Resisting Prison Expansion and “Therapeutic” Jails

<p>Tune in to hear the recent story of the No New Women’s Jail campaign that successfully blocked a “feminist” gender-based jail from moving forward in NYC. Across the country, many forms of incarceration and policing are now rebranding using the language of mental health services, trauma-informed centers, and institutes for justice and healing.</p> <p>Vanessa interviews Mon and Caren, who talk about what a “reformist reform” looks like and how they navigate an abolitionist approach to improving conditions inside jails. They explain the concept of carceral humanism and the caveats of alternatives to incarceration (ATIs), which actually expand the state’s capacity to criminalize and lock people up. They also provide some practical tips on pressure campaigns and relational organizing. The conversation touches on the Chinatown jail struggle as part of ongoing efforts to close Rikers and shut down the borough-based jails plan in NYC.</p>