http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s425/Anonon1/3strikes.jpg
Occupy demonstrators were part of a large crowd that gathered in downtown Boston March 15th on the steps of the Statehouse to protest against the “Three Strikes” bill set to pass through the Massachusetts legislature in the coming weeks. This controversial bill would call for new “mandatory maximum” sentences for third-time offenders, regardless of the severity of the crimes. Critics of the bill say it would disproportionately affect black and Latino communities, that it would dangerously and unnecessarily overcrowd our jails, that it strips the power of judges to act on their own discretion, and that it focuses too much on punishment instead of rehabilitation.
The protest began at 11 am on Thursday with a large crowd of individuals gathering at the top of the Boston Common; black, white, Asian, Latino, veterans, students, teachers, and people of all stripes coming together for a common cause. Speakers from many different communities called for an end to mandatory sentencing, citing specifics examples of how it has broken apart families and failed to deal with the root causes of why the crimes were committed in the first place. Members of the Boston Worker’s Alliance, spiritual leaders of local communities, as well as Senator Chang-Diaz, and Boston City Councilor Felix Arroyo publicly spoke out against the potentially damaging effects of this bill to the highly receptive crowd which had gathered.
The sidewalk was already crowded with onlookers as another three busses pulled up and flooded the streets with yet more activists from the outlying communities, eager to have their voices heard on Capitol Hill. As the crowd swelled to over 300 strong, an organizer from the Boston Workers Alliance called for people to make their way inside the Statehouse to begin the definitive work of the day: knocking on the doors of every single Massachusetts representative within the hallowed halls of the Statehouse to personally deliver the peoples’ opinion on the Three-Strikes bill.
Within the “Nurses Hall” of the Statehouse, the common men and women of Massachusetts met to let their voices be heard. Initially this involved filling out postcards, which were printed with a common message of opposition towards the Three-Strikes Bill, but were individually addressed to the governmental representative of the particular individual’s constituency. After this, the people were assigned to groups of 10 to go and talk to each individual representative of the various districts of Massachusetts. As an individual amongst other like-minded folk, this was the part of the protest that I found most empowering: To have actual face-to-face contact with a “representative” and be able to directly voice concerns about a potentially harmful law was very exciting.
The group I was with consisted of teachers, veterans, union workers, mothers of affected individuals, and activists of a variety of age brackets. When we entered the offices of our assigned Representatives we were a powerful voice, not to be ignored. It was a very interesting, and hopefully very effective tactic to affect a positive change in the Massachusetts legislature, which has traditionally led the country in progressive ideals, but has fallen behind on this particular issue.
The ACLU has more information about why the Three Strikes law is bad for Massachusetts here.
Article written by Robert Laing.
7 Responses to “Protesters rally at the Statehouse against regressive, unjust “Three Strikes” law”
LISTEN OCCUPY When we black folks were getting hosed down, beaten, raped,killed,blown up, shot,and intimidated we kept our eyes on the prize. The voting rights act, the civil rights act, those are are our legacies. Keep your eyes on the prize, it’s not about your right to protest, it’s about clipping Wall St’s wings. Repeal the Commodities Modernization Act of 2000 and the Financial Modernization Act of 1999. This is the cancer that has affected the world. Get rid of these acts and it’s adios Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and all the hedge funds.
From a more objective account:
“A sweeping overhaul of the state’s sentencing laws that would bar parole for three-time VIOLENT offenders while also abolishing mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders was on track for approval by the Legislature before the end of the current session, a key lawmaker said Wednesday.”
Sounds like a sensible piece of legislation. Repeated VIOLENT criminals are sent away to where they can do no harm, and other mandatory minimum sentencing is abolished.
Tell your legislators how to stop the 3 Strikes Bill! It’s easy: Google “find a legislator, MA”; fill in your zip code; and this should give you contact info for your state representative and senator. Email, call, or fax to say, I OPPOSE THE 3 STRIKES BILL.
I just did this & it took me less than 10 minutes.
Folks, get your facts straight. The proposed Mass. habitual offender Bill is nothing like California’s 3-strikes law. The Mass. bill narrowly targets repeat VIOLENT crimes. Here’s the list:
http://3strikeslaw.blogspot.com/search/label/ListFelonies
There is not one misdemeanor, drug offense, or non-violent crime included in the Mass. bill. Nor does the Mass. bill provide automatic life in prison.
Massachusetts currently releases 10, 20, 50-time repeat violent criminals, half of whom commit new crimes when released. The bill targets the most hardened, serial, violent predators who are mostly beyond rehabilitation.
At some point our PUBLIC SAFETY must be protected from the worst of the worst. That’s why most Democrats and progressives are supporting Melissa’s Bill.
on March 17th, 2012 at 7:51 pm #
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Well…guess I’m gonna go ahead and say it. Of all the photo opportunities that could have been taken and then posted with this article, ya’ll managed to find the one with a gathering of the largest, most overwhelming cluster of white folks that attended Thursday’s action.
In actuality, and because of fiercely dedicated outreach on the part of communities of color, as well as OB, this demonstration was the most racially diverse action I’ve been to in a while, and most importantly, organized and led by people of color. As a white person, always trying to stand in solidarity with people of color in challenging racism, this photo, UNINTENTIONALY, but nevertheless, continues to perpetuate white dominance. It limits the ob readership in their understanding and visualizing of the demonstration and just plain ‘ole doesn’t work.
I encourage the managers of the OB website to please be vigilant in looking at all transmissions on this site. Hopefully, a progressive eye will help lead us to portray ourselves in ways that don’t just keep picturing and portraying white privilege and entitlement.
By the way, I was thrilled with how the action went down and loved how well attended it was. Sadly, though, of all the 200+ protestors that were there, I counted only 10, at most, 15, OB folks there. Notice of this event was plastered all over the web site, at public gatherings, and through emails, for more than a week prior to the demonstration. Where were we????
Peace and love,
Angela
on March 26th, 2012 at 4:33 pm #
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