The February edition of Building Bridges has been issued by the Prison Action Network.
Items covered this month include:
1. Actions, events and meetings including information regarding researching parole denials, writing to the governor in support of the SAFE Parole Act, using an outline provided to help you communicate with your legislators.
2. The Correctional Association has appointed J. Soffiyah Elijah as the new Executive Director. She will succeed Robert Gangi, who has served as Executive Director since 1983.
3. Formerly Incarcerated People's Movement - Activists directly affected by the prison industrial complex are beginning to develop a national civil rights movement.
4. Michelle Alexander and Angela Davis discuss incarceration as a system of racial control.
5. NYS Parole Reform Campaign Report includes a list of 51 organizations that have signed on; the Campaign’s easily understood list of reasons (called the Statement of Purpose and Intent) for specific changes in the SAFE Parole Act, and a call for help translating the Campaign’s literature into Spanish and designing a logo for the Campaign's under-construction website.
6. Parole News - Governor's Budget Bill calls for a reduction in the number of parole board members to 13, combining DOCS and the Division of Parole into one agency called the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, with the Parole Board remaining an administratively independent decision making body; December A1VO statistics.
7. Think Outside the Cell announces a National Symposium on Saturday September 24 2011.
