California must urgently adopt a concrete Prison Closure Roadmap.
The Close California Prisons campaign, anchored by Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB), presents this roadmap to outline a concrete strategy for timely and safe prison closure in California. In light of recent closure announcements, findings from the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) naming that California could close 9 prisons without causing overcrowding, and ongoing calls for more say in the prison closure process from community members inside and out of prison walls, this roadmap comes at an opportune and critical juncture.
This roadmap illustrates how California can prepare for and carry out closures while simultaneously supporting the communities impacted by incarceration and the towns where prisons will be closed. We exhibit a decarceral just transition framework, whereby California can support any city or town with a prison in shifting the local economy and community away from a perceived reliance on incarceration, and toward healthy and life-affirming investments and infrastructure.
We demand
- California work towards closing at least 10 state prisons by 2025. That means at least 7 more prisons should be announced for closure in 2023.
- Governor Newsom adopt a detailed roadmap to close more prisons as part of the budget process, one that prioritizes community input and ends CDCr’s spending spree.
- State officials shift resources away from bloated prison budgets and toward positive investments in: 1) community-based care and living wage jobs, centering the needs of Black and formerly incarcerated people across the state; and 2) towns where prisons will close.
5 Ways to take action!
1.) Download and read the roadmap here: bit.ly/CURBroadmap
2.) Use our online action toolkit to: bit.ly/CURBtoolkit
- Email the CA Legislature (Sub 5 Committees) and Governor Newsom using the click 2 send link and copy language from our toolkit sharing CURB’s roadmap
3.) Amplify CURB’s posts on social media (linked in the toolkit) & create your own post urging the state to adopt a #PeoplesRoadmap to #CloseCAPrisons (graphics and sample language all in toolkit, too!)
4.) If with an organization, add your organization’s name to the list of roadmap sign-ons: bit.ly/OrgSupportCURBRoadmap. Use the roadmap in your advocacy, organizing, and campaigns to call for safe, community-informed prison closures!
5.) Mark your calendars for a virtual community gathering on April 11 where we will be sharing and discussing the roadmap more!