Protest Perata's Prison Deal!

ARE YOU AN EAST BAY RESIDENT AND/OR CA TAXPAYER?



Don Perata, our Senate Rep and President pro Tem of the Senate, just negotiated away 53,000+ Californians' lives and $15 billion of our tax dollars in the largest prison construction deal in U.S. history.



This 53,000-bed prison deal was negotiated in secret meetings, behind closed doors, and forced through the Legislature without public hearings. And the majority of the prison construction will be financed through lease revenue bonds to bypass voter approval -- polls say only 3% of Californians prioritize prison construction.



After the deal was made, Perata told the press that policymakers had no choice but to build more prisons: "This is a compromise among bad alternatives...Now we vote and light candles. That's a reference to St. Jude, the patron saint of lost causes."



COME OUT WEDNESDAY TO DEMAND REAL SOLUTIONS!



Californians and experts have put forward real solutions for reducing the number of people in prison for years: We could have enacted a moratorium on sending people to prison for technical violations which would have freed up thousands of beds. We could have followed the leads of other states in not placing so many people on parole, paroling geriatric prisoners, or adjusting credits.



Instead, without our approval, Perata caved in to spending our valuable tax dollars on a costly system that's already devastated communities across the state. Once he has termed out, it is we who will be left the consequences of his actions: the prison crisis of 2017, when we will see over 200,000 people in our state's prisons and increased human suffering across the state.



Do you want to see our tax dollars going into education, health care, and housing, or more and more school closures and more and more friends and family being sent to prison?



Join other east bay residents and California taxpayers in protesting Perata's role in this disastrous prison deal and demanding accountability so that he does not become a lost cause. Tell him we want:



*Real solutions!*

50 ways to reduce the number of people in prison

http://www.curbprisonspending.org/50WaysCURB.pdf



*No more prisons!*

The Governor is seeking authority to build an additional 4,500 women's prison beds dressed as "community-based alternatives," even though policymakers recently were compelled to strip these women's prisons from its legislative vehicle due to persistent pressure from people in California's women's prisons and their allies.

http://www.curbprisonspending.org/media/CURB-%20%20Gender%20Responsive%20Prisons%20Report.pdf



EVENT SPONSORED BY CURB



CURB (Californians United for a Responsible Budget) is a broad based coalition of over 40 organizations seeking to curb prison spending by reducing the number of people in prison and the number of prisons in the state.

http://www.curbprisonspending.org



Action Committee for Women in Prison
A.D.E.L.A.N.T.E
All of Us or None
American Friends Service Committee, Pacific Mountain Region
Bay Area Black Radical Congress
Beyond Bars
Blacks United for Quality Education
Buddhist Peace Fellowship
California Coalition for Women Prisoners
California Interfaith Alliance for Prison Reform
California Prison Focus
California Prison Moratorium Project
Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment
Central California Environmental Justice Network
Coalition on Homelessness
Community Wellness Partnership
Critical Resistance Oakland
Critical Resistance Los Angeles
Drug Policy Alliance
Education Not Incarceration Coalition
Families to Amend California 's Three Strikes
Free Battered Women
Friends Committee on Legislation
Grayson Neighborhood Council
Just Cause Oakland
Justice Now
Justice Policy Institute
Legal Services for Prisoners With Children
National Lawyers Guild - SF Bay Area
Out of Control: Lesbian Committee to Support Political Prisoners
Penal Reform International
Prison Activist Resource Center
Prisoners Rights Union
Proyecto Common Touch
UC Berkeley Graduate Assembly
University of California Student Association
Women's International League for Peace & Freedom (California branch)
Youth Force Coalition
Youth Law Center