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<font size=3><br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Hello all,<br>
</font> <br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Attached is a letter which
CURB has put together opposing the Governor's plan to build 4,500 women’s
beds. The goal is to get feminist scholars and activists LIKE YOU
to sign the attached open letter to counter the feminist scholars and
advocates who have argued that building more prison beds for women is
“gender responsive” and a good thing for women. WE NEED YOU TO SIGN
ON TO THE LETTER BELOW ASKING OTHER WOMEN TO SIGN THE OPEN LETTER.
<br>
Thank you!<br>
Diana, for the California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP) <br><br>
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br>
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<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Dear Colleague,<br><br>
</font> <br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3><b>California</font>’s women
in prison need your help.<br><br>
</b> <br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>For more than a decade, women
have been the fastest growing segment of the rapidly expanding prison
system. Neither the public safety of our state nor the well being
of women is served by over-incarceration of women. Women inside and out
have led the fight to reduce unnecessary incarceration and to reunite
women with their children, families and communities. <br><br>
</font> <br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Gov. Schwarzenegger now
proposes to build 4,500 new prison beds for women. In an attempt to
mislead the public and the legislature, he calls these new prisons Female
Reentry Community Corrections Centers (FRCCCs).<br><br>
</font> <br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Women who have led the fight
against the abuses in women’s prisons – sexual assault by guards,
pat-down searches by male guards, medical and psychological abuse,
separation from and often loss of children – are now being recruited in a
cynical ploy to support these new mini-prisons as “gender responsive.”
The Governor even goes so far as to say that the FRCCCs are not prisons
at all.<br><br>
</font> <br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>What do you call a facility
where women are locked in 24/7? Where family visits are limited to two
days per week? Where women are “guarded” by members of the notorious
CCPOA prison guards union? We call it a prison.<br><br>
</font> <br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>The Governor, the legislature
(especially the Women’s Caucus of the legislature), the press, feminist
organizations and women inside need to hear our voices opposing this
expansion of prison cells for women.<br><br>
</font> <br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>If, as the Governor and CCPOA
have said, there are 4,500 women who don’t need to be in prison, let’s
send them home. Let’s spend funds not on new prisons and more guards, but
on reentry services and programs.<br><br>
</font> <br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Please sign the attached
letter. Please ask organizations of which you are a part to sign.
<br><br>
</font> <br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>You can sign in two
ways:<br><br>
</font>
<ol>
<li><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3><b>Sign the letter and
mail to it to us at </font>1904 Franklin Street, Suite 504, Oakland,
CA 94612 or fax to 510.444.2177</b>
<li><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3><b>Email your name, title,
affiliation and contact information to us at </font>curb@riseup.net</b>
</ol><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Thank you,<br><br>
</font> <br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Rose Braz</font>, National
Campaign Director, Critical Resistance<br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Ruth Wilson Gilmore<br><br>
</font> <br><br>
<br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Rose Braz<br><br>
Campaign Director<br><br>
Critical Resistance<br><br>
</font><font face="Garamond" size=3>1904 Franklin Street, Suite
504<br><br>
Oakland, CA 94612<br><br>
510.444.0484<br><br>
rose@criticalresistance.org<br>
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<font size=3 color="#FF0000">The Freedom Archives<br>
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San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 863-9977<br>
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