Opponents of Prison Industrial Complex Rally for Policy Change in Nation's Capital

Interview with Barbara Fair, of People Against Injustice, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

On Aug. 13, people opposed to what they call the prison-industrial complex rallied in Washington, D.C. under the banner, "Two million incarcerated is too many!" That's a reference to the more than two million prison inmates in the U.S., who are overwhelmingly poor and mostly people of color. A large percentage of the U.S. prison population are serving time for non-violent, mostly drug-related, crimes. The rally in the nation's capital was the brainchild of Roberta Franklin, an ex-felon who works with an Alabama prison reform group, Family Members and Friends of People Incarcerated.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Barbara Fair, an organizer with People Against Injustice in New Haven, Conn., one of several local groups in the state that have been fighting discrimination in the prison industrial complex. Three of her sons have been caught up in the criminal justice system, and she says she's fighting to make sure her grandchildren don't suffer the same fate. Fair, who helped organize the Washington rally, recounts some of the issues highlighted there, as well as future directions for the prison reform movement.

For more information on national prison reform efforts, call rally organizer Roberta Franklin at (334) 220-4670 or visit her group's website at www.journeyforjustice.org

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