The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

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Hello friends and concerned community members,

We're hoping everyone's holiday and new year's was
restful and fulfilling, and we have new information to
keep moving forward with the fight against the
Dutchess County Jail Expansion.

The Legislature will meet this Tuesday, 1/11 at 3:30
pm to vote again on the $560,000 bond to proceed with
expansion planning.

A few quick things you can do to help build momentum
against the expansion:

1. Send emails and make phone calls to the Dutchess
County legislators to voice your concerns. Send your
email to: countylegislature@co.dutchess.ny.us and ask
them to forward it to all legislators. For a sample
letter and talking points, scroll to the bottom of
this email. Here is the link to the Legislature's web
page: http://www.dutchessny.gov/CountyGov/Departments/Legislature/CLlegislators200
4.htm

2. Show up! It is expected that the public will be
allowed to speak, and your presence will make a
difference--no matter what! The meeting will occur in
the Dutchess County Office Building (where the DMV is
located), on the 6th floor. Come prepared to speak!
Bring signs or posters or whatever you please to make
your voice heard!

3. Sign this petition demanding the Legislature to
meet after 5 pm when people who work during the day
can make it! Follow this link:

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/democrcy/petition.html

NEEDS LIST: If people are interested in helping
further, here are a few things. Holler back if you
want to volunteer for anything.
1. Media work- writing and coordinating others writing
in to local press about the expansion, help with
publicity and outreach for future community education
events.
2. General outreach- getting the word out about the
expansion to community members and organizations
across issues, building broad-based opposition.
3. Work on outreach and education materials- research,
design, and distribution
4. Funds!!

thank you
In solidarity,
mark
maggie

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Sample letter to the legislators:

Dear Legislator,

I am writing to voice my concern regarding the
proposed Dutchess County Jail Expansion and the
$560,000 bond vote scheduled for Tuesday, January
11th.

Nationwide, many communities have created
cost-effective solutions to address overcrowding.
Relevant examples include pre-arrest programs for
nonviolent, low-level misdemeanors, programs for the
mentally ill, expediting release and transfer
procedures bail reform, specialty domestic violence
and mental health courts, and continuously developing
our well-recognized Alternatives to Incarceration
program.

As funding for crucial crime prevention programs such
as adult education, youth after school programming,
GED, and job training is cut and the cost of living in
Dutchess County continues to increase, now more than
ever it is vital to examine every alternative to
spending millions of taxpayer dollars on
incarceration.

Sincerely,

Name
Address

More Info/talking points:

- Dana Kaplan's fact sheet on Cost Effective Solutions
to Jail Overcrowding: http://www.realcostofprisons.org/pdfs/jail_reform_natl.pdf
suffolksuperjail.com

- This issue isn't just happening in our county. T he
State Commission on Corrections is pressuring counties throughout the state to expand jails and foot the bill, including Tompkins, Allegany, Essex, Suffolk, Chataqua, and Ulster. Tompkins County has refused to move forward with building a new jail and concerned citizens in Suffolk County have worked to raise awareness about the financial, environmental, and social burden the construction of a 1,130-bed facility would impose: http://www.suffolksuperjail.com/

-Crime rates are down, bleak future for funding of
youth programming, mental health services, health
care, education, housing, job training,
transportation, and social services

talking points from earlier email:

-Match the increase in funding for the jail with an
according increase in
funding for alternatives to incarceration programs,
transitions programs, and
educational and training programs for inmates.

- Fully investigate other ways to deal with the jail overcrowding problem. How many inmates are awaiting court processing? Can we speed that up? How many inmates are state parole violators? Can they go to less crowded jails? How much does it cost to send Dutchess County inmates out of county and how does that compare to the projected cost of the expansion? Once the $560,000 are sunk into architectural plans, will the Legislature really be willing to investigate other options, especially with the Ulster County Jail disaster so close to home?

-The holistic approach: If we take the long term
measures to get people?s basic
needs met?housing, education, health care, food, rehabilitation, youth and afterschool programming?crime will decrease. Poverty creates crime. There are plenty of programs that meet people?s basic needs that are in jeopardy right now.

-The morality argument: Half a million dollars is a
lot of money! How can we
justify spending this money when people are without
housing, food, and
education? Let?s put this in perspective!