Councilor Willie Burnley Jr, supported by Somerville residents, advances a resolution backing the advocacy of currently and formerly incarcerated women to pass a prison and jail construction moratorium bill. Read the resolution here.

On Thursday, September 28, Somerville became the first municipality in Massachusetts to make a clear statement of support for a five year pause on new prison and jail construction in the state.

“Residents of Somerville as well as those across the Commonwealth understand that investments in our communities’ infrastructure, housing, and care do far more to make us safe than the failed policies of mass incarceration,” said Councilor Willie Burnley Jr., who proposed the resolution. 

“Instead of spending $50 million on a new women’s prison, the Somerville City Council calls upon Governor Healey to publicly support state bills that promote decarceration through a prison moratorium and elder parole as a means of gender, racial, and class justice,” Burnley said in a statement. 

The resolution supports advocacy by The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls and Families for Justice as Healing –  including advocacy by their members incarcerated at MCI-Framingham – to pass bills  S.1979 and H.1795 through the Massachusetts State House. Mallory Hanora, Executive Director of Families for Justice as Healing celebrated the resolution. “We’re grateful to the Somerville City Council and residents for recognizing that women and our communities need and deserve so much more than a $50 million women’s prison. We hope that state officials will take this as a sign of an ever growing popular mandate to pass the Prison Moratorium, maximize pathways to release from incarceration, and reinvest resources into alternatives,” said Hanora. “We hope more cities and towns will stand with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women and take action to support the Prison Moratorium and Elder Parole.”

The No New Women’s Campaign has been canvassing across the state since 2021 to talk to thousands of Massachusetts residents about what the state can do with its funding instead of building a new women’s prison. Somerville Rabbi Eliana Jacobowitz of Congregation B’nai Brith says, “I have seen many residents — including members of my congregation— turn out in support of the prison and jail construction moratorium. When we canvass in Somerville, people we speak to are very concerned that Massachusetts is trying to spend so much to build a new prison. We need something different. The Somerville community is clearly demonstrating our willingness to follow the leadership of formerly incarcerated women and create new opportunities for ourselves and our neighbors.”

The Jail and Prison Construction Moratorium would pause major construction of jails, prisons, and detention centers for five years. The Prison Moratorium would not prevent necessary repairs. The Prison Moratorium was passed by the legislature last session before it was vetoed by then Governor Baker. Advocates hope that Governor Healey will chart a different path forward. As the resolution notes, by passing a moratorium, the state can instead advance pathways to decarceration such as Act relative to Parole Review for Aging Incarcerated People (Elder Parole S1547/H2397), which would make people ages 55 and older eligible to see the Parole Board after they have served half of their sentence or at least 15 years. 

The National Council and Families for Justice as Healing are also leading Reimagining Communities organizing to create and sustain infrastructure for healing and advancement in neighborhoods most impacted by incarceration.

— Families for Justice as Healing