SIGN THE PETITION TO SUPPORT OUR DEMANDS=
We, the undersigned organizations, urge the State Attorney's Offices, the Sixth and Thirteenth Judicial Circuits, the Pinellas and Hillsborough Department of Corrections and police departments across Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties to immediately release all people who are currently incarcerated on bondable offenses from jail and to stop adding new people to the jail population.
Mass incarceration is a public health crisis, especially at this time. Medical experts state that it is not a question of if, but when, COVID-19 will enter jails and prisons. In Hillsborough alone, roughly 2,800 people are held in county jails at any time, and between 70% and 78% of those at any given time have not been found guilty of any crime- they just cannot afford their bail. Pinellas County Detention and Corrections had a daily average of 2,985 people incarcerated in January 2020, 63.3% of which were being held on pretrial detention.
We have a moral calling to our community, which includes people behind jail walls, in the midst of this pandemic. Continued incarceration will be a death sentence.
READ THE FULL STATEMENT & LIST OF DEMANDS
New Florida Majority
Smile Trust
The Black Collective
Community Justice Project
Dignity Florida
Florida Immigrant Coalition
Power U
Fempower MIA
Miami DSA
Dade County Street Response
Miami Workers Center
Chainless Change
South Florida NLG
& More