LANCASTER – JusticeLA, a coalition of organizations challenging Los Angeles County’s jail expansion plan, will hold a town hall meeting this Monday in Lancaster.
The meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 23, at the Center for Spiritual Living, located at 1030 West Avenue L8. It is free and open to the entire community. [View a flyer for this event here.]
The meeting follows JusticeLA’s campaign kickoff against the county’s plans to build a 1,604-bed women’s lockup in Lancaster and a 3,885-bed jail/treatment facility in downtown Los Angeles to replace the rundown Men’s Central Jail.
“More than half of the people in our jails are only there because they haven’t stood trial and cannot afford to pay the high bail,” stated JusticeLA co-founder Patrisse Cullors. “The Board of Supervisors wants to take $3.5 billion and sink it into the same failed jail system instead of considering alternatives to incarceration. That’s just ridiculous.”
“This town hall meeting is a chance to engage Antelope Valley residents in the possibility of reclaiming, reimagining and reinvesting in our youth and families in hopes of creating a future where we don’t need to spend billions of dollars on incarceration,” stated longtime Antelope Valley resident and former vice-chair of the Antelope Valley branch of the NAACP Waunette Cullors.
Organizers said the Antelope Valley town hall meeting is co-sponsored by: Paving the Way Foundation, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Antelope Valley chapter, Sun Village Women’s Club, The Way Center of Truth, Green Thumb Antelope Valley Youth Group, Serenity Village Developments, Antelope Valley League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Antelope Valley Building the Base Face to Face, California Africology Association, Stop Mass Incarceration and One Way Up.
JusticeLA will be holding town hall meetings around the county’s planned jail expansion in each of the five supervisorial districts.
For more information, visit justicelanow.org .
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Ron says
It will bring jobs to the Antelope Valley.
East Lancaster Resident says
Are you going to try to stop Rex from bringing more jails to Lancaster? Good luck.
Lancaster is nothing but a solar field wasteland, with pot farms to replace alfalfa fields, and prisons to replace stores and restaurants.
Ron says
Don’t commit crimes and this should not be a problem.
Ron says
Don’t commit crimes and these people wouldn’t have to worry about going to jail.