NATIONWIDE — Today, advocates escalated pressure against Tennessee-based FDR Safety and Florida-based Clinical Pharmacology Services to stop developing a new death penalty protocol. Worth Rises and the Patriots Against Gas Executions urged professional associations, such as the National Safety Council, to remove the corporations from their membership. The escalation comes a week after more than 70 organizations, investors, and business associations, including the American Sustainable Business Council - Social Venture Circle, sent a joint letter to the corporations demanding they stop developing a nitrogen gas execution protocol for the Alabama Department of Corrections.

NATIONWIDE — Today, Worth Rises published an analysis of recently-released financial statements for Aventiv Technologies — parent company of Securus Technologies – revealing that the prison telecom corporation capitalized on the COVID-19 public health crisis to rake in massive gains at the expense of struggling families.

NATIONWIDE — Today, more than 70 national organizations sent a joint letter to Congress, addressed to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, endorsing the recently introduced Abolition Amendment and urging immediate passage. The joint resolution (SJ Res 21, HJ Res 53) which reads, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude may be imposed as punishment for a crime,” was introduced last week by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Congresswoman Nikema Williams (D-GA-05) to remove the last vestige of slavery in the U.S. Constitution — the insidious exception clause in the Thirteenth Amendment that allows for slavery and involuntary servitude as punishment for crime. They were joined by eight U.S. Senators and 16 U.S. Representatives, including Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and Counterterrorism Cory Booker (D-NJ).

HARTFORD, CT — Today, Connecticut Governor Lamont signed Senate Bill 972, officially making Connecticut the first U.S. state to make prison phone calls free for incarcerated people and their loved ones. SB 972 passed the state Senate and House in bipartisan votes over the past two weeks and was fully funded in the budget. Connecticut joins a growing list of jurisdictions across the nation in making prison and jail phone calls free, including New York City, San Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles.

HARTFORD, CT — Today, the Connecticut House passed SB 972 in a 94-51 vote, sending the legislation on to the governor’s desk. If SB 972 is signed into law by Governor Ned Lamont, as advocates expect, Connecticut will become the first U.S. state to make prison communication free, following a growing number of counties that have adopted similar policies in their jails. Worth Rises joins the rest of the Connect Families Connecticut coalition in celebrating this historic move to bring prison phone justice to the state. Governor Lamont has five days to sign SB 972 into law or it becomes law by default.

NATIONWIDE — Today, Worth Rises Founder and Executive Director Bianca Tylek demystifies the prison industry and the opportunity we have to dismantle it in a new TED Talk: The multibillion-dollar US prison industry — and how to dismantle it. Tylek illustrates the expansive size of the prison industry and the remarkable harm it causes communities decimated by mass incarceration as well as broader society, but she also provides hope that change is possible. She uses prison telecom and the prison phone justice movement to illustrate the problem she recognized and the solution she devised when starting Worth Rises.

HARTFORD, CT — Today, the Connecticut Senate passed SB 972 in a 29-6 vote, sending the legislation on to the House for its final vote. Saving Connecticut families more than $12.2 million annually (before fees and taxes), SB 972 would reconnect struggling families and improve reentry outcomes by allowing incarcerated people to communicate with their support networks at no cost. Importantly, SB 972 would also protect prison visits from being replaced by new communication technology, as many have feared.

DETROIT — Yesterday, ahead of the Detroit Pistons home game against the Chicago Bulls, Worth Rises rallied with local advocates, formerly incarcerated people, and their families to protest for prison phone justice in honor of Mother’s Day. Advocates called on Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores to either finally divest from one of the nation’s largest and most predatory prison telecom corporations, Securus, or sell the NBA team.

“This Mother’s Day, countless mamas can’t speak to their children because they can't afford a prison or jail call. Prison profiteers like Tom Gores are to blame for this, plain and simple. He shouldn’t be allowed to profit from the pain of mass incarceration — to exploit the love between incarcerated people and their families. We demand free prison communication every day, but especially on a day like today, because incarcerated people deserve to be able to say ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ without breaking the bank,” said Bianca Tylek, Executive Director of Worth Rises. “Tom can run, but he can’t hide. We’ve tried our hand at conversations, but his time is up. We got him kicked off the LACMA board, and we’ll keep raising hell at the NBA until he hears our demands — sell Securus or sell the Pistons. He can’t own both!”

CONNECTICUT — Yesterday, Connecticut's Appropriations Committee issued a joint favorable vote for Senate Bill 972, passing it out of the committee and sending it to the Senate floor for a full vote. Worth Rises joins incarcerated people, formerly incarcerated people, their families, and other advocates in celebrating this important step towards bringing prison phone justice to the state.

“It’s exciting to see the Connecticut legislature really get behind this bill to alleviate the financial burden that families with incarcerated loves ones are being forced to bear just to stay connected. We knew this should and would be a bipartisan effort and yesterday's overwhelming support confirmed that,” said Bianca Tylek, Executive Director of Worth Rises. “The committee's vote and recent budget allocation are a clear sign that legislators have finally recognized the harm caused by exploitative prison phone rates and are ready to do something about it. We are looking forward to working with leadership in the Senate and House over the coming weeks to get SB 972 across the finish line. Families have been waiting too long.”

CONNECTICUT — Worth Rises joins incarcerated people, formerly incarcerated people, their families, and other advocates in celebrating the Connecticut Appropriations Committee on releasing a state budget yesterday evening that fully funds free communication for incarcerated people. The bill that these budget line items support, Senate Bill 972, is a Judiciary Committee bill that would allow Connecticut residents to communicate with their incarcerated loved ones at no cost, prohibit the state from taking kickbacks from its prison telecom vendor, and protect visits for Connecticut residents with incarcerated loved ones.

The budget allocates $11.4 million to the issue (see pages 78, 249, and 256 of the budget) with $2.2 million going to cover the Connecticut Criminal Justice Information System, $6.0 million to the Connecticut Department of Correction, and $3.2 million to the Connecticut Judicial Department. This allocation covers the fiscal note for SB 972 by allocating funds to both address the cost of service and the gap in revenue that would be created by the bill.