Marshall Eddie Conway is home. Damien Echols is home. Lynne Stewart is home receiving treatment for cancer. Russell Maroon Shoatz and Mumia Abu Jamal are in general population after decades in isolation.
I'm overwhelmed. The consistency of MOVEMENTS has made possible their releases. And yet, they never should have had to endure their unjust sentences. The specifics of each of the above cases vary, but overall, prisons were used as mechanisms of control. Their sentences were meant to deter others from speaking out, organizing, fighting against injustice, or simply being inconvenient.
This is why we MUST pay attention to incarceration and the incarcerated. We have to be vigilant in monitoring the purpose and function of prisons. In their current state, they are private businesses exploiting slave labor. They control and punish. It's plainly clear that they in no way serve their stated function of rehabilitation.
Some argue that prisons make the general public safer. Given what we know about recidivism, it's clear that prisons breed more crime.
I feel safer knowing that the political prisoners listed above are home. I would feel safer if many more came home from behind bars. I would feel safer knowing that no beings were caged. I would feel safer with restorative justice programs.
I wish I had a better read of why this is happening. I don't know, but I am heartened.
Towards unlocking the world.
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