Tell the Governor and legislative leadership NO MORE PRISON BEDS!

Even after the most recent riots at the Kingman prison and Gov. Ducey’s decision to cancel the contract with MTC, The Arizona Department of Corrections has submitted a FY2017 budget request for ANOTHER 2,500 more prison beds. That’s in addition to the 2,000 beds that are currently out to bid. 

We don’t need more prisons. Crime rates are down in Arizona and the prison population is likely to decline due to low numbers of new court commitments.

Building more and more prisons is unsustainable, unaffordable, and ineffective. Arizona must follow the lead of states like Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas and take action to safely reduce our prison population through evidence-based sentencing reforms.

PLEASE CALL GOVERNOR DUCEY AND STATE LEGISLATIVE LEADERS AND TELL THEM NO MORE PRISONS!

(Calling is always more effective than email, but any contact is better than none.  Make your voice heard!)

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey: Phoenix: 602.542.4331; Tucson: 520.628.6580; engage@az.gov

Senate President Andy Biggs: (602) 926-4371; abiggs@azleg.gov

House Speaker David Gowan: (602) 926-3312; dgowan@azleg.gov

More spending on prisons is unnecessary, costly, and unsafe:

• Arizona already spends over $1 billion on prisons every year—siphoning dollars away from education, health care, and needed services.

• We don’t need more prisons! Crime rates are down in Arizona and the prison population is likely to decline due to low numbers of new court commitments.
• Our current system has a 40% recidivism rate. Recidivism is future crime. Our prisons are not doing enough to ensure public safety.

• There are cost-effective and safe alternatives to incarceration that save money and do more to reduce recidivism. Sentencing reforms like those in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Utah would save taxpayers millions while lowering crime rates.

Extra Credit:

Send a letter to the editor of your local paper!

Arizona Republic: http://static.azcentral.com/opinion/letters/

Arizona Daily Star: http://speedway.tucson.com/letters/?template=&action=letter

Yuma Sun: https://yumasun-dot-com.bloxcms-ny1.com/site/forms/online_services/letter/

Arizona Daily Sun: http://azdailysun.com/html_c0113bdc-e0b2-11e0-b7b2-001cc4c002e0.html#utm_source=main-nav#utm_source=azdailysun&utm_campaign=main-nav-sub&utm_medium=direct&utm_content=5&utm_term=submit a letter

**If you can blind copy or cc us, we will have a better idea how effective this initiative is.  If you receive responses, even boiler-plate ones, please forward those to us, if possible.