FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News from the Michigan Poor People’s Campaign
***Media Advisory***
Friday, February 11, 2022
Contact: Kim Redigan
Opening Hearts to Incarcerated Family, Neighbors, Community
Moral Monday Valentine’s call to Governor Whitmer for a more humane prison system
LANSING – The Michigan Poor People’s Campaign will hold a Valentine’s Day event on the steps of the Michigan Capitol Building calling on Governor Gretchen Whitmer and state legislators to recognize the human rights of people in state prisons. The event will feature faith leaders speaking live and the testimony of incarcerated people including Efren Paredes Jr. a model inmate convicted as a juvenile and unjustly serving a life sentence without parole. The testimony of inmates from the Huron Valley Prison, a women’s facility, will also be read.
Advocates, who note that St. Valentine also endured unjust incarceration, have compiled a 10 point plan to create more humane conditions in the state prisons, particularly in light of the pandemic which effects inmates, staff, their families and everyone who comes in close contact with them. The main demands include:
- Ending Prison Overcrowding – to abide by state law and reduce COVID spread
- Ending Life Without Parole Sentences for Minors – per U.S. Supreme Court ruling
- Passing “Good Time” to facilitate rehabilitation and lessen overcrowding
What: Press Conference: Opening Our Hearts to Incarcerated Family and Neighbors
Who:
Testimony from those incarcerated:
- Jose Burgos
- Efren Paredes Jr.
- Kimberly Woodson
Faith Leaders
- Pastor D.J. Knox, Church of Elohim
- Rev. Bill Wylie-Kellermann – pastor emeritus, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Detroit
When: Monday, February 14, Noon ET
Where: Michigan State Capitol (steps)
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