I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day yesterday! It is a day to reflect on the invaluable role mothers and other caregivers play in our lives and in our communities. But not every mother was able to with her loved ones yesterday and not every mother is given the support and recognition she deserves. This is especially true of mothers impacted by the justice system. Massachusetts is planning to spend $50 million to build a new women’s prison to replace MCI-Framingham. As of January 1, 2024, the population in MCI-Framingham stood at 213. 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 more than $200,000 per person and only causes further harm?
Join Families for Justice as Healing and allies across the state in showing what a five-year moratorium on prison and jail construction can mean: bringing women home; building housing and health care centers; creating what different looks like. Here’s how:
- Join a testimony writing party tonight, Monday, May 12th at 6pm via zoom. Click here to RSVP and learn more.
- Provide testimony and help pack the hearing room tomorrow Tuesday, May 13th at 1pm at the State House, Room A2.
- Submit written testimony. If you can’t make it tomorrow, you can still submit written testimony by clicking here.
Thank you for everything that you do for a more equitable and just Commonwealth.
