Abolishing the Prison Industrial Complex-A Theoethical Approach for Faith Communities

1 EPISCOPAL DIVINITY SCHOOL

Thesis

ABOLISHING THE PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX: A THEO-ETHICAL APPROACH FOR FAITH COMMUNITIES

BY

JASON MARK LYDON

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTERS OF DIVINITY 2010

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2

Table of Contents Acknowledgements

ix

Introduction -

Page 1

Chapter 1: Conscientization - New Understandings and New Possibilities

Page 3

Chapter 2: Emmancipatory Historiography - Liberation Through Remembering Page 10 Chapter 3: Theological Resources Resources - How the Spirit Guides Us

Page 23

Chapter 4: Norm Clarification Clarification - Rethinking the Value of Punishment

Page 36

Chapter 5: Strategic Options Options - Planning the Revolution

Page 45

Chapter 6: Celebration and Annunciation - Dancing in the Rubble of the Prisons Page 48 Chapter 7: Re-reflection and Strategic Action - Think... Act... Repeat!

Page 49

Conclusion

Page 51

Appendix Bibliography



















3

Acknowledgements

I am incredibly grateful for the wisdom guidance and support of my primary advisor, Ed Rodman. Ed's generous support and encouragement throughout this this process has been pivotal to the shaping of my work. His support and gentle pushing pushing helped this project become more feasible and controllable. controllable. I appreciate and am humbled humbled by all of the the work he has done throughout the years in the movement towards abolishing the prison industrial complex. I am also thankful for Joan Martin's willingness to take on yet another project during such a busy time for her. her. Our original conversation about abolition and ethics helped shape my original question. question. Joan's challenge to me to to take on the question of evil pushed me to look deeper into my own theology. theology. Joan's contributions to organizing organizing and movement building inspire me to be a better organizer with a strategic plan for success. Ann Perrott took time out of her own incredibly overwhelming first year of divinity school to be one of my readers and I am grateful for that. It was a joy to talk with her about the ways to structure the paper so that people could enter into it based on their own understandings of the prison prison industrial complex. I am excited to work work with her in our growing ministries to people who are incarcerated. My analysis of the prison industrial complex would not be where it is today without the love and committed struggle of all those within within the movement for abolition. I am thankful to be part of something bigger than myself. myself. I pray in thanks to all those who have come before me, all those whose blood, sweat, tears, and flesh have made it possible for me to learn and organize forward towards the goal of collective collective liberation. I am especially thankful to all my comrades, too numerous to name, who keep the fight going today! My congregation, the Community Church of Boston, has been a home to me for nearly five years. Their support of my ministry ministry and our collective ministry ministry to those impacted by the prison industrial complex is a large large part of what keeps me going. I would not be where I am with out them, their patience, and their love of me.



















4 Introduction

To begin, the question must be asked, how many people is the State entitled to incarcerate, police, surveil, and monitor? monitor? Is 200 million million too many? many? Is 2.3 million million too many? Is one too many? What number will make everyone feel safe? The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the prison industrial complex, the modern abolitionist movement/principles, and Unitarian Universalism. The prison industrial complex can be understood as a manifestation of evil within the United States. For many Unitarian Universalists Universalists the terminology of evil can be off-putting as, "[r]eligious notions of sin and evil have typically served the purpose of orienting human behavior and framing framing the human condition. Behavior that is discouraged is categorized as sinful [or evil]. evil]. Realities of the human condition that are undesirable are deemed evil [or sinful]."1 The essential challenge to Unitarian Universalists, and other faith communities, is rooted in the systemic power structures of who is determining what is evil or sinful. sinful. However, I find the language of evil to to be a helpful tool when examining the theological implications of systemic oppression operating within our world. world. "Evil, [Paul Rasor] says, citing Harvard theologian Gordon Kaufman, is that which destroys life or prevents the unfolding of the full powers of human life. Evil is that which dehumanizes."2 I am using the language of evil ev il because I agree with the liberation theological concept that those things which cause harm and tear us from our greatest potential humanity humanity are rooted in evil. The questions of how evil



















5 evil to come from Satan, institutional oppression, psychological disorder, or is inherently part of all existence the work to recognize this evil, exorcise this evil, destroy this evil, and/or raise up covenantal communities and prophets to dismantle it is what I intend to examine. The structure of this paper will follow the steps of the theo-ethical framework, "Dance of Redemption" as created by Beverly Harrison and expanded on by Kate Cannon. This framework strives strives to be both deconstructive deconstructive and constructive, "it debunks, unmasks, and disentangles the ideologies, theologies, and systems of value operative in a particular society."3 The dance strives to create space for communities to build up the structures of resistance and fulfillment fulfillment that meet their needs. The steps in the dance are as follows: conscientization, emancipatory historiography historiography,, theological resources, norm clarification, strategic options, annunciation/celebration, re-reflection/strategic re-reflection/strategic action, conscientization... The dance is cyclical and is ever continuing. continuing. The paper uses each step of the dance as a chapter c hapter title for further examination. As the writer I come to this paper as an individual committed to the modern abolitionist movement. I write as a white privileged, class privileged, privileged, queer-anarchist, formerly incarcerated man. My commitment to abolition abolition was deeply strengthened after being imprisoned because of my choice to trespass on a military base with the hopes of bringing the atrocities of the School of the Americas to the attention of more people. My experience of incarceration was not that of the majority majority in prison. I hold many privileged



















6 during my six-month sentence. Thus my particular story of being in prison cannot be centralized in the development of a more universal abolitionist abolitionist theology. theology. This is not to diminish my experience of prison but to attempt to be more accountable to those most impacted by the violence of the prison industrial industrial complex. I also recognize that as I use the womanist ethical approach that I do so as a white man inspired by the incredible work of womanist theologians and ethicists while also feeling frustrated at their lack of addressing the violence of the prison industrial complex.

Chapter One: Conscientization - New Understandings and New Possibilities

Conscientization is the process of uncovering new truths or realizing that what we have thought or have been taught may not be true. Conscientization begins for one seeking to engage the prison industrial complex in its many forms by developing an understanding of the intricate workings that make up its its machinery. machinery. The prison industrial complex is a multifaceted construction of control and domination, most commonly seen as the U.S. prison and jail system, the concrete and steel buildings that warehouse individuals. While prisons and jails are a pivotal aspect, the prison industrial complex includes an entire culture of state and corporate collusion to control, discipline, and torture poor/low-income communities communities and communities of color. color. The tactics range from police forces to cameras mounted in communities; from the (in)justice system to corporate profiteering from prison phone-calls; from immigration enforcement to media





















7 strength from the myth that it it is solving the problems of “crime” “crime” and violence. Marilyn Buck, a white anti-racist revolutionary political prisoner, prisoner, speaks of prison as “a relationship with an abuser who controls your every move, keeps you locked in the house. There’s There’s the ever-present threat of violence violence or further repression, if you don’t toe the line.”4 While Buck is specifically referring to her experience within a particular prison, the metaphor of an abusive relationship is significant when one considers the prison industrial complex as the abuser and marginalized communities as the survivor. survivor. The Network/La Red, a lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, and queer domestic violence organization based in Boston, Massachusetts, defines partner abuse as, "a systematic pattern of control where one person tries to control the thoughts, beliefs, and/or actions of their partner, someone they are dating or someone they had an intimate relationship with."5 The prison industrial complex is this ever-present force in the daily lives of those most marginalized in our society, continuously constricting the borders of what is considered right, legal, and appropriate while constantly limiting access to loved ones and support structures. Numbers can assist in the conscientization pr

When considering the far



















8 $11billion 20 years before. before. However, the national recidivism recidivism rate remains virtually virtually unchanged, with about half of released inmates returning to jail or prison within three years."6 The prison system is often referred to as a warehouse for Black men considered criminal by the the U.S. penal system. The Pew Foundation found that, "while one in 30 men between the ages of 20 and 34 is behind bars, the figure is one in nine for black males in that age group."7 It is not surprising where the warehousing terminology comes from. Racial disparities in incarceration also include Latino/Hispanic, Arab, and First Nations people. "Currently, "Currently, an average of 808 per 100,000 American Indians is under the jurisdiction of the nation's criminal criminal justice system. This number represents more than twice the number of White adults ad ults in the system."8 U.S. incarcerations rates per capita in June 2006 reported, Whites: 409 per 100,000; Latinos" 1,038 per 100,000; Blacks 2,468 per 100,000.9 As laws change and the "war "wa r on drugs" expands the criminalization of people's lives, Black women have been increasingly targeted for policing and incarceration as well. "From 1990 to 1999 the number of women in prison increased 110 percent, while the number of male prisoners increased 77 percent."10 The Pew Foundation report



















9 disproportionately impacted by the violence of having a parent incarcerated. Throughout this paper I will use the terms racism and white supremacy interchangeably. interchangeably. Racism is commonly understood, now, now, as a combination of institutional power and prejudice that creates systems to privilege white people at the expense of people of color. color. Ruth Wilson Wilson Gilmore defines racism racism in Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis and Opposition in Globalizing California as, "the state-sanctioned and/or

extralegal production and exploitation of group-differentiated vulnerability vulnerability to premature death. Prison expansion is a new iteration iteration of this theme."13 White supremacy is one of the foundational building blocks of the United States prison system. In order to understand the complexity of the penal system in the United States one must also understand the complexity of white supremacy. supremacy. Andrea Smith offers a framework for for understanding these deep complexities in, the "Three Pillars Pillars of White Supremacy." Supremacy." This framework does not assume that racism and white supremacy is enacted in a singular fashion; rather, white supremacy is constituted by separate and distinct, but still interrelated, logics. Envision three pillars, pillars, one labeled Slavery/Capitalism, Slavery/Capitalism, another labeled Genocide/Capitalism, and the last one on e labeled Orientalism/War, Orientalism/War, as well as arrows



















10 every 25 youths in state and privately run juvenile correctional facilities have experienced at least one incident of sexual victimization"15 The human rights organization, Just Detention International, that works specifically to end all forms of sexual violence in detention, reports that, "In a 2007 survey of prisoners across the country, the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that 4.5 percent (or 60,500) of the more than 1.3 million inmates held in federal and state prisons had been sexually abused in the previous year alone. alone. A BJS survey in county jails was just as troubling; nearly 25,000 jail detainees reported having been sexually abused in the past six months."16 White supremacy is not the only form of oppression operating within the prison prison industrial complex. The prison system can be looked at as a microcosm of society with all forms of oppression that exist in our culture magnified magnified over 100 times. Heteropatriarchy3 is one of those systems. This relates to sexual violence as queer, same-gender loving, and transgender people who are incarcerated are at far greater risk of being sexually assaulted than gender-normative and heterosexual prisoners. "In a 2007 academic study, study, funded by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and conducted at six California men's prisons, 67 percent of inmates who identified as [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer]



















11 incredibly validating for myself as a survivor of sexual assault by a prison guard in 2003. The prison industrial complex does not only operate within the confines of the United States or only target U.S. citizens; this system must be understood as a globalized phenomenon. Many in the United States first became aware of this reality after after the torture at Abu Grahib was exposed. Nick Turse's Turse's article, "The Bush Administration as Global Jailer' is a pivotal place of condensed information about the far-reaching impacts of multinational prison development. Turse explains, explains, "Soon after the attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. began the process of creating what has been termed, 'an offshore archipelago of injustice...' the Bush administration detained people from around the world in sweeps, imprisoned them without charges and kept them incommunicado at U.S. detention facilities at a CIA prison outside Kabul, Afghanistan Afghanistan (code-named the 'Salt Pit'), at Bagram military airbase in Afghanistan, and at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, Cuba, among other sites."19 Turse goes on to name prisons that were open for some time in countries all over the world from Poland to Zambia, from Algeria to Uzbekistan.4 Globalization5 has its impacts on the growth of the PIC within the Un ited States, Turse writes about the the impact of incarceration on immigrant communities. communities. According to





















12 immigrants' or 'new programs that require additional detention space."20 All issues of immigration to the United States must be understood within the framework of globalization. If free trade agreements were not making it impossible impossible to make a living throughout much of Latin America America then immigration to the United States would decrease. If Arabs, Muslims, and assumed Muslims were not being illegally detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials officials then there would not be so many people locked in ICE jails. The global nature of the prison industrial complex is is not limited to the buildings built overseas. Behind each of these numbers is a person. When we can depersonalize the prison prison industrial complex, when we can dehumanize the experience of suffering, then we can be patient in our struggle struggle against the prison prison industrial complex. When we don’t talk talk about



















13 is a MTF TRANSEXUAL TRANSEXUAL WOMAN." WOMAN." He said, "I don't know how to handle this," and a female Sgt. said, "I'll "I'll take care of this one." She showed them how to pat search a woman and took me to the infirmary infirmary to be housed in special housing. Capt. P_______ got it authorized for me to be allowed to continue my Hormone Replacement Therapy, Therapy, be issued bras and panties, keep my long hair and be treated as a woman. I was taken to TDCJ's B_____ unit in a squad car, by myself. I came into TDCJ intake, was forced to strip in front of about 100 men, who whistled and made fun of me, my breasts, my bra, my panties, long hair, nail polish, and cute butt! This infuriated the guards and everything everything went down hill from there. From the CO's to the Captain on shift, I was stripped of my identity, identity, ridiculed, called names, and told I must become a man now! My head was shaved, nails cut short, put on exhibition and for 3 days the ranking officers tried to find a way to get my finger and toe polish off. A female Lt. Lt. finally brought in some polish remover and forced me to take it off. The head nurse took ALL my medications and destroyed them all, all except my depression medication! My body, body, and mind went on a roller coaster ride ride as I went through hormone changes COLD TURKEY! TURKEY! NOT a very good experience at all. One of the male guards liked to sit four four feet away, away, watch me shave my body and shower when he was on duty. He'd ask me what I would do for HIM, if I asked him for anything. Another guard that escorted me to the doctor's doctor's office said, "I bet you enjoyed that" after my prostate exam. exam. I next was put on a bus handcuffed to this HUGE man and sent to a hold over unit called R______ unit on my way to A____ Unit. On the way to R______ unit at 3:00 in the morning, in the dark, in the middle of 80 men blocking the view of the guards, I was forced to have oral sex with the man I was handcuffed to, while the others watched. When he ejaculated in my



















14 individuals and communities to uncover and discover hidden stories of survival, resistance and empowerment. While finding these stories stories there must also be a retelling of the stories that created the systems and logic for establishing oppression and domination. The emancipatory aspect of history is only possible when a full account both of oppression and resistance is realized. One can easily blame the Quakers for introducing the United States to the structures that have become our modern prison industrial industrial complex. In the 18th Century and early 19th Century the punishment for convictions were death, dismemberment, banishment, or if you were lucky you might get public humiliation in the stocks.21 However, the Quakers, and other o ther liberal Christians, wanted to reform this system and create something more humane. There were two primary primary schools of thought for for



















15 panopticon, as designed by Jeremy Bentham. According to Angela Davis, "Bentham's panopticon was supposed to guarantee the ubiquitous monitoring and the imposition of discipline he thought criminals needed in order to internalize productive labor habits... As Foucault pointed out, the prisoner of the panopticon panop ticon 'is seen, but he does not see; he is the object of information, never a subject in communication... and this invisibility is a guarantee of order.'" order.'"24 This panopticon surveillance and discipline system functioned with the belief that the object being seen and disciplined had the capacity to change behavior, be redeemed, and reenter society. society. One might note today that with the continuous expansion of state and corporate surveillance there are some wh o have begun to question whether we are functioning within a panopticon at all times, being disciplined by an invisible guard or threat of discipline.



















16 were rearticulations of the Slave Codes (which provided for perpetual, inherited servitude for Africans), Africans), they tended to racialize penalty and link it closely with previous regimes of slavery. slavery. The expansion of the convict lease system and the county chain gang meant that the antebellum criminal justice system, which focused far more intensely on blacks than on whites, largely defined southern criminal justice as a means of controlling black labor."26 There are many reports that the convict leasing program was far more violent on Black bodies than slavery was. Under slavery the master master needed to be sure that that the slaves did not die or were unable to work because that was the means of o f production for the plantation. With With convict leasing there was no incentive for plantation owners to provide anything for the new labor because as one convict died the leaser only needed to acquire another. another. "The U.S. penitentiaries... envisioned labor as a rehabilitative rehabilitative activity. activity.





















17 they attempted to recover from the devastating impact of the Civil War." War."28 The U.S. prison system quickly stopped having any real rehabilitative purpose and rather constructed a space for Black labor to be controlled and monitored. While it is difficult to find liberative history at the time of the construction of the penitentiaries in the United States there there were a few glimmers of saving hope. There were those who were active in abolishing chattel slavery who saw the growth of policing and





















18 convicted of selling two ounces or possessing four ounces of a narcotic regardless of circumstances or prior history." history."31 This was the beginning of a gargantuan prison boom. According to an extensive study done by The Sentencing S entencing Project, "Between 1987 and 2005, the proportion of all arrests comprised of drug abuse violations increased from 1 in 14 to 1 in 8. The total of 581,000 arrests in 1980 more than tripled to a record high of 1,846,351 in 2005."32 Since its inception the War on Drugs has directly targeted





















19 Increases in prison population is not only because of laws passed directly related to the criminalization of particular particular actions. As rent control was suspended in many cities individuals were forced out of their homes, becoming homeless, and relying on survival crimes to get by, by, thus leading to their incarceration. President Clinton passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, also know as welfare reform, in 1996. The Act drastically drastically cut the services offered offered by welfare, "in addition, it





















20 illnesses... an indictment of the nation’s nation’s mental healthcare system."36 The 1960s - 1980s saw an increase in the the persecution of the radical radical left and incarceration of political political prisoners in the United States. The United States government refuses to acknowledge that it incarcerates political prisoners, however it has been doing so since the beginning of the penal system. The Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO) must be understood as a part of the prison p rison industrial complex.





















21 radical left began developing relationships with people who were incarcerated and becoming politically active, reading reading radical, marxist, and revolutionary literature. literature. In 1971 prisoners at Attica Prison, who had been gaining political education and organizational strength, staged a work stoppage making reasonable demands of the prison to treat them as human beings and workers. The prison guards retaliated against the work stoppage but were overpowered by the prisoners, who were able to take over the prison























22 1973. The prisoners, under the leadership of the NPRA, were able to create a safer safer prison that operated democratically and nonviolently without the authoritarianism of the prison























23 jail sentence. I confessed but when time time came for sentencing, they tossed me into the penitentiary with one to life. life. That was in 1960. I was eighteen years old. I've been here























24 Jackson Brigade, was a founding member of the organization Men Against Sexism. Mead was at Walla Walla Walla Walla in Washington State when he organized the first meeting of the























25 the prison administration. Because of the work of Men Against Sexism rape all but stopped at Walla Walla Walla Walla in 1978 for the following ten years. They were able to develop























26 know about the collective organizing that led to the 1974 August Rebellion at New York's York's Bedford Hills Correctional Facility or the 1975 riot at the North Carolina Correctional

























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































62 and why the police would be called and what the congregation would hope the police to do in any given situation. situation. Congregations should assume that there are people in the the congregation who are abusing their children, partners, co-workers, or other peop le in their lives. Unfortunately the rates of abuse are very high and it is worth being open and prepared to discuss how to deal with abusers and survivors survivors in the church. The Knoxville Unitarian Universalist church had a heinous attack of violence with a g unman killing multiple members of the congregation before being stopped. The church advocated for the man not to get the death penalty. penalty. The congregation has been going through their own process of forgiveness and reconciliation. reconciliation. What else might that congregation do as they struggle to rebuild their feelings of security as well as challenge the prison industrial complex? j. GED support for prisoners

Many prisoners do not have high school diplomas or the equivalent. While college degree programs for prisoners are wonderful and essential, effort must be put into supporting GED programs so that formerly incarcerated people can at least have some recognized education when they get out of prison. k. host community conversations about the penal system

Churches are called meeting houses for many reasons, including the reality that what is sacred is the community in it, the building is a place to condu ct the work of the world. Churches can be an incredible place to host conversations about the role of the prison



















63 of prisoners. This particular event was called "From the Cell-Block Cell-Block to the City Block" and was attended by the Commissioner of Corrections along with nearly 100 co mmunity members. In 2004 the Berrien Unitarian Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in St. Joseph, Michigan, Michigan, a "small fellowship of 42 adult members co-sponsored with a local radio station a c itywide public forum for criminal justice reform in response to outrage in the community sparked over the death of a young African African American man killed in an accident during a police pursuit. “Weighing “Weighing the Scales of Justice” brought together a wide w ide array of criminal justice officials—from officials—from a Circuit Court Judge, Judg e, two criminal attorneys, the County Sheriff, the Police Chief, an officer of the State Parole Board and others—with leaders and members of the community to examine strengths and weaknesses in the justice system. Much needed reforms were identified collectively, collectively, including jury recruitment and selection, the judicial electoral process, racial profiling and racial imbalances in sentencing, overly harsh sentencing, setting of high bonds, lack o f training for indigentdefense lawyers, issues of venue, and a history of wrongful convictions. The forum provided an opportunity for honest dialogue and accountability for instituting reforms was established."100 The possibilities for events and dialogues are only as limited as there is time available to discuss. l. join national campaigns to abolish the death penalty

There are many well-established campaigns for for the abolition of the death penalty. penalty. I will not go into great detail here about these different different campaigns. The death penalty is one of



















64 Unitarian Universalists for Alternatives Alternatives to the Death Penalty is one of the many organizations UU congregations can get involved with. m. join national campaigns to shut down the solitary confinement units

Solitary confinement has been considered con sidered a human rights violation by Amnesty International and other human rights groups around the world. world. The impact of solitary solitary confinement on the human psyche is hard to measure. The American American Friends Service Committee is leading the national campaign against solitary confinement units and keep detailed action alerts on their website, website, state by state. Their campaign is called STOPMAX. n. hold memorial services for prisoners who have died in your state

Lives of prisoners are incredibly undervalued in in the culture of the United States. The deaths of prisoners are hardly ever noticed or counted. When prisoners commit suicide, in a final desperate attempt to gain control over their lives, their voices are often forgotten. Congregations can hold memorial services for those who have died. The Community Church of Boston hosted a memorial service for all those prisoners who had committed suicide in massachusetts massachusetts prisons in 2007. At the time Massachusetts had hit the record number of suicides behind walls ever documented in the history of incarceration in the United States. This particular service was interfaith interfaith and brought multiple communities together, together, along with political political officials, to to mourn the dead. Tim Swallow, Swallow, a Lakota spiritual leader, "offered "offered several Lakota Sioux S ioux tribal prayers and asked



















65 o. fundraise for commissary funds

Many prisoners have no financial resources yet are expected to pay for basic necessities. Congregations can do special collections on a regular basis to send money to prisoners or to families of incarcerated people who can send the money themselves. Phone calls from prison can add up to monstrous amounts and any financial help can make major differences in the lives of prisoners. p. join campaigns to free political prisoners

As mentioned above political prisoners are often targeted for some of the worst treatment behind bars. There are still many people locked up in prisons prisons around the United States because of political action they took, work to free them all. q. include history of incarceration in your anti-discrimination policy (engage

in a long conversation about what it means to exclude those who have been convicted of sexual offenses and how the far majority of those who are abusers are never caught)

Anti-discrimination Anti-discrimination policies are one of the places where organizations intentionally show their commitment to organizational organizational transformation. transformation. It has been a struggle to add numerous identities to to this list over the past six decades. Have a dialogue among the congregation or organization about the possibility of including history of incarceration or court involvement in your anti-discrimination anti-discrimination policy. policy. This does not mean the organization or congregation is agreeing to let known sex-offenders work with children but rather that a full safety analysis will be done for all employees to see how they can



















66 r. work to decriminalize drugs, sex-work, homelessness, and other "crimes" of poverty

As mentioned in the strategy to excarcerate people decriminalization must be a top priority. priority. The incarceration of individuals for victimless victimless "crimes" need to be examined as part of a cultural cu ltural construction of white supremacist, heteropatriarchal, capitalistic norms. The work to decriminalize these acts takes enormous amounts of community based organizing and resistance. resistance. Congregations are a perfect place for this work to be based as the language of morality is highly abused in the politics of "tough on crime" legislators, sheriffs, governors, congresspeople, etc. s. write a moratorium bill on prison/jail construction in your state

The process and legitimacy of moratorium work is detailed above. The efforts congregations can take lie in the writing of legislation and the pressuring of political leaders along with religious leadership to join in the struggle. Arizona, Massachusetts, and New York York are the only states to have successfully written moratorium bills. While none of these bills have ever passed, they become an incredible organizing tool for doing community outreach and base building for the anti-prison anti-prison movement. As state and federal government officials continuously increase spending in "corrections" it is helpful to have an alternative direction to point them in that has some legitimacy as legislation. t. work with immigrant groups to end ICE raids, detention, and deportation

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a growing entity within the prison industrial





















67 ICE is leasing out prison space in prisons around the country as well as building their own privatized institutions (see above). The Biblical call for "welcoming the stranger" stranger" could not be more clear in the First or Second Testament. Testament. The humanist perspective of our interconnectedness is also an obvious directive to support immigrant immigrant justice. This work can include shutting down ICE ICE meetings as has been done in Arizona; standing outside ICE detention centers as done in Boston, Massachusetts; providing space for immigrant workers to speak out as has been done at churches around the country. country. Join in coalitions to reform immigration laws and stop ICE in their violent targeting of immigrant communities. u. join the new sanctuary movement

Unitarian Universalists were actively engaged in the Sanctuary Movement of the 1980s. This was a time when churches were opening o pening their doors to immigrant refugees who were escaping brutality in their country country that was being funded by the United States. While FBI agents surveilled the church congregation members would continuously provide support to the individual(s) housed in their worshipful worshipful home. The New Sanctuary Movement has not adopted the same tactics at this point but it is a national coalition of religious



















68 ones in prison or have been imprison themselves, including the congregational director. The church is very clear about what they provides to prisoner membership and what they expects from the prisoner members; this clarity is so that there is not confusion or unmet expectations. The pamphlet the church sends in to prisoners reads: "What does the church provide to prisoners? (a.)The church will send weekly copies of the Sunday bulletin, reading, sermon/talk (when made available), prayer, and reflections from Sunday attendees. (b.) A copy of the monthly newsletter. newsletter. (c.) Quarterly compilation of prisoner reflections that are sent into the church. What is expected of prisoner members? (a.) Send in reflections after reading material and consider writing something for the newsletter. newsletter. (b.) Practice leaving personal grudges against other prisoner prisoner members of the church aside. Leave your beef outside the church. (c.) Share your thoughts and beliefs with 'free-world' 'free-world' members and prisoner members. (d.) Sign a copy of the membership book and include the work of justice into your life."102 The majority of prison ministries are from right wing and fundamentalist Christian Christian traditions. Unitarian Universalism has a very special ministry ministry to bring bring to people who are incarcerated. incarcerated. One Unitarian Universalist who responded to a survey on prison ministry responded to the question of



















69 prison....our focus on love, justice, reason can be b e a powerful antidote to the unhealthy religious and social culture of prisons. I believe our work there there is/can be transformative transformative and truly liberating"103 Opening Unitarian Universalist congregations to prisoners could be part of the great desire to grow the church and increase its relevance relevance in society. society. The Congregation of the Larger Fellowship does incredible things with their ministry. According to Rev. Patty, Patty, the director of the prisoner program, "many in our denomination need a wake up call… Letter writing becomes a process of building a personal relationship and hopefully will lead to [the free world person taking] more action, hopefully getting involved in projects like bringing women prisoners closer to their children or anything." The letter-writing letter-writing becomes a tool of community building, increasing the humanity of both individuals involved. involved. Rev. Rev. Patty hopes that people on the outside are able to understand that prisons exist as, "deprivation, cruelty, cruelty, fear, and loss." Yet so many prisoners, "are able to create lives of kindness and thoughtfulness even in environments designed to be oppressive." w. hold theological reflections on punishment in our society and how it relates to Unitarian Universalist values



















70 unmerciful, by education and habit. On this principle we contend, that the infernal torments, which false religion has placed in the future world, and which ministers have, with an overflowing zeal, so constantly held up to the people, and urged with all their learning and eloquence, have tended so to harden the hearts of the professors of this religion, that they have exercised, exe rcised, toward their fellow creatures, a spirit of enmity, enmity, which but too well corresponds with the relentless cruelty of their doctrine, and the wrath which they have imagined to exist in our heavenly Father. By having such an example constantly before their eyes, they have become so transformed into its image, that, whenever they have had the power, they have actually executed a vengeance on men and women, which evinced that the cruelty of their doctrine had o vercome the native kindness and compassion of the human heart."104 x. build relationships with the local prison/jail chaplains

Congregations should know what jails and prisons are located around them. After getting to know what buildings are actually located within an hour or two of the congregation then phone calls should be made and meetings established. Congregational leadership should get to know the local chaplains and understand what programs they are offering to



















71 congregation may be unfamiliar unfamiliar with. This also may include include educating the chaplain. Congregations need to be cautious of these relationships, however. however. I will never forget the the Bureau of Prison chaplain who told me, while I was incarcerated in a federal prison, that, "Lydon, the Bureau of Prisons Prisons comes first, God second. God doesn't pay the electric bill." Chaplains can get lost in their service of two two masters, the divine love versus the evil of incarceration. incarceration. When beginning to build relationships relationships with chaplains chaplains congregations should be open-minded and listen to the experiences of the chaplains as they can be incredibly helpful as well. y. provide space for survivors of "crime" and violence to gather and support one another

Survivors of violence also need support of Unitarian Universalist congregations. Many so-called victims rights organizations simply take advantage of survivors for the purpose of moving forward their conservative political agendas. The work of the Political Political Research Associates has tried to expose some of the contradictions of the victims rights activists. Accordingly, Accordingly, "The majority of victim activists are white, middle-class and female, which is far from representing representing the average victim of crime. These women are





















72 Direct Action for Rights and Equality, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, Generation 5, and Communities United Against Violence. Violence. In relationship with alternative organizations Unitarian Universalist congregations can provide space for survivors to come together and do authentic healing without the violence v iolence of the prison industrial complex impeding their lives. z. look around, what work needs to be done in the community

Every community is different. different. Some communities are dealing with police violence others are having to confront the exhausting presence of police in the high school hallways. Conversations among the community one is involved in will will likely bring bring the best possible suggestions of how to be most effective in tearing down some structures of the prison industrial industrial complex locally. locally. While organizing on a national



















1 UUA Commis Commissio sion n on Apprai Appraisal sal,, Engaging Our Theological Diversity (Boston: Unitarian Universalist Universalist Association, 2005), 74. 2 Warren R. Ross, "Confronting Evil: Has Terrorism Terrorism Shaken Our Religious Principles." Principles." UU World January/February January/February 2002 available from http://www.uuworld.org/ideas/articles/ http://www.uuworld.org/ideas/articles/5787.shtml; 5787.shtml; Internet; accessed 3 February F ebruary 2010. 3 Joan Martin Martin - unpublished class handout; handout; "Methodology in Womanist/Feminist Womanist/Feminist Liberation and Theo-Ethics" Theo-Ethics" Writings (New York: State 4 Joy James, The New Abolitionists: (Neo)Slave Narratives and Contemporary Prison Writings University of New York Press, 2005), 262. 5 The Network/La Network/La Red "What is Partner Abuse" available available from http://www.thenetworklared.or http://www.thenetworklared.org/partnerabuse.htm g/partnerabuse.htm;; Internet; accessed 13 January 2010. 6 The Pew Center Center on the States, "Pew "Pew Report Finds Finds More than One in 100 Adults Adults are Behind Bars" Bars" available available from from www.pewcenteronthestates www.pewcenteronthestates.org/news_room_det .org/news_room_detail.aspx?id=35912; ail.aspx?id=35912; Internet; accessed 22 January, January, 2010. 7 Ibid. 8 Palak Sh Shah, Defending Justice (Somerville: Political Research Research Associates, Associates, 2005), 75. 9 Prison Policy Policy Initiative, Initiative, "Incarceration "Incarceration is not an Equal Opportunity Punishment" available available from http://www.prisonsucks.com; http://www.prisonsucks.com; Internet; accessed 24 February, February, 2010. Practice and U.S. Imprisonment Imprisonment (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. 10 James James Samue Samuell Logan, Logan, Good Punishment: Christian Moral Practice Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2008), 72. 11 "1 in 100 U.S. U.S. Adults Adults Behind Behind Bars," Bars," New York Times, 28 February 2008, sec. A, p. 1. 12 Loga Logan, n, Good Punishment, Ibid. 77 Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing Globalizing California (Berkeley: 13 Ruth Wilson Wilson Gilmo Gilmore, re, Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, University of California Press, 2007), 247. Violence Anthology ed. Incite! 14 Andrea Smith, "Heteropatriarchy "Heteropatriarchy and and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy" Supremacy" Color of Violence Women of Color Against Violence Violence (Cambridge: South End Press, 2006), 67 15 "3 in 25 Juveniles in detention are are sexually abused, Study Finds," LA Times 8 January 2010, 16 Just Detention International, International, "The Basics" available from http://www.justdetention.org http://www.justdetention.org/en/learn_the_bas /en/learn_the_basics.aspx; ics.aspx; Internet; accessed 13 February 2010. 17 Just Detention International, International, "LGBTQ Detainees Chief Targets Targets for Sexual Abuse in Detention" available from http://www.justdetention.org/ http://www.justdetention.org/en/fact_sheets.as en/fact_sheets.aspx; px; Internet; accessed 13 February 2010. 18 Prison Rape Elimination Commission, Commission, "National Report" available available from http://www.cybercemetery http://www.cybercemetery.unt.edu/archive/npre .unt.edu/archive/nprec/20090820154837/http:/npr c/20090820154837/http:/nprec.us/publication/r ec.us/publication/report/executive eport/executive



















Secrets: An Agents Expose Expose (Cambridge: South End Press, 1995), 115. 37 M. Wesle Wesley y Swearigan, Swearigan, FBI Secrets: Walpole: A True True Story in the Movement for Prison Abolition Abolitio n (Cambridge, 38 Jamie Jamie Bissonette Bissonette,, When the Prisoners Ran Walpole: South End Press, 2008), 11. Brother: The Prison Letters of George George Jackson (Oakland: Bantam, 1970), 39 Georg Georgee Jackso Jackson n Soledad Brother: 1970), 26 40 Ibid Ibid.. 203 203 41 Jame James, s, The New Abolitionists, 120. 42 Ibid Ibid.. 122 122 43 Ibid. Ibid. 122 122 - 123 44 Ibid Ibid.. 125 125 45 Ibid Ibid.. 130 130 46 Law Law, Resistance Behind Bars, 7. 47 Ibid Ibid.. 153 153 48 Charle Charless A. Howe Howe,, Clarence Clarence Skinner Prophet of a New Universalism (Boston: Skinner House Press, 1998), 77. 49 Ibid Ibid.. 117 117 50 Gustavo Gustavo Gutierrez Gutierrez,, A Theology of Liberation (London: Orbis Books, Books, 1988), 9. Blessin g the World: What Can Save Us Now (Boston: Skinner House Press, 2006), 51 Robert Robert Hardies Hardies and Rebecca Rebecca Parker Parker Blessing 15. 52 Prison Policy Initiative, Initiative, “Women “Women in Prison”; available from from www.prisonsucks.com www.prisonsucks.com;; Internet; accessed 23 December 2009. 53 Katie Katie Genev Genevaa Canon, Canon, Katie’s Canon: Womanism and the Soul of the Black Community (New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc., 1995), 126. 54 Rape Abuse Abuse and Incest National Network, Network, "Reporting Rates" available at at www.rainn.org/getwww.rainn.org/getinformation/statistics/report information/statistics/reporting-rates; ing-rates; Internet: Internet: accessed on 8 January 2010. 55 Delores Delores Willia Williams, ms, Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenges of Womanist God-Talk (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1995), 164. 56 Aaron McEmrys, "Engaging the Sacred Sacred Wisdom Wisdom of Our Sisters in the Wilderness: Wilderness: A Unitarian Unitarian Universalist/Womanist Universalist/Womanist Dialogue" available at www.meadville.edu/j www.meadville.edu/j ournal/McEmrysJLRFall06.pdf; nal/McEmrysJLRFall06.pdf; Internet; accessed 12 December 2009. Diversity, 75. 57 UUA, Engaging Our Theological Diversity, 58 Marjorie Marjorie Bowens-Whea Bowens-Wheatley tley,, Soul Work: 114. Work: Anti-Racist Theologies in Dialogue Dialogue (Boston: Skinner House Press, 2002), 114. 59 Hardies Hardies and and Parker Parker Blessing the World, 23.



















62. 83 UUA General General Assembly Resolution in 1974, "Criminal Justice," Justice," available at at http://www.uua.org/socialjus http://www.uua.org/socialjustice/socialjusti tice/socialjustice/statements/ ce/statements/20212.shtml; 20212.shtml; Internet; Accessed on 20 November 2009 84 PREA PREAP P, Instead of Prisons, 63. 85 Bureau of Justice Statistics, Statistics, "Inmate Expenditures," Expenditures," available at http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty= http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=16; tp&tid=16; Internet; accessed on 9 January 2010 86 Pew Foundation, "1 in 31 U.S. Adults are are Behind Bars, on Parole or Probation," Probation," available at http://www.pewcenteronthestat http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/news_room es.org/news_room_detail.aspx?id=49398 _detail.aspx?id=49398#factsheets; #factsheets; Internet; accessed on 18 December 2009. 87 PREA PREAP P, Instead of Prisons, 63. 88 Real Cost of Prisons, "Minnesota Becomes Becomes First State to 'Ban the Box," Narrows Employer Employer Liability for Criminal Criminal Records," available at http://realcostofprisons.org/bl http://realcostofprisons.org/blog/archives/2009/05/ og/archives/2009/05/minnesota_becom.html minnesota_becom.html;; Internet; accessed on 10 February 2010. 89 Bureau of Justice Statistics, Statistics, "Recidivism of Prisoners" Prisoners" available at http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov; http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov; Internet; accessed accessed on 13 January 2010. 90 PREA PREAP P, Instead of Prisons, 63. 91 Mary Trotochaud, Trotochaud, "Massachusetts "Massachusetts Prison Pilgrimage -- Unmasking Unmasking the Truths Truths Behind the Prison Industrial Industrial Complex," Peacework Magazine December 2000/January 2001 Congregations to Deepen Work Work for Social 92 A People So Bold Social Justice Ministries and Theologies: Resources for Congregations Justice, Unitarian Universalist Association Resource DVD, 2010 93 James James W. W. Perkinson, Perkinson, White Theology: Outing Supremacy York: Palgrave Macmillan, Macmillan, 2004), 216. Supremacy in Modernity (New York: 94 John John Speer Speer,, Uncommon Community (Boston: Skinner House Press, 2008), 20. 95 Ibid bid. Organizing for Social Change Midwest Academy Manual for Activists 96 Kimberley Bobo, Steve Max, and Jackie Kendall, Kendall, Organizing (Cabin John: Seven Locks Press, Press, 2001), 210. 97 Terence Terence T. T. Gorski, "Post Incarceration Incarceration Syndrome and Relapse," available available at http://www.tgorski.com/crimina http://www.tgorski.com/criminal_justice/cjs_pic l_justice/cjs_pics_&_relapse.htm; s_&_relapse.htm; Internet, accessed 19 January 2010. 98 "Families of Prisoners Coalition," available at http://www.fam http://www.familiesofprisoner iliesofprisonerscoalition.com: scoalition.com: Internet; Internet; accessed on 19 January 2010. 99 "Portland, Oregon Cop Watch," Watch," available at http://www.portlandcopwatch.or http://www.portlandcopwatch.org/whois.html#Goals; g/whois.html#Goals; Internet; Internet; accessed on

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