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My fellow transportation people, I need you to be aware of this as a component of transportation justice and how bad transportation contributes to inequality https://twitter.com/justinevdl/status/1343361852919713792
Prisons are often located far from cities, despite white supremacist overpolicing of communities of color meaning they’re disproportionately filled with people from here. Those communities get the jobs controlling and the census impact of their incarcerated populations....
...while loved ones of people who are incarcerated get to deal with traversing that distance.
You know what a lot of people in cities don’t have? Cars, especially ones that are fit to drive six hours across a state.
You know what a lot of people in cities don’t have? Cars, especially ones that are fit to drive six hours across a state.
Also add the factor of how likely cops are to pull over Black people in white rural areas!
Some Michigan State Police will straight up mention Detroit when they pull over a Black person for no/flimsy reason elsewhere in the state.
Now add the factor of how a lot of ppl in MI can’t afford our state’s $$$$ car insurance and so they don’t have it.
Now add the factor of how a lot of ppl in MI can’t afford our state’s $$$$ car insurance and so they don’t have it.
Those are high stakes for a visit, high stakes to help your kid see their parent, high stakes to help your incarcerated loved one still feel some connection to the world and those they love.
High stakes for “the guards are mistreating them again and I can’t get info, I have to go there in person.”
A past incarcerated penpal of mine was purposely placed in a prison far from his home in NYC. His girlfriend would have to figure out these long distance bus trips or find someone who could lend her a car. She has MS and it was physically hard on her.
Making it really difficult to physically see your incarcerated loved ones plays right into these for profit companies that make money off prison calls!!
People are so isolated in there and it’s absolutely disgusting that they are charged to just talk to their damn families
People are so isolated in there and it’s absolutely disgusting that they are charged to just talk to their damn families
The transportation piece is that our paltry statewide transportation network, so singlemindedly focused on helping people drive personal cars or trucks on freeways, is failing incarcerated people and their families.
The pieces beyond transportation are that we need to stop charging for prison calls, we need to stop putting incarcerated people so far from their families (effectively a resource transfer from Black cities to white towns), and ultimately we need to stop incarcerating people.
