We need your help today!

The Pennsylvania state budget is being negotiated right now.

Please tell your representatives in Harrisburg that you support funding for the Pennsylvania Prison Society!

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In 2022, the Prison Society responded to more than 2,000 complaints from incarcerated people in 60 different prisons. We conducted comprehensive walkthroughs in five facilities. And we published four reports on prison conditions. All of this work was important and impactful, but it is not nearly enough to effectively serve the 62,000 people in custody across 85 prisons and jails in Pennsylvania.

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State funding will enable prompt, effective assistance to every incarcerated person who asks for our help. It will enable comprehensive monitoring across the Commonwealth in every facility. And it will support regular, critical briefings and research on the state’s third biggest expenditure: its prisons.

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How to Find Your State Representative & State Senator:

You can find your local legislators at: https://tinyurl.com/YourPARep. Enter your address, then click "search."

To email or call your PA Representative and your PA Senator, click on their name to access their "member information" webpage. You'll find their office phone number under "contact information." To send an email, click on the mail icon just below their photo.

What to Say:

Here is some sample language you can use to contact your local legislators. Update the bolded sections with your personal information:

Dear Representative/Senator [Name],

I am your constituent and I am writing to support funding in the state budget for the Pennsylvania Prison Society.

This modest investment will:

Expand and deepen work reducing violence in prison and in the community by making sure incarcerated people and staff safe, healthy, and treated with dignity.
Expand meaningful, statewide programming to reduce recidivism and strengthen families and communities.
Provide robust, regular, critical briefings and research to policymakers on the state’s third biggest expenditure: its prisons.

Time is of the essence. If you can, please reach out to your local representatives today. Thank you!

(and if you don't get to it today, it still matters so please reach out!)

If you learned something from this supporter update, pay it forward with a donation. Your support makes our critical work to promote transparency and accountability in Pennsylvania prisons and jails possible.