Prison Justice Resources

• Prison Workers Strike – September 9th at prisons across the country and related events at many other locations. The strike, organized by the IWW/IWOC (Industrial Workers of the World/Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee), marks the 45th anniversary of when prisoners shut down New York State’s notorious Attica prison on Sept. 9, 1971.
  • Announcement of Nationally Coordinated Prisoner Workstoppage for Sept 9, 2016 (IWOC, April 1, 2016)
  • Prisoner Work Strike facebook page
  • ‘Incarcerated Workers’ stage nationwide prison labor strike 45 years after 1971 Attica riot (RT News, Sept. 10-12, 2016)
  • Inmates are kicking off what could be the biggest prison strike in America (Business Insider, Sept. 9, 2016)
  • Inmates Are Kicking Off a Nationwide Prison Strike Today (Mother Jones, Sept. 9, 2016)
  • Incarcerated People Across U.S. Prepare for Sept. 9 Prison Strike (Democracy Now, August 30, 2016)
  • Investigation Into Private Prisons Reveals Crowding, Under-Staffing And Inmate Deaths (NPR, August 25, 2016)
  • Why we’re about the see the largest prison strike in history (Raw Story: August 11, 2016)
• What Does The Justice Dept. Decision To End Private Prisons Mean For The Future? (NPR, August 21, 2016)

Immigration – Berks Detention Center

22 Mothers Continue a Hunger Strike at Berks Detention Center — some mothers and children have been held in detention a year or more without a court hearing on their request for asylum.

• Interfaith vigil held at Berks County immigration detention center (WFMZ, Sept. 7, 2016)
• For additional background, see the links here.

Pennsylvania Redistricting Reform

• Pennsylvania gerrymandering is bipartisan (Bill White, Sept. 7, 2016)
• Voters must regain control of election outcomes (Bill White, Sept. 6, 2016)
• Gerrymandering is real source of voter fraud (Bill White, Sept. 3, 2016)

Moral Monday in Harrisburg – Sept. 12th

On Monday, Sept. 12, 2016 (11am – 1pm) people of faith and other coalitions convene in Harrisburg, PA and 34 other state capitols around the country. The “Moral Day of Action” is a part of “The Revival: Time for a Moral Revolution of Values,” a national multi-state tour to redefine morality in American politics. The Moral Day of Action and the Revival are co-led by Rev. Dr. William Barber, II and Rev. Dr. James Forbes.

In Harrisburg, participants will be demanding that elected officials support affordable housing, a $15/hour minimum wage, and fully funded public education. They will also demand an end to violent, racist policing, the expansion of the fossil fuel industry, and the abolition of Death By Incarceration sentences (also known as Life Without Parole). We will gather and march in solidarity with coalitions from around Pennsylvania to present a Moral Declaration to our Governor and key legislators.

• Moral Monday National Day of Action – Pennsylvania State Capitol (UUPLAN)
• Sept. 12th Facebook Page (Harrisburg event)
• Sign up for bus to Harrisburg – free bus transportation from Allentown and other cities.
• Repairers of the Breach (Rev. Dr. William Barber, Rev. Dr. James Forbes, Rev. Traci Blackmon, Simone Campbell)

Prison Justice Resources

• First ‘juvenile lifers’ in Pennsylvania granted parole (Morning Call: Aug. 1)
• Supreme Court ruling denies second chance for inmates (Morning Call: July 22)
  Although mandatory minimum sentences are now unconstitutional in Pennsylvania, the PA Supreme Court has ruled that people previously sentenced under mandatory minimum statutes are not entitled to a new sentencing hearing.
• Justice Reinvestment in Pennsylvania – many links to web-based resources, including Pennsylvania’s Justice Reinvestment Working Group and statistical reports on criminal justice.

Redistricting Reform

• Amanda Holt’s website on PA redistricting.
• Republican Party REDMAP (REDistricting Majority Project)
  Republican Party plans for Gerrymandering legislative districts.
• Democratic Party “advantage 2020”
  Democratic Party plans for Gerrymandering legislative districts.

Environmental Justice

• As July’s Record Heat Builds Through August, Arctic Ice Keeps Melting (NPR, Aug. 19, 2016)
• The Earth Just Experienced the Hottest Month on the Books. Period. (Common Dreams: Aug. 15, 2016)

Prison Justice Resources

• Sunday, August 28, 2016 (9:30-10:20am) Sheila Clever will speak again on the “Pipeline to Prison Learning Tour” to the adult Sunday school class at West Swamp Mennonite Church, 2501 Allentown Road, Quakertown. Sheila was one of 16 participants who spent six days visiting prisons and prison-related facilities in Pennsylvania and will report on what she learned about the impact of mass incarceration in our state.
• Allentown’s Community Corrections Center at 6th and Hamilton Streets is closing. J.B. Riley plans to build a 12-story “Tower 6″ where the Corrections Center is now located, so the lease will not be renewed, and Corrections Center residents will be moved to other facilities.
• National Institute of Justice “Crime Solutions” database of evidence-based crime-prevention programs
• Preventing Crime: What Works, What Doesn’t, What’s Promising, National Institute of Justice, U. of Maryland (about 1996).
• Description of the crimesolutions.gov database that was inaugurated in 2011.
• Other Publications from the National Reentry Resource Center
• Higher Education Pilot Program For PA Inmates.
  The U.S. Department of Education has revamped a higher education program for prisoners, and four schools in the Commonwealth have been selected to participate. Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Villanova, Bloomsburg University and the Lehigh Carbon Community College will create the curriculum to educate prisoners selected for the grants under the new Second Chance Pell Grant pilot.
  Press Release (MSWord Document)
• Mandatory Minimum Sentences in PA will not be Reconsidered. Although mandatory minimum sentences are now ruled unconstitutional in Pennsylvania, the PA Supreme Court has announced that mandatory minimum sentences will not be revisited for prisoners who are already serving time.

Anti-Racism Resources

• 23 Ways You Could be Killed if You are Black in America (YouTube video clip)

Gun Violence Prevention

• Interfaith Coalition Urges Immediate Steps to Mend Divisions between Communities and Law Enforcement. A July 14th a letter to Congress signed by 50 faith-based organizations supports legislation to mend police & community divisions:
  – Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act of 2015 (S. 2168/H.R. 2875) and
  – End Racial Profiling Act (S. 1056 /H.R. 1933).
  The letter is posted here.

Pennsylvania Shalom Conference

• Pennsylvania Shalom Conference – sponsored by PA Council of Churches
  Sept. 24-25, 2016 (Saturday 6:00pm – Sunday 4:00pm)
  Pennsylvania’s first ever “Shalom Conference” will be held at The Hartman Center, a UCC retreat center on 5725 Old US Hwy. 322 in Milroy, PA 17063. We know that peacemaking work can be lonely work. The Pennsylvania Council of Churches is hosting this event in hopes of building a statewide network of peacemakers that will make peacemaking less lonely. Peacemakers of all types, including those who struggle against systemic racism, environmental destruction, torture, domestic violence, gun violence, are all invited to participate in this conference.
  – Saturday evening: Shane Claiborne, a founding member of the Simple Way Community in Philadelphia and author of influential books Irresistible Revolution and Jesus for President
  – Sunday afternoon: Saadia Ahmad, current McCormack Scholar and Master’s student in Conflict Resolution at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
  – Registration: $100 (includes food, but bring your own towels and bedding)
  For details and registration, contact Sandy Strauss, s.strauss@pachurches.org,
  717-545-4761, or see www.pachurches.org/event/shalom-conference.

Environmental Justice

Atmospheric carbon dioxide is at the highest level in human history



Global Warming from 1880 to 2015

• 2016 – Hottest Year on Record

Pennsylvania Budget

• Pennsylvania Budget Summit – complete March 3rd program and presentation slides.
• Also see Sen. Pat Browne’s report on first week of budget hearings (both FY2015-16 and FY2016-17)

Homeless / Housing

Prison Justice Resources

• Sunday, Mar. 20, 6 pm: LEPOCO Potluck & Politics with Sheila Clever speaking on “Pipeline to Prison Learning Tour: A Report,” at LEPOCO 313 W. 4th St., (south) Bethlehem. In September 2015, Sheila Clever was one of 16 participants who spent six days visiting prisons and prison-related facilities in Pennsylvania. Sheila will report on what she learned about the impact of mass incarceration in our state. Please bring some food to share for the potluck dinner at 6 pm; presentation will begin shortly after 6:30 pm. (Rescheduled from Jan. 24)
• End Mass Incarceration is the focus of Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) spring lobby event, Mar. 12-15, 2016 in Washington, DC. The event website fcnl.org/events/slw includes resources on mass incarceration legislative issues.

Pennsylvania Legislation: (bad bills)

• HB1091 – Mandatory Sentences for Felons Possessing Firearms. For details about this bill, see DecarceratePA.
• Other bad bills: ( See decarceratepa.info/stopbadbills )
  All three of these bills have been approved by PA House and are awaiting Senate Judiciary action.
  • HB1089 – to deduct 25% of a prisoner’s wages (which are as low as 19 cents/hr) and 50% of all money sent to them by family and friends, and direct that money towards any fees and costs that person owes. (approved by PA House, awaiting Senate action.)
  • HB758 – to garnish up to 25% of the wages of people who get jobs on their release from prison, with that money going to costs, fines, and restitution.
  • HB123 – requires cash bail that would normally be returned to a defendant to be diverted to pay any outstanding costs, fines, and restitution owed by the defendant for any other case.

• Report on Oct. 2015 “Mass Incarceration” workshop in Harrisburg
  also, see links for related resources including video recordings of presentations at efpjc.ppjr.org

Climate Change Resources

• Climate Advocacy Workshop announcement (Feb. 16, 2016).

Climate Change Impacts and Solutions for Pennsylvania:

• Natural Resources Defense Council report from 2011
• Union of Concerned Scientists – Northeast US Climate Impacts (2008)
• Union of Concerned Scientists – Climate 2030 Blueprint
• Union of Concerned Scientists — other reports
• PA’s Top Power Plant Polluters (National Wildlife Federation)

• Don Brown – blog on Ethics and Climate: ethicsandclimate.org
  • Implications of Carbon Emissions (graphic)
  • Just Allocation of Global Emissions
• Statements from World Religions on Climate Change
• Even monkeys get climate change justice, so why don’t governments and the press?
• Sen. Boscola – “justification” for SB805
• FCNL Roadmap for Lobby Visits on Climate Change

Homeless Sheltering in Allentown

• Community builds on lessons learned about caring for homeless (Morning Call, Feb. 11)
• Frigid weekend forecast rallies churches to stay open for the homeless (Morning Call, Feb. 10)
• Who’s really responsible for sheltering the homeless? by Corinne Feldman (Morning Call, Jan. 29)
• POLL: What should have been done to help Allentown’s homeless during Saturday’s storm? (Morning Call, Jan.28)
• Advocates and Allentown officials devising plan to keep homeless sheltered in next storm (Morning Call, Jan.27)
• Advocates and Allentown officials devising plan to keep homeless sheltered in next storm (Morning Call, Jan. 27)
• Allentown homeless disagreement nothing new by Bill White (Morning Call, Jan. 27)
• Editorial comment from Chris Cocca (Morning Call, submitted on Jan. 26, posted on Feb. 1)
• Allentown Homeless Caught in Blizzard (Morning Call, Jan.25)

Prison Justice Resources

• “Million Dollar Blocks” (Radio Times, January 8, 2016) Marty Moss-Coaine with Clarence Smith, Christopher Moraff, and Eric Cadora (Philadelphia). “Million-Dollar Blocks” are areas where more than $1 million is being spent each year to incarcerate the residents of a single census block.
  Life on a Million-Dollar Block in North Philadelphia (nextcity.org).
  There are several “million-dollar blocks in the Lehigh Valley. For details, see justicatlas.org, a project of the Justice Mapping Center.
• Sunday, Jan. 24, 6 pm: LEPOCO Potluck & Politics with Sheila Clever speaking on “Pipeline to Prison Learning Tour: A Report,” at LEPOCO 313 W. 4th St., (south) Bethlehem. In September 2015, Sheila Clever was one of 16 participants who spent six days visiting prisons and prison-related facilities in Pennsylvania. Sheila will report on what she learned about the impact of mass incarceration in our state. Please bring some food to share for the potluck dinner at 6 pm; presentation will begin shortly after 6:30 pm.

Immigration / Refugees

• Clergy Sign-On Letter to stop ICE immigration raids (organized by New Sanctuary Movement, PICC, and other groups). With any questions or concerns, please contact Nicole Kligerman at Nicole@sanctuaryphiladelphia.org or phone at (215) 279-7060.
• ICE Raids – “Know Your Rights” – Jan. 21, 2016, 6pm – St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church; 417 N 7th St., Allentown (484-664-3518). In light of recent ICE raids occurring across the nation since January 2, 2016, organizations in Pennsylvania are hosting Know Your Rights information sessions for undocumented immigrants – how to prepare for a possible raid, how to interact with law enforcement, and how to practice your rights. For more information and other meeting locations, see www.paimmigrant.org/paisready.

Prison Justice Resources

• Immigrant Detention: As Asylum Seekers Swap Prison Beds For Ankle Bracelets, Same Firm Profits (NPR, Nov. 13, 2015).
  A court ordered the release of women and children held in immigrant detention centers in favor of electronic monitoring. The GEO Group operates both.
• Early prison release will test drug felons, re-entry groups (Morning Call: October 27).

Pennsylvania Budget Updates

• property tax relief, Marcellus shale tax policy, public school funding (www.pennbpc.org).
• Who Pays For An Increase in the Sales Tax: Analysis of the Tax Incidence of an Increase in the Sales Tax from 6% to 7.25%
• Diverse Coalition of Business Groups, Faith Communities, Education Associations, and Other Advocates Sign Letter Opposing Property Tax Elimination.

Immigration / Refugees

• More Central Americans fleeing violence to enter U.S., suggesting another major surge (Morning Call: Nov. 19, 2015).
• LCC Welcome for Syrian refugees (and other immigrants) Sunday, Nov. 22, 4:00pm at Dubbs Memorial Community Center
  Faith & Values: Lehigh Valley church leaders rally to help Syrian refugees, by Larry Pickens (Morning Call, Oct. 31, 2015).

Prison Justice Resources

• Quaker Action, Fall 2015: “Healing justice: The movement to end mass incarceration” [HTML] [PDF]
• More Than 100 Police Chiefs And Prosecutors Unite To Cut Prison Population (NPR: Oct. 21, 2015)
• SB 869 seeks changes to drug forfeiture process (Morning Call, Oct. 21)
  Senate Bill 869, sponsored by Mike Folmer (R-Lebanon) would require a conviction on a drug crime before cash, property, cars or other goods can be forfeited to the government.
• FCC Approves a New Cap on Prison Phone Rates (FCC, Oct. 22, 2015)
  … And That’s Bad News For Prison Phone Companies Securus Technologies and GTL (ibtimes.com, Oct. 22, 2015)
• Report from Sept. 26th Mass Incarceration Workshop in Lancaster, PA.

Immigration / Refugees

• Agency gets outpouring of interest in helping refugees resettle in Lehigh Valley (Morning Call, Oct. 13)
• Lehigh Valley meeting on helping refugees draws tea party concerns about terrorists (Morning Call, Oct. 15)
• Bureaucracy Slows Process Of Welcoming Refugees To The U.S. (NPR — All Things Considered, Oct. 19, 2015)
  — quotes Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski about his appeal for more refugees in his city.

Allentown Homeless Shelter

• Allentown homeless commission absorbed into regional effort as city adds a new shelter for winter (Morning Call, Oct. 15)

Pennsylvania Budget

• “Why the Budget Matters: Count the Ways” (pennbpc.org – updated weekly)