COORDINATING REGIONAL STRATEGIES in the

MOVEMENT AGAINST MASS INCARCERATION

Questionnaire to prepare for our gathering at LeftForum.org, NYC, 5/31, 5-6:50pm (Session 4, Rm. 1.101)
John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, 524 West 59th Street, New York


For more information on the session at Left Forum, please visit: http://bit.ly/LeftForumSession
Please send your completed form back to brokenonallsidesINTERN@gmail.com
Please send your completed form back to brokenonallsidesINTERN@gmail.com. This will help facilitator Matt
Pillischer frame the discussion, and we hope it will assist you in gathering your thoughts for these sessions. Each
person will only have a limited time to speak, so using this as notes may help keep remarks short.

Name: Azadeh N. Shahshahani
President of National Lawyers Guild Date: May 27, 2014

1. Please provide a brief update (250 words or less please) on organizing efforts you are
focusing on in your city/area. What are you particularly proud of, what are some
things you are having a tough time with?

We published a comprehensive report on immigration detention in Georgia in May 2012,
Prisoners of Profit: Immigrants and Detention in Georgia and have been using the report as a
tool to raise awareness about the conditions and shut down the worst detention centers. We are
involved with a national campaign coordinated by the Detention Watch Network to shut down
Stewart and Irwin (facilities in Georgia). As part of the campaign, we issued a letter to the
Georgia Congressional delegation recently requesting an investigation; and have also been in
touch with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. We also are monitoring conditions
at two corporate-run BOP facilities in Georgia that primarily imprison immigrants who are
crossing or re-crossing the border to reunite with their families; this imprisonment occurs before
they are turned over to the custody of immigration. We have issued Freedom of Information Act
requests to find out more; and also wrote to the BOP, asking that they not renew their contract
with Corrections Corporation of America for operation of one of the facilities.

2. What would be your ideal vision for working with cities, towns, and states near you?
(250 words or less. Dont worry about ideas not being fully developed.
This may include determining shared goals with activists nearby, better coordinated communication,
regional demonstrations, emergency networks, national day of action, etc.)
A national day of action sounds fantastic; there have been such events in the past with a focus on
immigration detention; would be great to broaden the focus/link up to the larger system of mass
incarceration.

3. Is it time for a national March On Washington against Mass Incarceration, or
coordinated day of action in cities across the country? (250 words or less.)
Sure. Hopefully such march will also include a focus on immigration detention.

4. Please share any concerns you have about coordinating efforts across regions.
(250 words or less.) None.