When you bring up prison abolition and someone always asks “where are we gonna put the bad people??”

What will happen to people who commit violent crimes

The answer is that there are ways to hold people accountable without locking them away from society

Prison Abolition does not mean no accountability

We as a society have to form a different understanding of justice

A surplus of police, prisons, prisoners are signs of system failure.

Currently there are 2.2 million people in prison in the United States.

2.2 million people in prison/jail/juvenile/probation on any given day.

Many of these people don’t start out as violent offenders

They are released without the proper safety nets

Then commit crime to survive and are sentenced again for an even longer time because of their previous record

They are forced to work for less than minimum wage or free (slavery) for years until they complete their sentence.

They are treated as sub-human until they complete their sentence.

Prison does not rehabilitate, they traumatize.

They make it more difficult for a person to integrate back into society, limiting their opportunities once they are released

They can’t vote, can’t work, they are excluded from participating in society.

They resort to crime, their previous record adds on to the sentence, they are locked away for longer time, then they’re released without safety nets, resort to crime, their previous record adds on the sentence, they are locked away for a longer time...

It’s a trap.

When people are afraid of prisoners being released

They’re saying they’re afraid of the person but what’s actually happening is that they’re acknowledging that being locked in a cage changes a person for the worse

They’re acknowledging that slavery has never ended but they’re not interested in addressing the system that allows for this to still happen

So what do you do?

1. Prison abolition only works if your general population is cared for. https://twitter.com/curryaqua/status/1279874634096291841

2. Decriminalize sex work, drug use/misuse, homelessness

3. Release prisoners with non violent charges

Provide them and their families with reparations

Therapy at every turn if they decide that they need it.

4. Relocate violent prisoners to rehab centers where they will be provided with adequate shelter/space, healthy food, consistent communication to the outside world, outdoor space, and THERAPY!!!!!!!!

4a. Some people even advocate against rehabs as it’s still a form of separation

They aim towards community care/accountability

But since most Americans have no “community” this is my stance

2/5. Create angencies that individually address disabilities, drug use/abuse, sex education, mental health, homelessness

New careers!!!

So many people saying that they can’t find their dream job, it doesn’t exist yet.

Everything has been allotted to the police

When you have a society where everyone has their needs met, less people will commit crimes.

Less crime, much less police, no need for prisons.

People are not inherently violent. No one is born a criminal.

The news wants you to believe differently.

The government who makes a lot of money off of privatized prisons and slave labor will tell you differently

If your government manufactures inequality, society will manufacture crime.

If you make it hard for people to survive, their actions will reflect that.

It is preventable.

People need to be provided with the resources, access, and education to do better.

If they are not your society will reflect that.

(I have so many drafts because my message is basically police/prison abolition is possible but right now it seems like an uphill battle because we’ve skipped the middle steps

And since the middle steps are long (1935) overdue you can check them off your list faster and make it to your actual goal of abolition

Saving time and energy) wdl