By LaVonna Varnado-Brown
Prisons cost the federal government billions of dollars to keep approximately 2.3 million people behind bars each year. The City of New Orleans currently dedicates 63% of its $721 million dollar budget to jails, police, and other reactive measures. The “City of Yes” says no to returning stolen tax dollars to working families by continuously dedicating only 1% of the budget to job development and 3% to children and families. Families around the country spend thousands of dollars each year just to keep in contact with dear ones who have been placed in prisons. They send money to incarcerated loved ones and incur debt to pay for emails, phone calls, food, and personal hygiene items.
Research done by a collaborative, participatory research project with 20 community-based organizations across the country like the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Forward Together, and Research Action Design shows some hard hitting facts about how America’s punitive jail system is deeply impacting families as much as the incarcerated.
One report states, “The high cost of maintaining contact with incarcerated family members led more than one in three families (34%) into debt to pay for phone calls and visits alone. Family members who were not able to talk or visit with their loved ones regularly were much more likely to report experiencing negative health impacts related to a family member’s incarceration.” If we want to support building whole communities, we must examine what punitive systems like this really achieve. Who do they benefit? The rich ruling class is waging war on working people and the poor. We must call for an end to the prison industrial complex and support building communities where families can be healed. We must fight for the right to self-determination for all people.