Real Cost of Prisons Comix - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1604860340 ISBN 13: 9781604860344

Verlag: PM Press, 2008

Inhaltsangabe

One out of every hundred adults in the U.S. is in prison. This book provides a crash course in what drives mass incarceration, the human and community costs, and how to stop the numbers from going even higher. Collected in this volume are the three comic books published by the Real Cost of Prisons Project. The stories and statistical information in each comic book are thoroughly researched and documented.

Prison Town: Paying the Price tells the story of how the financing and site locations of prisons affects the people of rural communities in which prison are built. It also tells the story of how mass incarceration affects people of urban communities where the majority of incarcerated people come from.

Prisoners of the War on Drugs includes the history of the war on drugs, mandatory minimums, how racism creates harsher sentences for people of color, stories of how the war on drugs works against women, three strikes laws, obstacles to coming home after incarceration, and how mass incarceration destabilizes neighborhoods.

Prisoners of a Hard Life: Women and Their Children includes stories about women trapped by mandatory sentencing and the “costs” of incarceration for women and their families. Also included are alternatives to the present system, a glossary, and footnotes.

Over 125,000 copies of the comic books have been printed and more than 100,000 have been sent to people who are incarcerated, to their families, and to organizers and activists throughout the country. The book includes a chapter with descriptions of how the comix have been put to use in the work of organizers and activists in prison and in the “free world” by ESL teachers, high school teachers, college professors, students, and health care providers throughout the country. The demand for the comix is constant and the ways in which they are being used are inspiring.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

Lois Ahrens has been an activist and organizer for social justice for more than forty years. In 2000 she started the Real Cost of Prisons Project which brings together justice activists, artists, justice policy researchers, and people directly experiencing the impact of mass incarceration to work together to end the U.S. prison nation. The Real Cost of Prisons Project created workshops, a website which includes sections of writing and comix by prisoners, a daily news blog focused on mass incarceration and three comic books. www.realcostofprisons.org

Craig Gilmore managed bookstores, published books, and edited a quarterly prison newsletter before transitioning into an anti-prison organizer. He is a co-founder of the California Prison Moratorium Project, a member of the Community Advisory board of Critical Resistance and was awarded the Ralph Santiago Abascal Award for Environmental Justice Activism in 2003.

Ruth Wilson Gilmore is Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Director of the Center for Place, Culture, and Politics at CUNY Graduate Center. A co-founder of California Prison Moratorium Project and Critical Resistance, she is author of the prize-winning book Golden Gulag: Prison, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California.

Kevin C. Pyle attended the University of Kansas where he received a B.F.A. in illustration, studying under illustrator Thomas B. Allen. He moved to Brooklyn N.Y. in 1988 to pursue a career as an illustrator. He has done illustrations for The New York Times Op-Ed page, The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, The Village Voice, The National Law Journal, The Progressive, Adbusters, and numerous other publications. In the early 90s he started contributing and co-editing World War 3 illustrated, America’s longest-running radical comics anthology. Much of the work done for WW3 illustrated was collected in his docu-comic, Lab U.S.A.: illuminated documents, published by Autonomedia in 2001. A non-fiction comic investigation of clandestine racist and authoritarian science, Lab U.S.A. won the Silver Medal for Sequential Art from the Society of Illustrators.

Sabrina Jones is a cartoonist and scenic artist. She is a co-author (with Marc Mauer) of Race to Incarcerate: A Graphic Retelling. Jones is the author of Isadora Duncan: A Graphic Biography and a contributor to World War 3 Illustrated, Wobblies!, FDR and the New Deal for Beginners, Yiddishkeit, and Radical Jesus. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

The Real Cost Of Prisons Comix

By Lois Ahrens

PM Press

Copyright © 2008 Lois Ahrens
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-60486-034-4

Contents

preface LOIS AHRENS, 
introduction RUTH WILSON GILMORE AND CRAIG GILMORE, 
prison town: paying the price KEVIN PYLE AND CRAIG GILMORE, 
readers respond, 
PART I, 
prisoners of the war on drugs SABRINA JONES, ELLEN MILLER-MACK AND LOIS AHRENS, 
readers respond, 
PART II, 
prisoners of a hard life: women and their children SUSAN WILLMARTH, ELLEN MILLER-MACK AND LOIS AHRENS, 

CHAPTER 1

Prison Town

Paying the Price

Artist: Kevin Pyle • Writers: Kevin Pyle & Craig Gilmore
Real Cost of Financing and Siting of Prisons writer/presenter: Craig Gilmore
Art Director & Cover Design: Chris Shadoian
Real Cost of Prison Project Director: Lois Ahrens

The Real Cost of Prisons Project brings together prison/justice policy activists with political economists to create workshops and materials which explore both the immediate and long-term costs of mass incarceration on the individual, her/his family, community and the nation.

Two additional comic books are part of this series: Prisoners of the War on Drugs and Prisoners of Hard Times: Women and Children. If you would like copies of these comic books to assist your group in its organizing work, contact Lois Ahrens. Or you can go to www.realcostofprisons.org and download the entire series.

This comic book can be downloaded free of charge from the Real Cost of Prisons website. Please credit the Real Cost of Prisons Project. Any reproduction requires written permission of the Real Cost of Prisons Project, except for small excerpts for review or publicity purposes.

The Real Cost of Prisons Project is an activity of The Sentencing Project, a Washington, DC based non-profit dedicated to reducing over-reliance on incarceration. The Real Cost of Prisons Project is supported by a grant from the Community Advocacy Project of the Open Society Institute.

THANK YOU

Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Tracy Huling, Peter Wagner, Eric Cadora, Todd Clear, Dina Rose, N.C. Christopher Couch, James Heinz, Marc Mauer, Malcolm Young, Raquiba LaBrie, William Johnston and Helena Huang.

ISBN: 0-9763856-0-0 • Art and stories are © and TM 2005 The Real Cost of Prisons Project. All Rights Reserved.

Write to us at 5 Warfield Place, Northampton, MA 01060. Printed in Canada.

DUE TO MANDATORY SENTENCING, THREE-STRIKES YOU'RE-OUT AND HARSH DRUG LAWS, THE PRISON POPULATION HAS GROWN BY MORE THAN 370% SINCE 1970.

MOST OF THESE PRISONERS ARE JAILED IN RURAL AMERICA.

BETWEEN 1990 AND 1999, 245 JAILS AND PRISONS WERE BUILT IN RURAL AND SMALL TOWN COMMUNITIES, WITH A NEW ONE OPENING SOMEWHERE EVERY FIFTEEN DAYS.

THERE ARE MORE PRISONS IN AMERICA THAN WALMARTS. THERE ARE MORE PRISONERS IN AMERICA TODAY THAN FARMERS.

THESE PRISONERS ARE NOW SEEN AS AN ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY.

"WHEN LEGISLATORS CRY 'LOCK'EM UP!,' THEY OFTEN MEAN 'LOCK'EM UP IN MY DISTRICT!"

-FORMER NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATOR DANIEL FELDMAN.

CAN MAKE SITING A PRISON DIFFICULT BECAUSE THE PUBLIC MIGHT FIND OUT BEFORE THE DEAL IS SET.

TOWN MEETINGS ARE SPONSORED AND COMMUNITY GROUPS LOBBIED. A JUSTICE DEPT. BRIEFING ADVISES "LIMITING THE TIME PERIOD FOR DECISIONMAKING."

IN 1996, OREGON SITED SIX PRISONS IN SIX MONTHS UNDER OREGON'S "SUPER SITING LAW" WHICH MADE PRISONS EXEMPT FROM STATE LEVEL ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.

IN MENDOTA, CA WHERE THE FBOP WANTED TO BUILD A 5 PRISON "CORRECTIONS COMPLEX." THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT WAS AVAILABLE ONLY IN ENGLISH DESPITE THE FACT THAT 86% OF THE LOCAL POPULATION SPEAKS SPANISH. EVENTUALLY A SPANISH-TRANSLATED 10 PAGE SUMMARY OF THE 1000 PAGE DOCUMENT WAS PROVIDED.

A FLORIDA D.O.C. TASK FORCE FOUND THAT LOCAL ZONING LAWS HINDER ACQUISITION OF LAND FOR NEW FACILITIES. IN RESPONSE, THE LEGISLATURE PASSED THE CORRECTIONAL REFORM ACT OF 1983, WHICH GAVE THE STATE THE AUTHORITY TO OVERRIDE LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN SELECTING SITES FOR CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES.

REEVES COUNTY, TEXAS ISSUED 3 BONDS OVER 15 YEARS, $90 MILLION, TO BUILD 3 FACILITIES IN THE DYING OIL TOWN OF PECOS. JUDGE JIMMY GALINDO, THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THE DEAL SAYS: "... WE LIVE IN A PART OF THE COUNTRY WHERE IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO CREATE AND SUSTAIN JOBS IN A GLOBAL MARKET. [PRISONS] BECOME A VERY CLEAN INDUSTRY FOR US TO PROVIDE EMPLOYMENT TO CITIZENS." "I LOOK AT IT AS A COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT."

MANY MUNICIPALITIES ARE EXPANDING THEIR JAIL FACILITIES IN ORDER TO RENT BEDS TO OVERCROWDED FEDERAL AND STATE PRISONS.

SANILAC COUNTY, MI HOPES IT WILL GET ABOUT $900,000 IN REVENUE THIS YEAR FROM RENTING BEDS.

IN STANLEY, WI PRIVATE DEVELOPERS MANAGED TO SITE AND BUILD A $60 MILLION 1,326-BED PRISON WITHOUT ONE ELECTED OFFICIAL CASTING A VOTE OR SIGNING A BILL. IN 2001 THE STATE BOUGHT THE PRISON FOR $82.5 MILLION.

"IT FLATLY INTRODUCES MONEY AND THE DESIRE FOR PROFIT INTO THE IMPRISONMENT POLICY DEBATE, BECAUSE YOU'VE GOT AN ENTITY IN WISCONSIN, A PRIVATE ENTITY, WITH A STRONG FINANCIAL INTEREST IN KEEPING PEOPLE IN PRISON AND HAVING THEM SENTENCED TO PRISON." -WALTER DICKEY- FORMER WISCONSIN STATE CORRECTIONS CHIEF.

TODAY IN MISSISSIPPI, WHERE THE CELL SUPPLY HAS OUTRUN THE CRIMINAL SUPPLY, LAWMAKERS, LOCAL SHERIFFS, AND PRIVATE-PRISON INTERESTS ARE ALL COMPETING FOR THE SCARCE SUPPLY OF PRISONERS.

ONE WEBSITE, JAILBEDSPACE.COM, CONNECTS RENTERS WITH SELLERS. "IT'S A GOOD MARKETING TOOL," SAYS LT. ROBERT LEFEVER OF THE PUTNAM COUNTY CORRECTIONAL FACILITY, WHICH RENTS OUT AN AVERAGE OF 60 BEDS PER DAY.

How Prisons Are Paid For [and who really pays?]

What is a bond? A bond is a loan made to a government.

Governments pay investment bankers to make the loan attractive ('structure the deal') and find lenders ('issue the bonds'). Governments then pay lenders ('bondholders') principal and interest on the loans.

Governments issue two broad categories of bond: General Obligation (GO) bonds and Revenue Bonds.

General Obligation bonds are guaranteed by the taxing power of the state. Most GO Bonds require approval by the voters, and in many states by 2/3 of the voters. Revenue Bonds are designed to be paid off by revenues generated by the project being built, like highway tolls, bridge tolls, student tuition, etc.

Most prisons are now built with some form of Revenue Bond, even though prisons generate no real revenue and Revenue Bonds cost taxpayers more to repay. Why would a state use the most expensive way to borrow money to build prisons? Because voters have consistently voted down GO Bonds to build more prisons. Using revenue bonds to build prisons is a means of getting around the voters and taxpayers.

IN THE 1990S, AN AVERAGE OF 25 PRISONS A YEAR WERE BUILT IN RURAL AMERICA.

ON AVERAGE, 80% OF NEW PRISON JOBS GO TO FOLKS WHO DON'T LIVE, OR PAY TAXES, IN THE PRISON TOWN.

79 WENT TO LOCAL RESIDENTS.

AND, AS IT TURNS OUT, PRISONS ATTRACT CHAIN STORES, WHICH PUSH OUT LOCALLY-OWNED BUSINESS.

ACCORDING TO THOMAS JOHNSON, AN ECONOMIST AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI, PRISONS ARE NOT VERY GOOD ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES BECAUSE THEY CREATE FEW LINKS TO THE LOCAL ECONOMY.

PRISONS GENERALLY ORDER FOOD AND SUPPLIES FROM CENTRALIZED STATE WAREHOUSES-- NOT LOCAL GROCERY OR HARDWARE STORES.

COMMUNITY WORK PROJECTS PERFORMED BY PRISONERS ARE VERY COMMON AND PRISON...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: PM Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2008
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1604860340
• ISBN 13: 9781604860344
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Zeichner: Pyle Kevin, Jones Sabrina, Willmarth Susan
• Anzahl der Seiten: 104
• Herausgeber: Ahrens Lois
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: eucomply OÜ; hello@eucompliancepartner.com; ; Pärnu mnt 139b-14; Tallinn; 11317; Estland