5/1 Prison Suicides - State House Hearing

 Please come out to support real public safety
STOP DOC AND GUARD BRUTALITY

 

Guards and staff slipping prisoners razor blades? Taunting them to commit suicide? Parading "non-cooperative" individuals on suicide watch unclothed down the cell block? Placing vulnerable individuals in sensory deprivation, known to exacerbate reactions termed mental illness? Imposing sensory deprivation for helping a sick cell mate, filing a grievance, or exhibiting symptoms of "mental illness"?

 

All this and more is paid for by you, the taxpayer.

 

State House, Room B-1
Hearing on Prison Suicides
Tuesday, May 1st, 2007
1:00 p.m.

 

 

The Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse and the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security will convene the hearing to "take a closer look at prison suicides and the prevalence of mental illness in our prison system."

 

The 29 recommendations of the Hayes report on suicide prevention focus on prohibiting DOC prisoners from committing suicide barely addressing the conditions which drive them and those in county custody to it. Those few focused on guards and staff in no way acknowledge the "culture of  viciousness" inside MA jails and prisons. In some measure sensible, the recommendations do not address the despair of benign and malicious neglect and abuse, including rape, and will allow the DOC and guards to control ever more of the dollars desperately needed for community services. The report ignores the need for public oversight to stop human rights abuse and hold the abusers accountable.

 

Join us so that everyone is represented at this hearing and not just the "experts" and insiders. Our loved ones have told us what needs to be done. We will carry their voices to the State House. Let's show our government that it must address the root causes of the deaths behind bars, not just the symptoms of a sick system.

 

For Justice,

 

SHaRC
Massachusetts Statewide Harm Reduction Coalition
http://www.MassDecarcerate.org/

 

 

Support HB1723 for a moratorium on jail and prison construction/expansion
Read the bill, sign the petition: http://www.MassDecarcerate.org/

 

WE DEMAND:    QUALITY SCHOOLS--not jails.  HOUSING--not jails. JOBS--not jails.  HEALTH CARE--not jails.  MONEY FOR DRUG TREATMENT--not jails.  A LIVING WAGE--not jails.  AFFORDABLE HIGHER EDUCATION--not jails.  AN END TO CORI--not jails!