7/28/2019 Event: Fixing LA's Jails

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Beyond Realignment

Fixing las JailsFinding Solutions to Jail Overcrowding and InmateAbuse That Dont Involve New Jail Construction

tuesday, July 9, 20137 p.m. 9 p.m.

neihbrhd Church

301 n. orae grve Blvd

Pasadea, Califriathe eve is free ad pe he public.

Cac: aclupasadea@yah.cm, 213.434.4643

Patrisse Cullors, Coalition to End SheriffViolence in L.A. JailsPeter Laarman, Justice Not JailsEsther Lim, American Civil LibertiesUnion of Southern California Jails Project

7/28/2019 Event: Fixing LA's Jails

2/2

Beyond Realignment: Fixing LAs JailsFinding Solutions to Jail Overcrowding and Inmate Abuse ThatDont Involve New Jail Construction

What: ACLU-SC Pasadena-Foothills Chapter Public ForumWhen: Tuesday, July 9, 7 p.m.

Where: Neighborhood Church, 301 N. Orange Grove Blvd, Pasadena

Los Angeles -- 8 June 2013:Jail reform advocates and community activists cheered the 2011U.S. Supreme Court ruling that found overcrowding at California prisons tantamount to crueland unusual punishment, citing inmate suicide rates 80 precent higher than anywhere else inthe nation.

Expecting this decision to lead to a reduction in the states massiveprison population with sentencing reform and the early release ofnonviolent inmates, they were chagrined to nd that the state legisla-tures response, AB 109, simply pushes thousands of offendersfel-ons whose most recent offenses were non-violent, non-serious, non-sexualto county jails. Last year, 11,136 such state prisoners werereleased back to Los Angeles County for housing.

In response, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca has proposed a$1.4-billion jail construction project that would ease overcrowdingat Mens Central Jail, create what has been dubbed a thousand-bedwomens village in Castaic, and prevent the early release of pris-oners -- even though the LA County jail system has thousands ofunused beds.

Community groups who work to reintegrate the formerly incarcer-ated back into society have pushed back.

Im concerned that the Sheriffs Department pays lip service tocommunity-based alternatives but is still overwhelmingly focused onprotecting its turf, keeping its budget, and replicating the failed stateprison model right here in LA County, says Rev. Peter Laarman,whose Justice Not Jails project serves as a clearinghouse for county-wide reintegration and sentencing reform efforts.

At the July 9th ACLU-SC Pasadena/Foothills forum, Laarman willbe joined by Patrisse Cullors, whose Coalition to End Sheriffs Vio-lence in LA Jails agitates to create civilian oversight of the SheriffsDepartment, and Esther Lim, whose ACLU Jails Project monitors con-ditions of connement and medical care across the countys jail system to insure that a basicstandard of care is delivered to prisoners.

The event is free and open to the public. For more info, contact Sharon Kyle, CommunicationsChair, ACLU-SC Pasadena/Foothills Chapter, aclupasadena@yahoo or 213.434.4643.