EVENT: The Prison Experience in WA

“Ain’t nothin’ easy ‘bout livin’ in a cage”

 

The Prison Experience in Washington

April 28, 7-9 p.m.

University Friends Meeting

4001 9th Avenue NE, Seattle, WA,  98105

 

 We live in an age of mass incarceration unprecedented in human history. If you’ve ever wondered what that looks like in our own blue state of Washington, please join us on April 28.  Dr. Steve Herbert from the UW’s School of Law, Societies, and Justice will sketch the historic and international context for us. Then a panel of four former prisoners will talk frankly with the audience about life in prison—their daily lives, their fears, their successes and failures, prison’s impact on their families, and their recommendations for change.

 

We’ll leave two hours later with a better understanding of the human face of our prison system, and more importantly, ideas about four crucial policies changes that can happen in the next legislative session if we start working now:

 

1) change the mission of the Department of Corrections from punishment to reintegration

2) create an independent ombuds office to oversee the DOC

3) restore higher education funding for prisons

4) create a sentence review (parole) program.

 

For more information about the event or about carpooling options from outside Seattle, please leave a comment with your question.