------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the May 31, 2001 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- SAN FRANCISCO PROTEST: WOMEN IN PRISON, CHILDREN IN CRISIS By Brenda Sandburg San Francisco Prison rights advocates demonstrated in San Francisco on May 11 to demand alternatives to prison for women with dependent children. The "Mothers in Prison, Children in Crisis" protest, linked to Mother's Day, is part of a national campaign. Joyce Miller, an organizer and chair of the rally, said events were held in 21 cities to educate the public about the need for alternative programs. According to JusticeWorks Community, a New York-based group that sponsors the annual campaign, there are now 150,000 women incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails--75 percent of whom are mothers. Two-thirds of these women have children under the age of 18. And most women are in jail as a result of drug and alcohol addiction. Dorsey Nunn, program director of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, exposed what the government's so- called war on drugs has meant for African American people. The incarceration of African American women has increased 800 percent since the beginning of the drug war, he said at the rally. Where is the money going to fight this war? he asked. "$109 million is going to supervise 54,000 people" in prison and $9 million for services. When women get out of prison they have one year to get their children back, he added. "How many social workers are helping make sure you get help?" San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan applauded the passage of Proposition 36. This initiative mandates that people convicted of drug possession receive treatment rather than incarceration. Several women who have been in prison spoke about the difficulty of being separated from their children and the alternative housing programs that had helped them get their lives back. "I had to learn how to talk again, walk again, be around people again," said Juanita Johnson, who lived at Cameo House with her two children after being released from prison. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
