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SWISS WATCHDOG ACCEPTS HUMAN RIGHTS COMPLAINT AGAINST UBS BANK OVER PRIVATE PRISON INVESTMENTS

New York, U.S. and Nijmegen, Switzerland – Today, the Swiss National Contact Point for Responsible Business Conduct (NCP), a governmental business and human rights watchdog, accepted a complaint by human rights groups against Swiss banking giant UBS for its investment holdings in U.S. private prison contractors CoreCivic and GEO Group. The complaint was filed by non-profits BankTrack, Coalition for Immigrant Freedom, and Worth Rises. It follows years of civil society advocacy for investors to pressure private prison contractors to stop human rights abuses, or else to divest from those companies.

#ENDTHEEXCEPTION LAUNCHES DIGITAL ARCHIVE OF LETTERS FROM INCARCERATED WORKERS DETAILING THEIR FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF SLAVERY

NATIONAL — Today, ahead of Labor Day, Worth Rises, a nonprofit criminal justice advocacy organization, launched a digital letter archive with first-hand accounts of slavery in U.S. prisons. The letters, from over 200 incarcerated workers, were collected as part the public education efforts of the organization’s #EndTheException campaign, which seeks to end the exception in the 13th Amendment that still allows slavery to be used as criminal punishment. This archive is a testament to the courageous resilience of the 800,000 incarcerated workers forced to labor in the U.S. and a record of the continuation of slavery in this country.

POLICE CALLED AS FAITH LEADERS DELIVER PETITIONS DEMANDING GAS-MASK MANUFACTURER ALLEGRO INDUSTRIES BAN THE USE OF ITS PRODUCTS IN ALABAMA’S NITROGEN SUFFOCATION EXECUTIONS

PIEDMONT, S.C. — Today, local faith leaders led by Reverend Hillary Taylor delivered nearly 5,000 petition signatures to Allegro Industries, a safety equipment manufacturer based in South Carolina, demanding the corporation ban the use of its gas masks in death penalty executions. The petition, which also names Allegro’s corporate parents, Connecticut-based Walter Surface Technologies and Canadian-based Onex Corporation, come after an Allegro mask was used to carry out the first ever nitrogen suffocation to execute Kenneth Eugene Smith in Alabama on January 25. In response to today’s peaceful action, which comes as Alabama readies for its second execution by nitrogen suffocation on September 26, Allegro executives caustically locked the doors and called the police.

FCC VOTES UNANIMOUSLY TO SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER PHONE AND VIDEO COMMUNICATION COSTS AFTER DECADES OF EXPLOITATION BY PRISON TELECOMS

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted unanimously to dramatically limit the rates that prison telecoms charge for phone and video calls from prisons and jails. The new order more than halves the per-minute rate caps for all prison and jail phone calls across the country. It also establishes interim per-minute rate caps for video calls, marking the first time the FCC has set rules for prison communication beyond phone calls. Finally, it prohibits all fees, including deposit fees. Worth Rises estimates that the new rules will impact 83% of incarcerated people (about 1.4 million) and save impacted families at least $500 million annually. 

WORTH RISES TESTIFIES IN HEARING ON OVERCRIMINALIZATION BEFORE SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE OF HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on "Overreach: An Examination of Federal Statutory and Regulatory Crimes” (video). Worth Rises Executive Director Bianca Tylek testified on the impact that federal overcriminalization has on the American people, both directly and through its influence on state policy. Her remarks touched on the disproportionate impact overcriminalization has on Black, brown, and low-income people, the role of the prison industry in overcriminalization, and its relation to the exception in the Thirteenth Amendment—raising questions from several Congressmembers. She called Congress to take decisive action to end the profit motive behind overcriminalization, starting with passing the Abolition Amendment to end the exception and abolish prison slavery.  

MARYLAND LEGISLATURE HOLDS HEARINGS ON BILLS THAT WOULD MAKE PRISON CALLS FREE

ANNAPOLIS, MD — This week, the Maryland Senate and House held hearings on Senate Bill 948 and House Bill 1366, which would make calls free across Maryland’s prisons, ahead of committee votes. Advocates and impacted community members testified on the impact that the bills would have on incarcerated people, their children and families, and public safety. The bills are sponsored by Senator Jeff Waldstreicher and Delegate Kent Roberson, respectively. If the bills pass, Maryland would become the next and sixth state to make prison calls free, following quickly on the heels of Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Colorado. California made prison calls free in 2022 and Connecticut in 2021.

GROUNDBREAKING NEW STUDY REVEALS SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF ENDING SLAVERY IN PRISONS AND PAYING INCARCERATED WORKERS FAIR WAGES

NEW YORK — Worth Rises, a non-profit criminal justice advocacy organization, announced today the publication of a groundbreaking cost-benefit analysis independently conducted by leading economics firm Edgeworth Economics. The study, A Cost-Benefit Analysis: The Impact of Ending Slavery and Involuntary Servitude as Criminal Punishment and Paying Incarcerated Workers Fair Wages, presents an in-depth analysis of the fiscal costs and benefits of ending the exploitation of incarcerated workers through fair wage practices. The findings of this first-of-its-kind analysis show that doing so will immensely benefit not only incarcerated workers, but also their families, victims, and society at large.

CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS FILE COMPLAINT AGAINST MAJOR SWISS AND UK BANKS FOR OWNERSHIP OF PRIVATE PRISON STOCK ALLEGING OECD GUIDELINES VIOLATION

NEW YORK and NIJMEGEN — Today, civil society groups Worth Rises, BankTrack, and the Coalition for Immigrant Freedom filed a complaint with the National Contact Points (NCPs) of Switzerland and the UK against Swiss-based banks UBS and Swiss National Bank and UK-based banks Barclays and HSBC. The complaint alleges that the banks’ financial involvement with private prison operators CoreCivic and GEO Group contravenes their responsibilities under the OECD Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct. 

MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR SIGNS NEW BUDGET MAKING CALLS AND DIGITAL COMMUNICATION FROM PRISONS AND JAILS FREE

BOSTON, MA — Today, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed the FY24 budget with a provision that requires prison and jails across the state provide phone calls, video calls, and e-messaging to incarcerated people at no cost. The provision, which will go into effect December 1, 2023, was agreed to by the Senate and the House in conference committee and is estimated to save Massachusetts families over $25 million annually.

CONGRESSMEMBERS REINTRODUCE THE ABOLITION AMENDMENT TO END THE EXCEPTION IN THE 13TH AMENDMENT AHEAD OF JUNETEENTH

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, #EndTheException joined Senators Jeff Merkley (OR) and Cory Booker (NJ) and Congresswoman Nikema Williams (GA-5) for the reintroduction of the Abolition Amendment, a joint resolution that would abolish slavery for all in the United States. The Abolition Amendment, which gained bipartisan support in the 117th Congress, seeks to end the exception in the 13th Amendment that still allows slavery and involuntary servitude to be used “as a punishment for crime.” Due to this exception, slavery is still legal and real for incarcerated people across the nation.