{"article":{"id":8938,"heading":"Against the American Correctional Association: Aug. 10-12","author":"CA-ACA","created":"2001-07-26 20:08:44","modified":"2005-08-15 00:36:51","last_modified":"Mon, 15 Aug 2005 07:36:51","article":"<b>What is the ACA?<\/b><br>\r\n<br>\r\nThe number of prisoners in the United States has quadrupled in the last twenty years. With over two million people behind bars, the U.S. now has the highest incarceration rate in the world. This trend particularly targets people of color; one in three Black men between 20 and 29 years old are currently either incarcerated, paroled, or on probation. In contrast to commonly held images of criminals, two thirds of prisoners are serving time for nonviolent crimes. Punishment has replaced reform as prison education programs have been cut, drug rehabilitation has been defunded, and recidivism rates continue to grow. Yet taxpayers pay more to incarcerate these people yearly than it would cost to send each of them to Harvard University. The phenomenal profits secured by the corporations involved with every aspect of the corrections industry do not, in the eyes of many citizens, justify this process.<br>\r\n<br>\r\nFrom August 11 through August 15, the members of the American Correctional Association (ACA), many of whom are securing large profits for themselves by contracting their wares and services to prisons, will hold their annual conference in Philadelphia. The ACA is a group that bills itself as \"the oldest supplier of correctional goods and services in the United States.\" It serves as an umbrella group for all organizations doing business in, around and with prisons. From the corporations that contract prison labor and pay prisoners as little as 19 cents an hour, to the prison HMOs often sued for medical neglect, to lobbying groups advocating for longer sentences, to the Department of Corrections officials involved at all levels of the prison system, to the companies who provide the poison and needle for executions, all willing participants in the industry will be represented at the ACA's annual congress this August in Philadelphia.<br>\r\n<br>\r\nA diverse coalition of groups has come together to organize grassroots opposition to the annual meeting of the ACA in Philadelphia. This August, local activists will host a convergence of ex-prisoners, families of prisoners, activists, and concerned citizens to protest the expansion of our country's racist prison industry. This convergence will include an educational counter conference (August 10-12), permitted demonstrations, street theater and direct action.<br>\r\n<br>\r\nMore info from The Defenestrator: More on the ACA&nbsp;|\r\nThe Prison Industrial Complex is Coming to Philly&nbsp;|\r\nEnding the Power of Capital Over Life&nbsp;|\r\nProudly Continuing the Heritage of Slavery&nbsp;|\r\nWhat is the Prison Industrial Complex?&nbsp;|\r\nWomen and Prison<br>\r\n<br>\r\nFor more information on the Criminal Injustice System, see the www.STOPtheACA.org\/about.<br>\r\n<br>\r\n<br>\r\n<b>CA-ACA Counter Conference<\/b><br>\r\n<br>\r\nThe Counter Conference will take place August 10-12, 2001:\r\n<ul type=\"circle\">\r\n\t<li>Against the ACA<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Toward alternative solutions to mass incarceration<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nAs our city hosts the members and partners of the American Correctional \r\nAssociation -- many of whom are securing large profits for themselves by \r\ncontracting their wares and services to prisons -- we will host a convergence of \r\nex-offenders, families of prisoners, activists, and concerned citizens. We \r\nwill use this opportunity to counter the perceived consensus that more prisons \r\nand more force is the only solution to the crime problem. Together, we will \r\nstrategize on how to implement alternative, rehabilitative, and \r\ncommunity-based measures to end all violence and exploitation.<br>\r\n<br>\r\nWhy a Counter Conference?<br>\r\n<br>\r\nThe Counter Conference on the Prison-Industrial Complex is a coalition effort \r\nby grassroots organizations to promote networking, education and collaborative \r\naction within the communities around one of the most pertinent human rights \r\nissues in our society today: the out of control growth of an unjust and \r\nineffective prison and criminal justice system.<br>\r\n<br>\r\n<b>Networking:<\/b> The counter conference will bring together organizations, \r\ncommunities, and individuals that are working on countering this trend, but \r\nthat may not usually work with or interact with one another. Workshops will be \r\nforums for sharing knowledge, skills, experiences, and hopes, rather than one \r\nsession after another of \"expert opinion.\" Through this discussion, new \r\ncoalitions will be forged, increasing all of our effectiveness.<br>\r\n<br>\r\n<b>Education:<\/b> The counter conference will provide a public forum to debunk the \r\nmyths about crime and punishment that most of mainstream media presents as a \r\ngiven. Presentations will make the critiques of prison expansion accessible \r\nand understandable and tangible in real-life terminology. Discussion will \r\nfocus on articulating alternatives to the so-called \"Tough On Crime Consensus\" \r\nthat has driven the actions of our politicians for nearly two decades.<br>\r\n<br>\r\n<b>Action:<\/b> Through these conversations, new collaborations will form to promote \r\norganizing among diverse constituencies. The conference's end goal is to \r\nempower the emergence of a new grassroots consensus of which criminal justice \r\nissues should be prioritized in Philadelphia, and to brainstorm about how \r\norganizations and communities can support each other's work. Organizers from \r\nout of town will help us to tie those efforts into larger regional and \r\nnational networks of people working to end the prison-industrial complex.<br>\r\n<br>\r\nThe counter conference is fundamentally about creating space to discuss what \r\nthe real agenda should be in terms of seeking justice and peace in our \r\ncommunities. The ACA congress and trade show provides us with a tool and a \r\nrallying point to mobilize people, across race, class, age, and political \r\nlines, who are doing the vital work around these issues... and to reach out to \r\nthose who would like to be. Through collaborative education and discussion, we \r\nwill educate each other, debunk myths about crime and prisons, empower \r\ncollaboration and action, and prepare to challenge the American Correctional \r\nAssociation and all who generate profit through injustice.<br>\r\n<br>\r\nEvent Schedule<br>\r\n<br>\r\nIn addition to workshops, we will be welcoming the following keynote speakers: \r\nattorney and activist Michael Coard, author Christian Parenti, and ex-death \r\nrow inmate William Nieves. Throughout the weekend there will also be film \r\nscreenings on prison issues, prisoners art showings and poetry readings, tours \r\nof nearby Eastern State Penitentiary (thought to the first modern-era \r\npenitentiary), and props building for the week's protests.<br>\r\n<br>\r\nBelow is a list of workshops that are slated for the Counter Conference. More \r\ndetailed descriptions will be posted shortly. If you would have questions or \r\ninformation to offer about any of the topics below, or would like to help \r\norganize the conference, please email the Counter Conference Working Group: \r\nconference@stoptheaca.org.\r\n<ul type=\"circle\">\r\n\t<li>Custodial Sexual Abuse<\/li>\r\n\t<li>The Death Penalty and Prison Industry: Model community teach-in<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Religious Organizing around Criminal Justice Issues: Why Do It, How To Do It<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Peer education and youth organizing<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Family Members of Prisoners: Dealing with loss<\/li>\r\n\t<li>INS Detention &amp; Asylum Seekers<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Mass Imprisonment of African people is Modern Day Slavery<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Ex-Prisoner Activism<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Fighting Prison Construction<\/li>\r\n\t<li>The religious right and prison ministry<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Queers on Death Row<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Families of Victims and Families of Prisoners: Bridging Divides<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Aging in Prison<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Understanding the Prison Industrial Complex<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Jailhouse Lawyers: Using the legal System as Direct Action Against Oppression<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Hunger Strikes at home and abroad<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Community Monitoring of prison conditions and policy<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Legislation, Policy, and Voter Education Efforts<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Grassroots Investigation as Resistance<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Juvenile IN-justice<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Prison Visitation and Prisoner-Support Programs<\/li>\r\n\t<li>\"Unsafe\" neighborhoods and real community-based alternatives to poverty and crime<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Political Prisoners and Prisoners of Conscience in the US<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Medical Neglect<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Prison Labor: Slowdowns and other Direct Action<\/li>\r\n\t<li>The Catastrophic Drug War<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Philadelphia Story: Ex-Prisoners and Experimentation at Holmseburg<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Philadelphia Story: MOVE and Mumia<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Human Rights Abuses and ACA Accreditation<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nPre-Conference Workshops<br>\r\n<br>\r\nWould you like to have an educational workshop at your school, church or \r\ncommunity center in advance of the Counter Conference? Please email us at \r\nprisons@stoptheaca.org to schedule a time. Be sure to include your name, \r\norganization (school, church, etc.) and a means of getting in contact with you \r\n(if you live outside the Greater Philadelphia Area we may be able to help you \r\nget in touch with organizers in your area).<br>\r\n<br>\r\n<br>\r\nThe people who profit from prisons have names and addresses.<br>\r\nThe name is the American Correctional Association.<br>\r\nThis August, that address will be Philadelphia.<br>\r\nwww.STOPtheACA.org\r\n\n","contact":"see below","link":"http:\/\/www.stoptheaca.org","address":"CA-ACA c\/o PDAG P.O. Box 40683 Philadelphia, PA 19107","phone":"215-724-6120 x3","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/html","summary":"A diverse coalition of groups has come together to organize grassroots opposition to the annual meeting of the ACA in Philadelphia. This August, local activists will host a convergence of ex-prisoners, families of prisoners, activists, and concerned citizens to protest the expansion of our country's racist prison industry. This convergence will include an educational counter conference (August 10-12), permitted demonstrations, street theater and direct action.","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/2001\/07\/against_th.html","filesize":"10.0 kibibytes","article_url":"\/news\/2001\/07\/8938.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}