Press Contact: Joe Watson
Phone: 602.383.4155

Tucson, Arizona – August 6, 2018 – The American Friends Service Committee-Arizona (AFSC-AZ), in its efforts to reduce the size and scope of the criminal punishment system, has secured public pledges from three candidates for Arizona governor to reject campaign donations from private prison corporations and their lobbyists, and asks all candidates to #MakeThePledge.

The gubernatorial campaigns for David Garcia, Steve Farley, and Kelly Fryer have pledged to AFSC-AZ and to Arizona voters that they will refuse all donations from corporations like CoreCivic and GEO Group—both of which operate prisons and immigrant detention facilities across the state—and keep for-profit interests out of public safety policy.

“We have a mass incarceration problem in Arizona,” Garcia said. “Incarcerating and detaining human beings should not be motivated by profit, yet it remains a booming multi-billion-dollar industry that has spent decades lining the pockets of politicians. That’s why I have taken the pledge to reject private prison contributions to my campaign.”

Fryer said that, if elected, “one of the first things” her administration would do is “end contracts that the state of Arizona has with private prisons.”

Farley echoed those sentiments, saying, “As Governor, I pledge to fire these corrupt institutions that enrich themselves by putting people behind bars. If we are ever going to solve this crisis of mass incarceration we must eliminate any incentive that allows private corporations to benefit.”

Nationally, communities are speaking out against the role of corporate interests in criminal justice and immigration policies like Zero Tolerance, family separation, and mass incarceration. Last month, 10 members of Congress either rejected or refunded contributions from the political action committee of GEO Group. In Florida, where GEO Group is based, the state’s Democratic party pledged to reject private prison donations.

Garcia, Farley, and Fryer have joined the nationwide movement against private prisons. AFSC-AZ is asking all elected officials and candidates across Arizona to #MakeThePledge by the August 28th primaries! Add your name to the list by visiting bit.ly/MakeThePledgeToday.

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American Friends Service Committee-Arizona (AFSC-AZ) works to reduce the scope and impact of the criminal punishment system in Arizona using research and documentation, advocacy, and policy reform to advance sentencing reform, halt prison expansion and improve conditions of confinement.