San Francisco Board of Supervisors Hearing on Jail Replacement Project
Thursday, January 23rd, 1-3:30pm
City Hall Chambers
San Francisco: Tomorrow, San Francisco Supervisors Campos, Avalos, Breed, Mar & Kim will host a hearing in the Neighborhood Services & Safety Committee to examine whether the controversial jail construction plans are the most cost effective way to meet the short and long-term needs of the county’s jail population. During the hearing Severin Campbell will present the long anticipated findings from the Budget and Legislative Analyst’s Report regarding the projected jail capacity needs for the county. Key departments and agencies will respond to the report including the Sheriff’s Department, Capital Planning, the Controller’s Office, SFPD, SF Pretrial Diversion Project, the District Attorney’s Office, the Department of Public Health, the Public Defender and the Chief of Probation.
Community members from Californians United for a Responsible Budget, the San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness, the ACLU of Northern California, Young Artists at Work, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, Taxpayers for Public Safety, Drug Policy Alliance, Critical Resistance, Communities United Against Violence, Sin Barras, California Coalition for Women Prisoners, Architects / Designers / Planners for Social Responsibility, SF Jail Fight and many more will be there to speak out against the county’s plan to build a new jail, and will outline a series of needed alternatives to incarceration.
On January 16th, the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) denied San Francisco’s application for $80 million in SB1022 jail construction funds to help subsidize the cost of the replacement jail. “San Francisco’s jail construction plan is a mistake to begin with and the BSCC appears to understand that” said Raphael Sperry, a San Francisco-based architect and president of Architects / Designers / Planners for Social Responsibility. Sperry continues “San Francisco is a leader at using community-based alternatives to incarceration, and we need further that progress and cancel this jail plan completely.”
