As of today, the United States incarcerates about 2, 250, 000 people - the most in the history of the world! - and Washington State’s trying its darnedest to pitch in. Two new state prisons are planned, and expansions of many existing prisons are in the works. In Whatcom County, a new jail will be completed by 2008.
Fortunately, the state is having a bit of trouble filling all the new jobs the prison boom is creating (thanks to my comrade Matt for the link!). Unfortunately, a $150,000 campaign is in swing to get new recruits. Billboards are everywhere. My partner, riding with her parents, pulled up to a stop light next to a bus; as her out-of-work father turned his head, a pang of fear ran through her mind as she saw what he was looking at: a giant “Join the exciting career of Corrections” billboard on the side of the bus! There’s even a huge billboard just a block away from my apartment, across the street from Bellingham’s Community Food Co-op.
I don’t know if a huge billboard will be enough for Bellingham’s liberals to take note of the Prison Industrial Complex and do something about it, but folks elsewhere have their own campaign in the works that aims to put a stop to the prison boom and pull things in a better direction. Called Justice Works!, they’ve been hard at work on issues surrounding the criminal (in)justice system in Washington State for several years, and their new campaign, “No More Prisons,” looks really exciting. They’re based in Seattle, and one of the first organizations I’ll be looking into once I move my ass down there come September.
Note: The Justice Works! website appears to be down at the moment, but you can see a cached outline of their campaign here.
