Dear Supporter,
Thanks to our mighty people power, San Francisco is on its way to closing one of its jails. Now, we need to make sure the City invests in the policy changes and services necessary to truly support our communities.
Help us lift up community-based solutions by joining us tomorrow morning at City Hall!
We’ll be releasing a new report outlining alternatives to arrest and imprisonment: “San Francisco Community Health Initiative: A People’s Plan for Shifting Reliance Away from the Criminal Legal System and Toward Community-Based Solutions.” Read the rest of Join us to push for jail alternatives in SF »
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Monday, October 10, 2016
Press Contact: Diana Zuñiga – 213-864-8931 – diana@curbprisonspending.org, Christina Tsao – 626-215-4818 – christina@criticalresistance.
What: Report Launch and Press Conference
When: October 11th at 11am
Where: Board of Supervisors, 500 West Temple St., Los Angeles, 90012
LOS ANGELES – Last week, grassroots organizations in Los Angeles submitted a series of concerns regarding the proposed $120 million women’s jail in Lancaster that resulted in the Board of Supervisors delaying the vote on the final Environmental Impact Report. Organizers released a report entitled, “We are not Disposable: The Toxic Impacts of Prisons and Jails” today and will follow up with a press conference at the Board of Supervisors tomorrow. The report is an analysis of the health and environmental hazards of the structures of imprisonment. The report traces the history of environmental destruction and human illness linked to prisons and jails in California, with a focus on the toxic soils of the Antelope Valley, where Los Angeles is moving forward with a new women’s jail.
“This report details the long history of the prison and jail systems’ total disregard for the environment and for the health of incarcerated people,” said Kim McGill with the Youth Justice Coalition. “I have seen how destructive jails are to people they incarcerate, their families, and their communities. This report draws attention to the severe health hazards that come along with imprisoning people in environments where they are forced to drink contaminated water and breathe infected air, adding to the endless list of reasons to not move forward with this disastrous jail project.”
One of the most significant threats of the new jail is Valley Fever, a chronic, crippling, and sometimes fatal disease that has infected people imprisoned in state prisons in Antelope Valley, including Lancaster, where the new jail would be erected. The report includes testimony from many incarcerated people who have witnessed their fellow prisoners suffer from Valley Fever or have experienced it themselves.
“The county’s final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) has not adequately addressed the long-term impacts of valley fever in the Antelope Valley. Clearly they are not taking valley fever as a real threat, neither to the prisoners nor the common public,” says Dr. Antje Lauer, a microbiologist at California State University-Bakersfield. “Antelope Valley is one of three districts in Los Angeles County where the fungus is endemic. The EIR should include soil analyses for valley fever.”
“In the 20 years I’ve been held at Lancaster, I’ve witnessed many men contract Valley Fever,” said Kenneth Hartman, who contracted Valley Fever several years ago and is imprisoned at the state prison in Lancaster. “That Los Angeles County is considering reactivating Mira Loma as a women’s jail is horrifying. Placing people deliberately in an endemic Valley Fever area is disgustingly negligent . Human beings will die as a result.”
The analysis, a collaboration between environmental experts, community advocates, and people directly impacted by incarceration, recommends the Board vote against approving the final EIR, reject the project funding from the state, and redirect $20 million of county cash to expand diversion and out-of-custody programs for people in the community.
Endorsers of “We are not Disposable: The Toxic Impacts of Prisons and Jails” include Rose Braz (Climate Campaign Director), Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Ph.D. (Professor, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Graduate Center, CUNY), Chris Tilly (Professor of Urban Planning and Sociology, University of California Los Angeles), Aura Vasquez (Director of Climate Justice at the Center for Popular Democracy) and many more.
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Oct 16
6
Join us to #Reimagine109!
Dear Supporter,
We are very excited to invite you to the relaunch of an amazing campaign, #Reimagine109: LA’s 50% Campaign.
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The #Reimagine109 campaign focuses on re-directing at least 50% of LA County’s AB 109 funding to community-based programs that prioritize holistic care, dignity for all, and empowering those most impacted by the criminal justice system.
Will you #Reimagine109 with us?
What: #Reimagine109: Los Angeles 50% Campaign Summit
When: Thurs., Oct. 13th from 2-5pm
Where: Loyola Law School, Merrifield Hall (919 Albany St. LA, 90015)
When: Tuesday, October 11th at 9:30am
Our first summit for this multi-year campaign will feature Tash Nguyen, a Local Advocate from the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Alameda County where they successfully re-directed public safety realignment dollars towards community-based services. The convening will allow Los Angeles stake holders to learn what strategies were successful, what pieces Read the rest of Join us to #Reimagine109! »
Oct 16
5
Urgent: Stop the Toxic Jail!
LA No More Jails Coalition has been fighting jail expansion for the past 10 years in Los Angeles and not one cage has been built.
Now, we are in the thick of the fight to stop construction of a toxic women’s jail in Lancaster. This jail will squander nearly $120 million to cage over 1,600 women as part of an enormously dangerous $3.7 billion jail plan. We all know that this money could be better invested in the community to generate and expand life-affirming resources for all of us.
On Tuesday, October 11, the Board of Supervisors will vote to approve the Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the proposed women’s jail. This is the last and final opportunity to pressure the Board of Supervisors to vote against the Final EIR, reject the jail plan and send AB 900 monies back to the state.
We need all hands on deck! Read the rest of Urgent: Stop the Toxic Jail! »
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – September 26, 2016
LA Community Members denounce a budget that is environmentally, economically and socially toxic for Black and Brown communities
Press Contact: Diana Zuñiga, Californians United for a Responsible Budget, Diana@curbprisonspending.org or 213-864-8931
Twitter: @CURBprisons #NoMoreJails
What: County Budget Teach-In and Letter Delivery
Where: Grand Park, adjacent to the Board of Supervisors Office at 500 W. Temple St, LA
When: September 27 at 12pm
LOS ANGELES – On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will hold their final public hearing on the 2016-17 county budget described by the Chief Executive Office as a budget that is “Investing in our Future”. During the supplemental budget hearing county community members will participate in a community teach-in that to discuss the negative economic, environmental, and human impacts this budget will have on Angelenos. The group will submit a letter with five alternative budget proposals demanding that the county invest in the health and well-being for all.
“This budget proposal prioritizes a strong economic future not for Angelenos but for law enforcement,” said Diwaine Smith, Youth Organizer with the Youth Justice Coalition. “Grassroots organizations have been fighting for adequate and equitable resources for all our community members and have only received piece meal policies. We are still waiting for the board to divest from law enforcement by stopping the proposed women’s jail. We are here demanding a true investment in our young people and communities by creating a youth development department, re-directing 50% of realignment dollars towards holistic care, and generating universal representation for our undocumented community.”
The budget proposes to allocate nearly $120 million to construct the proposed women’s jail. “The Sheriff and county supervisors plan to build a women’s jail in one of the highest risk Valley Fever areas in California, with particular concerns around water in California’s ongoing drought,” says Dayvon Williams of Critical Resistance Los Angeles. “This is a clearly a destructive move, as these environmental impacts will affect low income communities of color who are already most disproportionately targeted by imprisonment.”
The budget does not distinguish a plan to support immigrant communities impacted by the criminal justice system, nor the needs of numerous community members that have experienced excessive use of force or death at the hands of law enforcement.
“There were approximately 3,700 detained and unrepresented immigrants who had their cases heard in Los Angeles area immigration courts in 2015. Just $18. 5 million would provide representation for each of these community members for a year. How are we not prioritizing this solution?,” says Felicia Gomez of the California Immigrant Policy Center. “Meanwhile, Los Angeles has paid out $35 million in settlements for excessive use of force every year. LA County needs to prioritize black and brown lives in this budget not protecting the Sheriff’s Department or building more jails.”
Tuesday’s Teach-In will feature information on five alternative budget campaigns (Stop the toxic women’s jail, LA4Youth Campaign, Universal representation for immigrant communities, Civilian Oversight and Settlement Cases, and Reimagine109: LA’s 50% Campaign) and will be followed by the delivering of a letter to the LA Board of Supervisors.
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Los Angeles is still in the thick of a $3.7 billion jail plan and the county budget process. The county still has the opportunity to invest in community solutions instead of incarceration. To continue the conversation and build up pressure, CURB and it’s members are organizing several events in the next three weeks for you to join our fight!
We will be discussing the county budget and alternative budget campaigns that our members are working on at our first event this coming Tuesday. 
One important aspect is that we will be discussing the last opportunity to pressure the Board of Supervisors to reject the proposed women’s jail. The Final Environmental Impact Report will be heard by the Supervisors in early October. So, it’s all hands on deck!
Will you join us to learn more and plug in?
- LA County Budget Teach-In
- When: Tuesday, Sept. 27 from 12-1:30pm
- Where: Grand Park in Los Angeles, adjacent to the Board building
- #SchoolsNotPrisons Concert and Teach-In
- When: Friday, Sept. 30 at 5pm
- Where: Chuco’s Justice Center, 1137 E. Redondo Blvd., Inglewood
- Vigil at CIW – No More Deaths!
- When: Saturday, Oct. 1 from 1:30-4pm
- Where: 1:30 – Gather at American Heroes Park (6608 Hellman Ave. Eastvale); 2:30 Start Vigil at CIW (16756 Chino-Corona Rd., Corona)
- Toxic Women’s Jail Mobilization
- When: Save the Date – Tuesday, Oct. 11
- Where: LA Board of Supervisors, 500 W. Temple St., Los Angeles
Read the rest of Can Stop, Will Stop: Join us to fight jail expansion! »
Sep 16
19
Thanks from CURB!
Hello Supporter,
A huge thank you for making CURB’s art fundraiser, Break it Down: Art + Resistance a huge success — we couldn’t have done it without you.
Our art auction is still happening. Will you place a bid today?
With over 250 people attending we celebrated the work of anti-prison organizers from across the state and focused on how we can stop the $2.3 billion jail plan in Los Angeles.
Support CURB by placing a bid by Sept. 21st at 12pm pst!
Read the rest of Thanks from CURB! »
Sep 16
7
Our art auction is now live!
Dear Supporter,
Break It Down: Art + Resistance, a benefit art auction for CURB, is now live on the Paddle8 website. Funds will allow us to continue our work to fight prison and jail expansion, reduce imprisonment, and build healthy, safe, and liberated communities.
Your purchases in this auction will provide a crucial investment towards true solutions to community health, security, and well-being.
Online bidding ends Wednesday, September 21st at noon PT. Make sure to purchase an art piece before time runs out! Read the rest of Our art auction is now live! »
Dear Supporter,
Every day, we hear about violence in the media, see it on the streets we live in, and feel it through our own experiences of trauma. The past few months have been difficult for us all — from the Orlando shooting, to the Stanford rape case, to the murder of Black men in Falcon Heights, Baton Rouge, and across the nation, to law enforcement taking advantage of young women’s bodies throughout the Bay Area, and to all the other pain that we never hear about.
These painful stories are used to incite fear in our communities and to bring up the fear we may have deep in our hearts. We hear numerous false promises that law enforcement will reform itself, will develop accountability mechanisms, or just needs more money.
We need to be clear that building trust and legitimacy involves us working together, caring for each other, and making sure we are bridging the needs of people that are experiencing violence with true solutions to addressing harm as we fight for a world without cages. We need to remain steady in our demands to create community-based supportive services, care for the most vulnerable, and compassion even when faced with darkness while continuing to fight against structural gender and racial violence. Read the rest of Stand together against state violence »
Hello Supporter,
My name is Rosa, and I am the development intern this summer for CURB. I have learned so much in the past 3 months about the real dedication and perseverance it takes to fight the prison industrial complex. Working with CURB is a truly rewarding experience and the event which I have helped organize is now approaching. 
I wanted to send you a friendly reminder that we are less than 2 weeks away from our art fundraiser, Break it Down: Art + Resistance!
Join us to help cultivate the resources we need to keep up the fight!
Over 50 talented artists have donated pieces to the cause and we even have a few art pieces that were donated from San Quentin prison. All the art will be on display September 9th and will be auctioned off online from September 7th-21st. Read the rest of Over 50 artists are giving to CURB – Will you join? »