| WAYNE COUNTY, PA
- June 19 - On Thursday, June 21, concerned citizens from New York, Georgia, California, Washington, D.C. and other parts of Pennsylvania will join local residents here to protest the construction of one of 30 new federal prisons in rural America.
"We need to re-organize our priorities as a nation," said Patricia Clark, director of the Criminal Justice Program for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) in Philadelphia, which is helping to organize activities. "Building prisons to incarcerate more and more people is simply short-sighted. In our community, the real need is for schools, education and other services."
Wayne County, in northeast Pennsylvania along the New York border, is one of 100 communities around the nation which may host a prison due to the Federal Bureau of Prison's plan to add 50,000 new beds, the largest single expansion in the history of the federal prison system. The penitentiary complex planned for Canaan Township will contain a maximum security prison and a low-security prison camp. It is slated to hold 1300-1500 prisoners from Washington, D.C.
The Organization of Concerned Citizens of Wayne County (OCC), the local community group sponsoring the protest against the federal government's seizure of the land, says the prison will destroy the region's history and economy and will prove an environmental disaster for local waterways and endangered species. The land had been evaluated as eligible to be a National Historic Register District because it contained historic agricultural buildings and 19th century railroad remains.
"I don't want this prison in my backyard, or anyone's," said Sandi Gambuti, OCC chair and a part-time farmer from South Canaan. "Not only will the prison destroy prime farmland and unique historic and natural resources within our community, but transferring prisoners from DC to PA will devastate the families of the 1,500 inmates who will be almost six hours away from their home."
While the prison may provide a temporary boost to local contractors and businesses during the construction phase, the group says these economic benefits won't last. Unemployment has actually risen in Wayne County after a state prison was opened in 1995 -- in 1990, the unemployment rate in the county was 5.1% and today it is 7.5%. The experiences of other rural communities with prisons shows that over time land values decrease, locally-owned businesses fail, and more attractive industries do not want to locate in prison towns
"Across the country, farmland, wildlife, rural people's culture, and hopes for economic prosperity are being bulldozed to build new prisons that we don't need or want," said Tracy Huling, from the newly-formed Urban/Rural Coalition Against Prisons, a network in formation of individuals in several states working to stop further prison expansion. "People are coming together today to say that we want good jobs and sustainable economic development, not jails and prisons, for our urban and rural communities."
Under the Ridge administration, Pennsylvania sold the state farmland to the Federal Bureau of Prisons for one dollar, ignoring a 1997 executive order to protect against the conversion of prime agricultural land. Private farmland was also sold under threat of condemnation. One family farmer lost his home and his livelihood to make way for the prison. Another farmer has refused to sell despite condemnation proceedings underway.
For more information contact: Patricia Clark, American Friends Service Committee, (215) 241-7130; Sandi Gambuti, Organization of Concerned Citizens of Wayne County (OCC), (570) 282-8374 or (570) 282-8555; Tracy Huling, Urban/Rural Coalition Against Prisons, (518) 634-2170; in Washington, Laura Jones, (202) 737-7270
The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice
Information about the Protest - Photo Opportunity!
What: A "last walk" along historic Canaan Road will feature tractors, horses, haywagons, buggies and other significant symbols of the community's farming culture and heritage. Canaan Road, one of the first public roads built in the town which was founded in 1798, is slated to be permanently closed to the public at the end of June by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
When and Where: The walk begins Thursday, June 21st, along historic Canaan Rd. beginning at 4pm. Interview opportunities with walkers will begin at 3pm. The walk will commence at the prison site and will end at approximately 6pm in the parking lot of the R.D. Wilson Elementary School where the Federal Bureau of Prisons is holding a required meeting with the community to present its final plans for the 500-acre prison complex. The OCC and concerned guests will attend this meeting scheduled to begin at 7pm. More information about the protest can be found at:www.FarmsNOTJails.com.
Who: The last walk is sponsored by the Organization of Concerned Citizens from Wayne County. Guests from outside the community will include Eric Lotke, former director of Washington D.C. Prisoners Legal Services, now with Research and Policy Reform Center, a congressional affairs and public policy affiliate of the Open Society Institute, one of philanthropist George Soros' foundations; author and former Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) board member Constance Curry, with Georgians for Equal Justice in Atlanta, GA; and Patricia Clark, Criminal Justice Director for the American Friends Service Committee national office in Philadelphia, PA, among others.
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