Join us Tuesday, Rain or Shine; Sleet or Snow, to Close MSDF

Join us Tuesday for a rally and press conference to #Close MSDF!

• Tuesday, March 6
• 12:00 noon
• Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility
• 1015 N 10th St.  Milwaukee (Outside)
  

The rally will lift up the two national organizations that have joined 35 local groups in the #CloseMSDF coalition.  The rally is part of a national “Day of Empathy,” sponsored by the bi-partisan CUT50 organization. 

CUT50 was founded by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and CNN commentator Van Jones to promote reduction of the prison population by 50%.  At the rally, we will be joined by Ronald Simpson-Bey, staff member for JustLeadership USA, which is the other national partner for #CloseMSDF.

The rally will build empathy for all Wisconsinites who are behind bars. 

Speakers will focus especially on the unjust incarceration of Ventae Parrow.  Mr. Parrow, an active leader in EXPO, WISDOM, and #CloseMSDF has recently been “revoked” back to prison for more than two years, despite the fact that he has not committed or been charged with a crime since the 1990’s.  This “crimeless revocation” makes Ventae one of more than 3,000 people who are inhumanely sent to prison for “technical violations” each year.

MSDF, one of the most inhumane penal facilities in the country, is filled with Wisconsinites imprisoned for allegedly violating rules of community supervision, not for committing a crime. People imprisoned in MSDF never see outside (there are no windows), and never get outdoors.  The facility has no air conditioning and allows for no in-person visits by family members.  17 people have died while detained in MSDF. 
Please join us.  The event will go on, rain or shine (or sleet or snow).  1,200 people trapped in MSDF would be very happy to be able to stand with us in the snow and cold for 30 minutes.  A small sacrifice seems to be in order for the Day of Empathy.