Media Advisory – June 24th
When: Monday, June 24th from 2pm-4pm
What: Community Leaders will gather and testify in protest at the Community Corrections Partnership meeting where Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi will going public for the first time about his plans to build a new $240 million jail. At today’s meeting the Sheriff is seeking the support of the Community Corrections Partnership to apply for $80 million in SB 1022, funding from the Board of State and Community Corrections.
Where: City Hall Room 305
Contact: Emily Harris, Californians United for a Responsible Budget (510-435-1176)
Background:
The San Francisco County Sheriff has plans of “rebuilding” the Hall of Justice jails (top two floors of HOJ, around 800 beds). According to Sheriff Mirkarimi “Our jails at the Hall of Justice, 850 Bryant Street, were seismically damaged during the 1989 earthquake. The building is in constant disrepair and unsafe.”
San Francisco jails have been at about 62-65% of it’s total jail capacity for almost two years. There are approximately 900 empty jail beds county jails every single day.
Protesters argue that the unsafe facility should be closed immediately, that the county has the opportunity to reduce its total jail capacity from 2400 to around 1600 beds and invest the projected costs of the jail into community-based alternatives.
“I know firsthand that justice stops at the doors of 850 Bryant, and other San Francisco jails. Let’s demand better outcomes and stop the absurd idea that building a state of the art jail will make San Francisco safer.” Manuel La Fontaine, a member of All of Us or None, a project of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children.
