Prison Moratorium
Full title: An Act Establishing a Jail and Prison Construction Moratorium (H. 1795 / S.1979)
Lead Sponsors: Rep. Chynah Tyler; Sen. Jo Comerford
The Issue
Massachusetts is planning to spend $50 million to build a new women’s prison to replace MCI-Framingham. As of January 1, 2022, the population in MCI-Framingham stood at 179, with more than 20% held in pre-trial detention. In part as a result of sentencing reforms, Massachusetts’s incarceration rate has been falling, which raises the question: Why expand a system that costs $235,000 per person and only causes further harm?
Studies have repeatedly shown that society cannot incarcerate its way to safety, and the family separation of incarceration and the well-documented inhumane conditions in Massachusetts’s prisons and jails fuel the community instability that is detrimental to public safety. Instead, investments in housing, health care, economic opportunity, and other social supports have been shown to be the true foundation of public safety for all.
The Solution
This bill would create a 5-year pause on major jail and prison construction and expansion, without preventing essential repairs, to allow for a focus on reducing the number of people in prison, implementing alternatives, and investing in communities.
Contact Your Legislators
Find your legislators’ contact information here.
I was very appreciative last session that the Legislature passed a moratorium on new prison and jail construction and disappointed to see it not become law due to Governor Baker’s opposition. However, the issue remains urgent: please co-sponsor An Act Establishing a Jail and Prison Construction Moratorium (H. 1795 / S.1979), which would create a 5-year pause on major jail and prison construction and expansion (without preventing essential repairs).
Studies have repeatedly shown that society cannot incarcerate its way to safety, and the family separation of incarceration and the well-documented inhumane conditions in Massachusetts’s prisons and jails fuel the community instability that is detrimental to public safety. Instead, investments in housing, health care, economic opportunity, and other social supports have been shown to be the true foundation of public safety for all. The communities most impacted by the carceral system have been calling for such a moratorium, and we should listen to them.
- We should listen to impacted communities: more prisons and jails will never guarantee safety; only investing in communities can. Let’s pass the #PrisonMoratorium and focus on community well-being.
- There’s no such thing as a humane prison. We need to pass the #PrisonMoratorium now.
- You don’t build new prison beds that you don’t plan to fill. We need to end mass incarceration, not expand it. #NoNewWomensPrison #PrisonMoratorium
- Why expand a system that costs $235,000 per person and only causes further harm? #NoNewWomensPrison #PrisonMoratorium
- We can’t incarcerate our way to safety. Let’s listen to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women and girls: it’s time to reimagine communities and pass the #PrisonMoratorium.
- The MA Legislature passed the #PrisonMoratorium last session. It’s time to do it again. #NoNewWomensPrison
- A #PrisonMoratorium can provide the time and resources to focus on community-centered public safety and well-being.
Write a Letter to the Editor
Adapt the template below! Or email us at issues@progressivemass.com for help!
Massachusetts is planning to spend $50 million to build a new women’s prison to replace MCI-Framingham. However, with a falling rate of incarceration, we need to ask ourselves an important question: why expand a system that costs $235,000 per person and only causes further harm?
Studies have repeatedly shown that society cannot incarcerate its way to safety, and the family separation of incarceration and the well-documented inhumane conditions in Massachusetts’s prisons and jails fuel the community instability that is detrimental to public safety. Instead, investments in housing, health care, economic opportunity, and other social supports have been shown to be the true foundation of public safety for all.
That’s why it’s important for the Legislature to pass a moratorium on new prison and jail construction (H.1795/S.1979). The five-year moratorium in the bill would provide the time and resources to focus on community-based alternatives. Indeed, the work of the formerly incarcerated women of Families for Justice as Healing have shown the transformative potential of investing in communities.
The Legislature took action last session and passed a moratorium, but it failed to become law due to Governor Baker’s veto. But with a new session and a new governor, it’s time to revisit this issue and forge a new path.
Read More
- Cannata, Nicholas, ed. Prison Population Trends 2021. Concord: Research & Planning Division MCI-Concord/SFU Building, 2022. https://www.mass.gov/doc/prison-population-trends-2021/download.
- James, Andrea. “Ending the Incarceration of Women and Girls.” The Yale Law Journal. 128 (2019): 772-790. https://www.yalelawjournal.org/forum/ending-the-incarceration-of-women-and-girls.
- Kajstura, Aleks and Wendy Sawyer. “Women’s Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2023.” Prison Policy Initiative. March 1, 2023. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2023women.html.
- Love, Hannah. “Want to Reduce Violence? Invest in Place.” Brookings Institution. November 16, 2021. https://www.brookings.edu/research/want-to-reduce-violence-invest-in-place/.
- Reinhart, Eric. “How Mass Incarceration Makes Us All Sick.” Health Affairs. May 28, 2011. https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/forefront.20210526.678786/.
- Stemen, Don. The Prison Paradox: More Incarceration Will Not Make Us Safer. New York: Vera Institute of Justice, 2017. https://www.vera.org/downloads/publications/for-the-record-prison-paradox_02.pdf.
Talking Points & Sample Tweets