WHAT: On April 26th thousands will gather at the Boston Common Bandstand to call for an end to prison expansion in Massachusetts. The Jobs Not Jails coalition, including over 100 organizations from across the Commonwealth, are demanding that $2 billion be put into creating meaningful, long-term, living wage jobs. The coalition is bringing together organizations of formerly incarcerated people, organized labor, faith-based communities, LGBT organizations and youth groups among others. The Patrick Administration estimates that if current criminal justice policies are not changed dramatically, Massachusetts will spend $2 billion in the next seven years to build 10,000 new prison and jail units and $150 million more each year to fill them.
WHO: Estimated 4,000 Massachusetts voters, including members of:
EPOCA (Ex-Prisoners and Prisoners Organizing for Community Advancement)
Boston Workers Alliance
Black and Pink
WHEN: Saturday, April 26th 1:00pm – 4:00pm
WHERE: Parkman Bandstand, Boston Common
WHY: Massachusetts is behind most of the nation on pushing forward criminal justice reforms. For the last 40 years, we have been steadily and rapidly increasing the number and percentage of our people that we incarcerate, both in the United States as a whole and here in Massachusetts. According to a recent report published by MassINC , the incarceration rate in Massachusetts has tripled since the 1980’s and the impact of racism within the Massachusetts system is even worse than in other states. According to the report, “The most recent data, published in 2005, revealed that incarceration rates for African-Americans in Massachusetts were eight times higher than for white residents. For Latino/a residents, the state’s incarceration rate was six times higher than for whites”.
CONTACT: Steve O’Neill, EPOCA ● 
(508) 410-7676 ● steve@exprisoners.org
www.JobsNotJails.org ● #JobsNotJails
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