that you are aware of your rights andable to act accordingly.

Submit a written statement requesting to see documentsunder the Freedom of Information Act or the Public RecordsAct, depending on whether it is state or federal records youare after. If you have internet access there are many web-sites that can show you how to do this. Be sure to include adetailed description of the documents you would like tosee, because the government office won’t give you anythingmore than what you ask for.

YOUR RIGHT TO KNOWLegal

CAUSING TROUBLEPolitical

WhatForce officials to hold a truly open siting process. Forceprison officials to publish and translate clear and detailedinformation about the impact of the prison. Many but not allstates have “sunshine laws” requiring that ordinary peoplehave adequate notice of meetings and proposals that willaffect their lives. Prison officials often obey the letter of thelaw, but not its spirit. They fail to give truly adequate noticeof meetings to working people, or hold the meetings attimes or in locations that are hard for folks to make. In addi-tion, “sunshine laws” require that public records be freelyavailable for public inspection.

WhoAny governmental body holding hearings or having thepower to grant a permit for a prison development project.State or federal courts.

HowChallenge slipshod notices, or notices written in languagethat townsfolk cannot understand (for example, English-onlynotices in bi- or multilingual communities). Challenge fancyor jargon-loaded notices that make the meetings soundtechnical and only for specialists. Challenge prison officials’attempts to make it difficult to either get your hands on orto read important reports and studies relating to the pro-posed prison.

You can use public pressure to hold the government bodiesaccountable to the law and ensure your participation inprocesses like these. Use some of the strategies already dis-cussed, such as testifying in city hall, petitions, and demon-strations will empower you and the other members of yourcommunity and show that the united voices of ordinary folkshave a lot of power. You can also look into suing differentagencies for violating sunshine laws, on the grounds thattheir actions prevented meaningful public participation.

WhatDemand prison projects meet all environmental laws, regu-lations, and requirements for public participation. TheEnvironmental Protection Act requires that projects usingfederal money meet all standards for protecting the air,water, natural, cultural, and historical place where projectsare built and is required to produce an ‘environmentalimpact report’ assessing the impact of the project on theenvironment. It also requires a “no-project alternative,”which is a fancy way of saying that they have to explaintruthfully what would happen if the project were not built.

WhoFederal Court, Environmental Protection Agency, RegionalAir Quality Management District, Regional Water QualityManagement District, and/or regional TransportationDistrict, depending on which environmental resource mightbe harmed by the prison; local environmental organizations.

HowUnder the law, ordinary folks can demand public hearingson the project and submit comments. Get as many peopleas possible to write in comments. You can also file com-plaints that the length of public comment time was tooshort, and there was not proper notification of theEnvironmental Impact Report and its comment period. If notsatisfied with the outcome of these interventions, communi-ty groups can file suit in courts.

Attend all of the meetings that are related to the potentialimpacts of the prison. Request copies of all EnvironmentalImpact Statements and Reports that are produced, andrequest translations in the most common language spokenin your town – these are all public documents you have aright to ask for. Make sure you meet all their deadlines—and organize other people to do it too. Keep a copy ofeverything you submit so you can prove you did it.

A PUBLIC PROCESSLegal

WHAT’S THE ENVIRONMENT GOT TO DO WITH IT?Legal

EVEN WITHOUT TIME AND MONEY ON YOURSIDE, YOU SHOULDN'T HESITATE TO TAKE UP THE

STRUGGLE.

WHY? BECAUSE WE'VE SEEN FOLKS COME OUTWINNING, AGAIN AND AGAIN.

WhatShow that the prison might not pay its share of the tax billand make other tax revenue disappear. Economic develop-ment zones define certain places as special districts eligiblefor tax breaks, development grants, and other economicincentives, provided that those places generate a workabledevelopment plan.

WhoDepending on who defines and pays for the developmentzone, the Federal Department of Housing and UrbanDevelopment; or state, county, and city redevelopmentagencies.

HowMake the people in charge of creating the plans explainhow they calculated the economic benefits of the prison.Demand that other factors be taken into consideration –like whether or not prison employees actually live in thetown, if the majority are transferred from other prisons, etc.These employees won’t be paying taxes in your town. If aprison wasn’t part of the original economic developmentplan, make sure officials explain why it is now being pro-posed as a solution. Ask if there was a development planfor the prison.

Is the prison in the plan and is its role in economic develop-ment represented truthfully? One report, “Good Jobs First”by Philip Matera and Mafruza Khan, showed that the majori-ty of private prisons built received public subsidies anddevelopment incentives from local, state and federal funding sources without public oversight or involvement. It isthese kinds of financial deals that make your town bear thecosts of a project you may never have even wanted.

TAX BREAKS FOR PRISONS?Economic, Political

WhatUse zoning laws to argue that the prison should not bebuilt. Cities, counties, and states have bodies that regulatechanges in land use and oversee zoning. Many places havelocal or regional planning bodies that map out a future forthe region based on what should be the best use of landand other resources.

WhoCity government, county government, and regional districtsthat govern air, water, transportation, tourism and recre-ation, and other particularly fragile relationships of land-useto community well-being.

HowPlanning for prisons is usually very poor. Prisons are usuallycrammed into already-existing plans. Sometimes no plan isever drawn up even though it is required by local or statelaw! Someone else’s attempt to cut corners could be yourgolden opportunity. You can use poor planning in two dif-ferent ways: 1) Demand local planning and zoning laws andprocedures be followed exactly. 2) Argue that the planningand zoning laws are meant to ensure a prosperous futurefor everyone in your town, and that building a prison is acontradiction of these agencies’ missions. Demand morepublic input into the planning process.

Contact the offices and ask to see what sort of planningattempts have been made regarding the prison. Ask toreview the city planning documents and examine how theprison fits into other guidelines for land use and resourceallocation. Contacting the planning and zoning offices mayalso reveal some of the associated costs of the prison thatfall on the city’s shoulders. This information will help youshow that the prison-boosters are hiding the real costs ofthe prison.

PLANNING A BETTER COMMUNITYLegal, Political, Economic

Strategic Allies

If you can get their support, local environmental organizations can be a big help. They can act as “experts,” and addtheir presence and voices. You can also identify which of the agencies that have a stake in the EPA’s evaluation might bean ally. Local air quality boards, for example, can use their influence during public hearings and lawsuits. Be willing to fig-ure out how the prison will be bad for all districts—like air quality, water quality, transportation and any other board ordistrict with power over the proposed prison site. Often the “no project alternative” is given little attention, even thoughit is obviously the best environmental option….but don’t let decision makers get away with that.

Federal Clean Water ActThis sets limits for dumping of pollutants, and makes it illegal to violate pollution control programs. It also sets water qualitystandards for surface waters. Under the act, an EPA permit is needed either if there is direct run off from a building (such asa pipe that empties into a body of water) or if dumping flows into city sewage systems. These permits are usually obtainedthrough the state.

Agency responsible for implementation Federal Court, Environmental Protection Agency, Regional Air Quality Management District, Regional Water QualityManagement District, Regional Transportation District.

Federal Clean Air ActThis act has set national guidelines to reduce toxic emissions, urban air pollution and acid rain. It creates a permit system,issued by the states and overseen by the EPA, which requires people and agencies to follow emission limits and reductionplans. It also allows the EPA to penalize people and agencies that fail to reduce their emissions, mostly through fines andeconomic sanctions.

Agency responsible for implementation Federal Court; Environmental Protection Agency; Regional Air Quality Management District; Regional Water QualityManagement District; Regional Transportation District.

State environmental lawsState-level (as opposed to federal) environmental protection acts such as the California Environmental Quality Act. In addition to federal laws, most states have their own environmental protection acts. The rules vary in each state. In general,these acts require that projects meet certain standards for protecting air, water, and natural, cultural, and historical sitesThey also require everyone who proposes a project to list a “no-project alternative” which means stating TRUTHFULLY whatwould happen if the project were not built. Under the law, ordinary folks can demand public hearings on the project, andsubmit written and oral comments. If not satisfied with the outcome of these interventions, community groups can file suit incourts to stop projects that fail to follow the law.

Agency responsible for implementation State courts; Regional Air Quality Management District; regional Water Quality Management District; regionalTransportation District.

OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS TO USE

There are several other environmental laws that provide similar opportunities for intervention. Look at some of thelisted laws to see if the proposed prison is likely to violate any of the laws and regulations covered by each agency.

RECAP

Finally: challenge the other side’s claimsand counter-claims. Communities canbe divided in many ways. Don’t befooled by the “divide and conquer”strategy where prison supporters hopeto get everyone in town bickering witheach other while they quietly go abouttheir business of pushing the paper-work through while no one is looking.Your town is everybody’s home, as theFarmersville story indicates. Save yourreal battles for when you have to fightdirectly. .We guarantee that it will bemore difficult to win your struggle ifthe other side can accuse you of thingslike: not wanting jobs for poor folks inyour town, or wanting to keep finan-cially troubled farmers from sellingtheir land and getting out of debt, ornot wanting local mom and pop shopsto succeed.

You can best fight a prison by figuringout what prison supporters are likely toclaim. Figure out what tactics they’relikely to use to divide people in yourtown, and before that happens, work tobring people in your town together incommon cause. You can fight prisonbackers by refuting their claims first,and then moving on to build a coali-tion with your potential allies. If youdo so, that coalition will become anorganization.

Remember, your organization will notbe fighting a fair fight: your oppositionwill have more resources, capacity, andtime, while many members of anti-prison groups like yours are people whohave many other responsibilities, likejobs and families. But you will needsuch an organization to fight back theprison because that’s what the otherside is, first and foremost: organized.Even without time and money on yourside, you shouldn’t hesitate to take upthe struggle. Why? Because we’ve seenfolks come out winning, again andagain.

CONCLUSION

This isn’t really an end. It isn’t a placefor us to leave you, since we’re only aquick phone call or email away. This isjust where we stop talking and you startorganizing. We hope that after readingall of the stories, advice, and ideas thatwe have shared, you’ll agree with usthat a prison isn’t the best (or even agood) thing for your town. We hopethat the idea of stopping a prison fromgoing up in your town won’t seem soimpossible. And we hope that you feela little more comfortable about doingit. But even if you don’t, take our wordfor it: all the things we’ve said aboutyour abilities are true! You don’t have tobecome a different person to stopprison boosters. You just have to organ-ize and do it patiently.

And of course, what would a conclu-sion be without something new to leaveyou with? To our list of four mainideas, we’d like to add one final truth:there’s absolutely nothing that we’vetalked about in this handbook thatyou don’t already have the skills toaccomplish. If you’ve ever made itthrough a year of school with a badteacher, given birth to a child, or dealtwith a Health MaintenanceOrganization, you’ll be fine. Nothing inthis handbook requires you to be anexpert or a professional, or to have acollege degree or lots of money on yourside. All you’ll need is the patience, pas-sion, and the good sense that you wereborn with — though a sense of humoralso wouldn’t hurt. And as we keep say-ing, if you run into trouble, contact us.We’d love to hear from you and to helpout in any way we can

What we’d like to leave you with are the four points that we began with:

1 Lots of different people don’t want a prison in their town andare willing to fight to keep one out.

2 You can influence the important decisions that will affect yourlife. A small number of ordinary people have a tremendous amount of

power when they work together to organize themselves. What you do, or don’tdo, makes a difference.

3 It’s never too late.

4 If you oppose a prison in your town, you’re not alone.El CentroSpeech

So, it seems that we meet the needs ofthe State once again, a place to putanother portion of societies ills. Thequestion remains, does this fit OURneeds?

When I was on the PIC council 10 -13 years ago, the decision was made toaccept the prisons, and I remember thedirector being very happy telling usthat "from now on folks, we are on easystreet. We can just sit back and watchit all fall in, Walmarts, others StateInstitutions, they'll all come and we,the economic developers, don't have todo a thing."

That's exactly what has happened.Little did we know at that point thatwhat would "fall into our laps"(tenyears later) would be a facility for therehabilitation of the violent sexualpredator, and that the "big boxes"(mega-businesses whose profits leavethe area) would put many of our localbusinesses out of business, and stressthe ones remaining to the point ofthinking that the same type of institu-tion, this one a state hospital for thesexual predator, would be the solutionto our problems.

Our unemployed in 1989 are the sameones unemployed today, we remain at22%. The same local businesses are stillcrying that we need more sales tax rev-

enue. Social Services agencies are say-ing: We never realized that we wouldbe facing the sorts of social problemsbrought on by the correctional officersthat we have, the rise in spousal abuseand child abuse is more than the coun-ty staff can handle. Our County social

services lost 10 employees to the pris-ons and qualified help is hard to find.Many of those positions are still notfilled. The courts did not forsee thetremendous load caused by crimescommitted by those "visiting" the pris-oners, or the prisoners writs.

We were told at those communityinformational meetings for the prisonsthat the only effect seen on the com-munity would be an increase in proper-ty values, more sales revenue, that thisis a clean industry, much like the mili-tary, and it would solve our employ-ment problems with good paying yearround jobs. It hasn't happened.

In 1987, the trend in economic devel-opment was to go anyway that wasn'tagriculturally related. Our economicwoes were blamed on the farmer andthe agricultural industry. Please under-stand that we do need to diversify, asmany in agriculture have been forcedto, but also understand that we need"compatible" diversity. Professionalsworking at the PIC office in those days

thought it was important to change theimage of who we are. I believe thathere lies the problem. We have no eco-nomic plan to follow, we have notidentified our needs, other than "weneed jobs".

We need to identify our resources andplan accordingly and realistically.There have been no serious studies con-ducted on the local economic andsocial effects of the two prisons in ourcommunity.

Jobs are important, but it takes a lotmore than jobs to sustain a community.It takes business. State institutionssuch as our prisons, and a rehabilitationfacility for violent sexual predators areclosed businesses. This means that theydo not contribute financially to thecommunity through taxes or by sup-porting the economy by producnggoods or by even purchasing from thelocal community. As State Institutions,they pay no property tax and or busi-ness tax. This type of facility drains thecommunity in the long run because thevast majority of employees will comefrom the outside, creating a stress onour already stressed infrastructure. Byinfrastructure I am referring to schools,public services, transportation androads, medical services, water andsewer, etc. Some people have said -"oh, that's ridiculous, when you builda house, costs are included to cover

This speech was delivered in various forms throughout Imperial County when residents ofEl Centro fought off a a prison in their town (see Introduction). Many different people usedit for many different audiences. Hopefully it will give you some ideas on how to write aspeech to deliver your town.

APPENDIX: Public speaking in your town

those expenese: Not true, in fact, hous-ing is a net drain on the municipalcommunity. The cost of housingexpansion needs to be subsidized bybusiness development. In fact, ourlocal business are threatened by thistype of facility because large influxes ofpeople encourage the location of mega-business, which the local business can'tcompete with, and puts them at risk, orout of business. We must keep in mindthat our local business give 60 cents toeach dollar back to the community,while the large megabusiness, which arenot locally owned, only give six cents ofeach dollar back to the local economy.This is what is referred to as the "stran-gling effect" of the state institutions onthe local community, not to mentionloss of local identity and opportunity.

There are many concerns with a projectsuch as this, and one is the lack ofstrategic design for our growth, andthat by continuing in the direction ofprisons and rehabilitation centers , wewill attract more of the same. And if wewant to go in the direction of moreguards and criminals, predators andtherapy centers, we are headed in theright direction.

Some people feel that because we are aborder community to begin with, wealready have an over abundance of lawenforcement in the commuity. We havethe INS, DEA, BP, Customs, FBI,Immigration, the list doesn't end, andone of the issues discussed in theBorder Communities Association isthat the local community really can'tsupport an imbalance of this sort. Toomany law enforcement employees don't

make for a well-balanced communityemotionally, and the effect of the payinfrastructure on social services andmedical facilities is stresssful.

In this case, some of the big questionsare who will be the employed, at whatpay level, and from where will theycome? We know that Seeley is a pre-ferred choice because of the freeway.Drawing professionals from San Diegoand Los Angeles will be a necessity.Not only do we not have professionalsto fill the positions, but with oursevere nursing shortage in our localmedical fields we can't afford to loseanyone.

Our hospitals are dangerously under-staffed, San Diego complains of thesame shortage. How will we keep ourhospitals and medical services afloat ifwe if we experience this drain fromSouthern California to the State Facilityfor The Sexual Predator? How manyprofessionals will be coming from thetemporary designated treatment centerin Atascadero if fill these positions?

It's clear that the professional positionwill be the higher paid, we have manyhighly paid individuals working hereand commuting to San Diego wheretheir families live. Many times this isbecause the spouse is equally educatedand unwilling to leave his or her securecarreer, and the children are in a pre-ferred school setting. This drain doesnot help our situation any. The flipside is what is called the 2 x 1 theory.Educated professional moves in for theposition and brings educated spouse.Spouse displaces local person in one of

few well paying position already inplace. So, one new position brings twopeople, and creates one more unem-ployed person. We have to rememberthat for everyone who does move here,there is often a spouse and childrenwho will enter the work force, becomepart of the community whose needsmust then be met.

For the 20% of entry level positions,approximately 300 jobs, in supportservices, kitchen, janitor, gardener, willthey make enough to buy a home inthe community, or will they have tolive like the Border Patrol and sharebunks? Will they earn enough to makea difference and pay for the social serv-ices they require?

I have reported that when our prisonswere opened 20% of workforce werehired locally. This figure came fromState sources. At one of the meetingssomeone glared at me and reported that63% of the prison employees residelocally. So, I have to question, if now,10 years later, 63 % of all employeesare local residents, will we ever get thepositions promised us in the first place?and with all those people who trans-fered in from other state institutions, ormoved in from the outside, did ourlocal people even get 20% of the posi-tions offered at that time?

At the public hearing for the draft EIR,there were several young men in atten-dance who testified as to how wonder-ful the State jobs are, never addressing

the draft EIR or the possible effects thisproposal will have on our community.When I talked to them they told methey worked for the Prison, and wantto transfer to the state rehabilitationcenter for the sexual predator. "Hey"they said, it beats working at theprison, and we get first priority, wework for the State." So, they claim thatsomeone already the State system wiltake priority over the local unem-ployed. So again, the people who movein become part of the need.

Another concern is that "like drawslike". The State representatives tell usthat these psychiatric hospital patientswill have "no camp followers" as theyare primarily outcasts and have beenabandoned by their families in the firstplace. Reality shows us that there aremany others, just as twisted, who arearoused by perversity, and want to

breathe the same air as they -- and thatthey will come. Actually, this is thefirst response I hear from the generalpublic. The "patient" in this facilitywill not be rotated, so friends, family,visitors have reason to stay and live inthe community. According to the liter-ature put out by the Mental Healthdepartment, an important componentto the therapy is counseling for couplesand families. How would this be accomplished without the presence offamily or significant others?

The proposal to place the StatePsychiatric Hospital for the Violent Sexual Predator has been rejected by sixcommunities in California. They areCresent City, Corcoran, Susanville,

Soledad, Tehachipi and Atascadero.They are all rural agricultural based-communities, each with two prisons. Icontacted most of these communitiesto find out why they rejected the pro-posal, what were their concerns? I wassurprised that safety was not an issue,in fact, it seems that no one I spokewith even considered reading the Statelaw which defined the role of this rehabilitation center for sexual preda-tors and the patients rights. Their con-cern was largely economics and image.They mostly said that they could notafford to "take another hit" from theState, economically. They com-plainedthat their local people didn't getthe prison jobs as promised, the 80%of people who moved in over crowdedthe local schools, and their communi-ties went into debt trying to build the necessary infrastructure. Also, theycomplained that in many cases theState didn't honor their promisesregarding mitigation funds. Del Norte County went from a budget surplus ofover one million to a debt of 2 million,building the basic infrastructurerequired. Tehachipi claims that 781local businesses went out of business inthe first ten years after the first prisonwas built, due to the arival of mega-business which follow prison growth.They also reported that the state doesnot mitigate for all the local schoolcosts, leaving the district with a 25 million dollar debt which it still strug-gles with today, a decade later. Also ofconcern, was the fact that they wouldbe home to the largest concentration ofviolent sexual predators in the entireworld, causing a negative image, anddiscouraging the relocation of positive tax revenue producing businesses who

might possibly relocate to their area.Even a representative from the CityManagers office in Coalinga said "wehaven't recovered from the economicblow from the prisons, we can't affordthis project".

This law is new, and is currently beingchallenged at the Supreme Court inWashington DC. The people placed inthis program have already completedtheir criminal prison sentence, and thisis a civil commitment, designed to keepthe state safer and provide rehabilita-tion for the sexual predator. The law isbeing challenged because a patientbelieves his rights are being violatedbecause he is being held, but notreceiving the proper treatment to curehim. So, depending on the outcome ofthe legal decison, there may be somemajor changes in what will actually beplaced in this community.

A question was posed at our Board ofSupervisors meeting two weeks ago regarding the California State law sec-tion 6608, which defines outpatientservices for ths particular program per-taining to the rehabilitation and rightsof the Violent Sexual Predator. These patients will be placed in a two yearcivil commitment for their treatment,with an evaluation every year, and thepatient has the right to request andreceive outpatient trreatment once thetwo year program is completed andhe/she has been deemed safe to place inthe community, under supervision.The law states that the individual willbe placed where the appropriate treat-ment and supervision is available. The question is: What would prevent onefrom argueing that the most appropri-

ate treatment would be found wherethe one state hospital specificallydesigned and appointed by law for thetreatment and rehabilitation of the vio-lent sexual predator is located? Thequestion was then asked by a reporterto the State representative, whoreplied, according to the newspaper:"They are wrong, I can assure the pro-ple of the Imperial Valley that no onewill be placed in that community on an outpatient status. They are returnedto their county of commitment."Court records show that we have per-sons who were found quilty of murderby reason of insanity by our local court,(one was a correctional officer) and arenow released to the community of the hospital treating them on an outpatientbasis. They are not released here,which is the county of commitment,because we have no services of thisnature. In fact, when one is convictedof a violent crime, especially of the sex-ual nature, very often the communitydoes not accept them back. They haveto go where they are not recognized.

My point is that promises and policiescan fly with the political winds. Thereis nothing in the law which protectsour comunity from having the "cured"sexual predator placed here on an out-patient status, or even unconditionallyreleased and discharged.

The big problem that we are facing as acommunity is that we don't have a planof development, we are in denial ofwho we are, we are ignoring the factthat we remain an agricultural based,border community with the same chal-lenges associated with that. As long asthere is agriculture, there wil lbe sea-

sonal employees. Like draws like. Forsome reason the county governmentrefuse to accept that there is life southof El Centro. There is a tremendouseconomic push coming from south ofthe border and it is being ignored. Weneed to plan accordingly. We don't need to accept whatever the statethrowsour way just because no one else wantsit. This project needs to be placed in alarge metropolitan area that can absorbthe costs, but Los Angeles refuses thisproject.

As our water supply becomes evenmoreprecious we must become vigilant in who uses it. Although the proposedfacility is predicted to use over 210 gal-lons of water per patient per day,- notmuch in comparrison to farming - wemust remember that in Avenal,Coalinga, Delano, Porterville, Lindsay,Farmersville and Tehachipi, farmers andother businesses had to go to court overwater issues because once in place, State Institutions cannot be controlledwith regard to how much water they use, or how they use it. The waterwars have yet to begin.

APPENDIX: ResourcesORGANIZAT IONS

These are groups that are currently active around social justiceissues. They might have some advice, or be able to offer sup-port, and/or lead you to it elsewhere.

American Friends Service Committee-NationalCriminal Justice ProgramBased in Philadelphia, this group works in many locations onissues of criminal justice.

Phone: (215) 241-7130Website: www.afsc.orge-mail: afscinfo@afsc.org

Arizona Prison Moratorium CoalitionBased in Tucson. This coalition has focused on the effects ofprisons in immigrant communities in the cities and on theUS/Mexico border.

Phone: (520) 623-9141Website: www.borderaction.orge-mail: az_pmc@yahoo.com

California Prison Moratorium Project (CAPMP)This is the group that put this handbook together. We arebased in Oakland and Fresno California, but we have cam-paigns thoughout the state.

Phone: (510) 595-4674Website: www.prisonactivist.org/pmpe-mail: califpmp@igc.org

Central California Environmental Justice Network(CCEJN)A network made up of member organizations from through-out California’s Central Valley. The groups involved work onmany different environmental justice issues, and support eachothers’ campaigns. California PMP is a member.

Phone: (661) 720-9140e-mail: in_tules@yahoo.com

Critical ResistanceStarted as a conference to bring together people who wereaffected by prisons or who do prison-related activism, CR isnow a national organization based in Oakland.

Phone: (510) 444-0484Website: www.criticalresistance.orge-mail: crnational@criticalresistance.org

Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition A statewide coalition that has worked in the past on legisla-tion to enact a prison-building moratorium in the state.

Phone: (888)298-8059Website: www.ccjrc.orge-mail: info@ccjrc.org

New York Prison Moratorium Project (NYPMP)

A youth-focused organization. They were instrumental in suc-cessfully stopping the building of a new state prison inupstate New York. Through their work, they have developedties between urban and rural activists.

Phone: (718) 260-8805Website: www.nomoreprisons.orge-mail: info@nomoreprisons.org

Western Prisons Project

Based in Portland, Oregon, this group supports prisonactivism in OR, WA, ID, MT, UT, NV, and WY.

Phone: (503) 335-8449Website: www.westernprisonproject.orge-mail: info@westernprisonproject.org

Beginning your campaign will involve lots of different folks. Here are some ways to find support along the way.

RESEARCH/DATA

Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (CJCJ)Focuses on research related to youth in the prison system.

Phone: (415) 621-5661Website: www.cjcj.org

Data CenterHas researchers on staff who focus on many issues. They areavailable to fill requests for specific information. Have com-piled a large list of current prison-related work.

Phone: (510) 835-4692Website: www.datacenter.orge-mail: datacenter@datacenter.org

Justice Policy Institute (JPI)An independent, Washington D.C.-based research institute. Ithas released many studies used by activists to debunk themyths of the benefits of incarceration.

Phone: (202) 363-7847Website: www.justicepolicy.orge-mail: info@justicepolicy.org

Prison Activist Resource CenterA clearinghouse of information for prison-related issues. Itcreates a guide that lists organizations from across the country.

Phone: (510) 893-4648Website: www.prisonactivist.orge-mail: parc@prisonactivist.org

Prison Reform Advocacy CenterProvides legal support and data to activists throughout thecountry. Also performs campaign work around prisoners andthe census.

Phone: (513) 421-1108Website: www.prisonreform.come-mail: dsingleton@prisonreform.com

Sentencing ProjectPublishes studies and books about the effects of imprison-ment on society.

Phone: (202) 628-0871 Website: www.sentencingproject.org

BOOKS

The following books provide good background informationand examples of organizing:

Kim Bobo, Jackie Kendal, and Steve Max, Organizing forSocial Change: Manual for Activists (Seven Locks Press, 1991).We utilized this in the Organizing chapter. Very useful exam-ples for any kind of justice work.

Luke Cole (editor), From the Ground Up: EnvironmentalRacism and the Rise of the Environmental Justice Movement.(NYU Press 2000). Essays from everyday people involved incommunity-based organizing. Edited by the director of theCenter on Race, Poverty and the Environment, a member ofCCEJN.

Angela Davis. Are Prisons Obsolete? (Seven Stories Press,2003). Angela Davis makes the case for the end of prisonsand “decarceration.”

Marilyn Manilov, Media How-to Guidebook (Media Alliance1999). A short, general guide to getting your message out.

Phil Mattera and Mafruza Khan, with Greg LeRoy and KateDavis, Jail Breaks: Economic Development Subsidies Given toPrivate Prisons (Good Jobs First, 2001). Focuses on privateprisons. Good information for building a case against prisonexpansion. More information at www.goodjobsfirst.org.

Marc Mauer and Medea Chesney-Lind (editors), InvisiblePunishment: The Collateral Consequences of Mass Imprisonment(The New Press, 2002). Essays about the effects prisons haveon society.

Marilyn McShane and Frank Williams, Encyclopedia ofAmerican Prisons (Gailand Publishing, 1996). A straightfor-ward A-Z guide to the history, terminology and processes ofthe U.S. prison system.

Christian Parenti, Lockdown America (Verso, 1999). A 20-21st

century history of how Americans came to believe that polic-ing and prisons are the only solutions to social problems.

Elihu Rosenblatt (editor), Criminal Injustice (South EndPress, 1996). Short pieces on individuals’ experiences with thecriminal justice system.

ART ICLES

These are grouped by category. Please contact CAPMP torequest free copies.

Globalization:

“Globalization and U.S. Prison Growth” by Ruth WilsonGilmore. Race and Class 40(2/3): 171-188, 1998.

Delano:

“The Prison Prosperity Myth: Delano’s Grand Illusion” byMatthew Heller. Los Angeles Times Magazine 9/1/02.

“So Far, Prisons Manage to Duck the Budget Ax” Bee CapitolBureau. Fresno Bee 12/15/02.

“Storm Raised by Plan for California Prison: Need andEconomic Benefit Questioned” by Evelyn Nieves. The NewYork Times 8/27/00.

“No Need for Jail, Lawsuit Claims” by Davin McHenry.Bakersfield Californian 7/11/00.

Rural/Agriculture:

“The Last Farm Crisis” by William Grieder. The Nation11/20/00.

“Valley Counties Losing Farmland” by Dennis Pollock. FresnoBee 3/16/00.

Prison Siting

“BOP Provides Blueprint for Siting New Facilities” by DavidDorworth. Corrections Today April 1996.

“Site Selection and Construction of Prisons” by Don Josi. InMarilyn D. McShane and Frank P. Williams, editors,Encylopedia of American Prisons (Gailand Publishing, 1996).

Prison Towns

“Economic Lockdown: With Unemployment LargelyUnaffected and Jobs Going to Residents of Larger Cities, theValley’s Prison Boom Hasn’t Been the Economic BoonAdvertised” by Mike Lewis. The Fresno Bee 1/9/00.

“Portrait of a Prison Town” by Jennifer Gonnerman. TheVillage Voice 3/11/97.

V IDEOS

Can be used for public forums and fundraisers, house parties,and available to loan to the public.

Concrete and Sunshine by Nicole Cousino. Film about thehistory of California’s prison system and the development ofthe Security Housing Unit (SHU). Available by contactingthe filmmaker at enzyprod@yahoo.com.

Joining Forces:Footage from the 2001 Conference thatbrought together groups working for environmental justiceand groups fighting against prison expansion. Includes partic-ipants’ personal testimonial and speeches by experts in bothareas. Available through Critical Resistance, (510) 444-0484.

Prison in the Fields by Ashley Hunt. A short film aboutDelano and the siting of a second prison in this historicunion town. Available by calling Critical Resistance, (510)444-0484.

This Black Soil by Teresa Konechne. The story of a ruralcommunity fighting to stop a prison siting in their town.http://www.vcu.edu/uns/Releases/2001/feb/020501a.html.

Yes, In My Backyard by Tracy Huling. The filmmaker inter-views residents of a small upstate New York town with twostate prisons. Email the filmmaker atgalgirls@francomm.com.

WEBS ITES

Includes those that have not been included in other areas ofthe resource guide.

(Dis)location and the Ruralization of US Prisons:http://www.sfsu.edu/˜tamamail/location.html.

Federal freedom of information act requests:http://www.rcfp.org/foi_lett.html

Research on the Prison Industrial Complex: http://www.prisonsucks.com

Search for your state’s Department of Corrections online

Schools Not Jails: www.schoolsnotjails.co

State open records requests: http://www.splc.org/foiletter.asp

Statistics on state and federal prison systems:

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/correct.htm

REFERENCES

1 Rainey, James. “Prison Population Drops for the First Time in Years.” Los Angeles Times,Tuesday, July 4, 2000

2 “New York State of Mind?: Higher Education vs. Prison Funding in the Empire State,1988-1998.” Available online at http://www.cjcj.org.

3 Hooks, Greg, et al. 2004. The Prison Industry: Carceral Expansion and Employment inU.S. Counties, 1969-1994. Social Science Quarterly, (85:1): 37-57. For other studies, see:Besser, Terry L. & Margaret M. Hanson. 2003. The Development of Last Resort:The Impactof New State Prisons on Small Town Economies. Presented at the Rural Sociological SocietyMeeting in August 2003 at: http://www.realcostofprisons.org/other.html; King, Ryan S., MarcMauer & Tracy Huling. 2003. Big Prisons, Small Towns: Prison Economics in RuralAmerica. Washington DC, The Sentencing Project at:http://www.sentencingproject.org/pubs_06.cfm