blake 3:17
9th August 2012, 03:49
PRISONERS JUSTICE DAY 2012
Friday, August 10, 2012 6pm
Outside the Toronto Don Jail 550 Gerrard Street East
ASL Interpretation Provided
Join us for speakers, performers, children's programming, a mini march and
a candlelight vigil at dusk.
August 10th, 2012 marks the 37th anniversary of Prisoners Justice Day. On
August 10th, 1974 Eddie Nalon bled to death in a solitary confinement unit
at Millhaven Penitentiary in Kingston, Ontario. The emergency call button
in his cell failed to work. An inquest into his death found that many
call buttons in the unit were broken. The guards had also deactivated the
receiving mechanism in the control tower. In 1975 on the first anniversary
of Eddie's death, prisoners at Millhaven went on a one-day hunger strike,
refused work and held a memorial service, even at risk of punishment.
On May 21, 1976 another prisoner, Bobby Landers, died in the same
segregation unit at Millhaven. Landers, active in the struggle for
Prisoners Rights at Archambault Penitentiary, was involuntarily
transferred to Millhaven and thrown in the hole. He had a heart attack,
but the call buttons had still not been repaired and staff ignored his
pleas.
Prisoners continue to observe August 10th each year. Community groups and
family members gather outside prisons in solidarity. It is a day of
protest against all deaths in custody, the inhumane use of solitary
confinement, racist policing, the detention and deportation of immigrants
and refugees, the taking of land through colonization and the
criminalization of First Nations defence of their territories, the denial
of justice for Indigenous women and transpeople, the disabling effects of
prison, the cruelty of psychiatric incarceration, poverty and
homelessness, the separation of families, security certificates, tasers
for prison guards and cops, the over-incarceration for people who use
drugs or involved in sex work, the over-incarceration of people living
with disabilities (especially people labeled with mental health issues and
learning disabilities) and the medical neglect of prisoners with HIV/AIDS
and the lack of harm reduction in prison.
It is a call for alternatives to incarceration - at a time when
governments are enacting repressive U.S. style get-tough-on-crime laws to
build more prisons despite a falling crime rate.
Resist Harper's Omnibus Crime Bill: The first part of Bill-C10, the
so-called 'Safe Streets and Communities Act', comes in to effect on August
9th, 2012, one day before the annual Prisoners Justice Day. Bill C-10
ensures construction is beginning on new prisons and new units across
Canada. Prison construction contracts promise to make well-connected
private firms wealthy at the expense of our communities. Social programs
are being gutted while money is directly transferred to infrastructure for
criminalization and incarceration. Bill C-10 will see the enactment of
measures like mandatory minimums, harsher sentences especially for youth,
an increase in drug related sentencing, and increased criminalization of
migrants, just to name a few. Things are about to get much worse: now is
the time to get involved!
Friday, August 10, 2012 6pm
Outside the Toronto Don Jail 550 Gerrard Street East
ASL Interpretation Provided
Join us for speakers, performers, children's programming, a mini march and
a candlelight vigil at dusk when we read the names of those we have lost
to the prison system.
To sign on or donate, email: [email protected]
Friday, August 10, 2012 6pm
Outside the Toronto Don Jail 550 Gerrard Street East
ASL Interpretation Provided
Join us for speakers, performers, children's programming, a mini march and
a candlelight vigil at dusk.
August 10th, 2012 marks the 37th anniversary of Prisoners Justice Day. On
August 10th, 1974 Eddie Nalon bled to death in a solitary confinement unit
at Millhaven Penitentiary in Kingston, Ontario. The emergency call button
in his cell failed to work. An inquest into his death found that many
call buttons in the unit were broken. The guards had also deactivated the
receiving mechanism in the control tower. In 1975 on the first anniversary
of Eddie's death, prisoners at Millhaven went on a one-day hunger strike,
refused work and held a memorial service, even at risk of punishment.
On May 21, 1976 another prisoner, Bobby Landers, died in the same
segregation unit at Millhaven. Landers, active in the struggle for
Prisoners Rights at Archambault Penitentiary, was involuntarily
transferred to Millhaven and thrown in the hole. He had a heart attack,
but the call buttons had still not been repaired and staff ignored his
pleas.
Prisoners continue to observe August 10th each year. Community groups and
family members gather outside prisons in solidarity. It is a day of
protest against all deaths in custody, the inhumane use of solitary
confinement, racist policing, the detention and deportation of immigrants
and refugees, the taking of land through colonization and the
criminalization of First Nations defence of their territories, the denial
of justice for Indigenous women and transpeople, the disabling effects of
prison, the cruelty of psychiatric incarceration, poverty and
homelessness, the separation of families, security certificates, tasers
for prison guards and cops, the over-incarceration for people who use
drugs or involved in sex work, the over-incarceration of people living
with disabilities (especially people labeled with mental health issues and
learning disabilities) and the medical neglect of prisoners with HIV/AIDS
and the lack of harm reduction in prison.
It is a call for alternatives to incarceration - at a time when
governments are enacting repressive U.S. style get-tough-on-crime laws to
build more prisons despite a falling crime rate.
Resist Harper's Omnibus Crime Bill: The first part of Bill-C10, the
so-called 'Safe Streets and Communities Act', comes in to effect on August
9th, 2012, one day before the annual Prisoners Justice Day. Bill C-10
ensures construction is beginning on new prisons and new units across
Canada. Prison construction contracts promise to make well-connected
private firms wealthy at the expense of our communities. Social programs
are being gutted while money is directly transferred to infrastructure for
criminalization and incarceration. Bill C-10 will see the enactment of
measures like mandatory minimums, harsher sentences especially for youth,
an increase in drug related sentencing, and increased criminalization of
migrants, just to name a few. Things are about to get much worse: now is
the time to get involved!
Friday, August 10, 2012 6pm
Outside the Toronto Don Jail 550 Gerrard Street East
ASL Interpretation Provided
Join us for speakers, performers, children's programming, a mini march and
a candlelight vigil at dusk when we read the names of those we have lost
to the prison system.
To sign on or donate, email: [email protected]