To: The United States House of Representatives and The United States Senate
Mr. President and Congress: Drive the Money Changers from the Justice System #FaithPrisonDivest
As People of Faith, we believe it is morally repugnant for our tax dollars to fund an industry whose sole business is to profit from the incarceration of human persons.
We call on our Senators, our Representatives, and our President to #CleanseTheJusticeSystem by denying state and/or federal funding to the private prison industry.
We call on our Senators, our Representatives, and our President to #CleanseTheJusticeSystem by denying state and/or federal funding to the private prison industry.
Why is this important?
The private prison industry is a fast growing industry, with companies such as GEO group and Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) posting profits of 2.9 billion by the end of 2010. These profits are at the expense of people of color. Private prison corporations, such as GEO Group and CCA, also lobby hard for anti-immigrant legislation, such as seen in Arizona with SB 1070 and Georgia with SB 87. Private prisons are also responsible for neglect and abuse in prisons. Such legislation and examples of abuse and neglect directly contradict our moral consensus as people of faith and as tax payers of the United States of America.
Jesus so identified with those in prison that he told his followers that to visit someone in prison is to visit him. The prophet, Amos, thundered against the people of God for dehumanizing the poor and vulnerable to the extent that they sold the poor for a pair of sandals. As people of faith, we are called to speak out against making profits from the mistreatment of the poor. We are called to care for the vulnerable in society and not profit from their marginalization.
On the day after his triumphant entry into Jerusalem—Palm Sunday—Jesus disrupted the profiteering of the poor, by driving the money changers from one of the People's most sacred institutions. Therefore, we urge our political leaders to symbolically drive the money changers from the People's Government, by denying the People's tax dollars to prison profiteers. #FaithPrisonDivest
Learn More at: http://www.holyweekofresistance.net/blog-posts/faith-prisondivest-reclaimholyweek
Jesus so identified with those in prison that he told his followers that to visit someone in prison is to visit him. The prophet, Amos, thundered against the people of God for dehumanizing the poor and vulnerable to the extent that they sold the poor for a pair of sandals. As people of faith, we are called to speak out against making profits from the mistreatment of the poor. We are called to care for the vulnerable in society and not profit from their marginalization.
On the day after his triumphant entry into Jerusalem—Palm Sunday—Jesus disrupted the profiteering of the poor, by driving the money changers from one of the People's most sacred institutions. Therefore, we urge our political leaders to symbolically drive the money changers from the People's Government, by denying the People's tax dollars to prison profiteers. #FaithPrisonDivest
Learn More at: http://www.holyweekofresistance.net/blog-posts/faith-prisondivest-reclaimholyweek