Reply I.D.: Blog 4HR

ABOUT THE COALITION FOR PRISONERS' RIGHTS
PO BOX 1911 * Santa Fe NM 87504
UPDATE: September 2013

The Coalition for Prisoners' Rights Newsletter, begun in 1976, has been one sheet, front and back since 2009. We currently mail out the most recent 11 issues as part of our response to every communication we receive, along with our eight page national resource list and applicable state resources lists. Joining in specific prisoner-based campaigns is an important part of our work. Tow current examples are the California hunger strikes and the free cell-faans program in Texas. We supply copies of our over 100 resource lists on request. We mail every issue to the Newsletter to those who supply us with stamped, self-addressed envelopes, and to other advocacy organizations and contributors. We are most fortunate that the Newsletter is also posted on The Real Cost of Prisoners website. The amount of correspondence we receive, overwhelmingly form prisoners all over the country--more than 300 letters a month--remains constant.
PLEASE CONTINUE TO SEND US YOU CHANGES OF ADDRESS
so you will automatically receive our year-end holiday card/new calendar.

STAMPS, AS WELL AS FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS, CONTINUE TO BE MOST WELCOME AND NECESSARY TO OUR SURVIVAL.
CHECKS AND MONEY ORDERS SHOULD BE MADE OUT TO US AT THE:
COALITION FOR PRISONERS' RIGHTS AND SEND TO US AT PO BOX 1911, SANTA FE NM 87504.

We are an all volunteer group of approximately a dozen people at any one time. Some of us have been imprisoned, some of us are family members or friends of those who are, all are deeply concerned about the shameful lack of human rights in our country. We have recently benefited enormously from expanding cooperative relationships with several are schools and colleges and the participation of short-term student volunteers in our work. We have existed since 1972 through commitment and hard work. We believe our Newsletter readership exceeds the number of letters we receive by at least a factor of ten. We find that many prisoner correspondents keep our materials for years. We have supported the Coalition with individuals' donations (both in-kind and cash), contributions from church groups, and a diminishing number of grants.

We believe that the U.S. police, court, and penal systems make our communities less, rather than more, safe. We oppose punishment and torture as tools for positive social change. Prisons as presently constituted are dangerous not only to community safety, but also to community health, welfare, and development. Please join with us in this crucial human rights struggle!

None of us are lawyers or legal workers.

[Picture of Coalition for Prisoners' Rights' building/headquarters with front garden].

Despite what everyone envisions as the Coalition, this is our humble home, Hopeland.

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I've known of and received newsletters from C.P.R. since I came to prison. They are committed to their cause.

You may read copies of their newsletters at
www.realcostofprisons.org
They're somewhere on that site.

I disagree with a lot of the digs at "white" people spouted by the C.P.R. But the type of propaganda is common in prisoner-rights groups, who seem intent on overlooking the fact that white people too are being oppressed by the P.I.G., that, at best, white staff use white prisoners (suckers) to further their (white staff's) agendas, and that in many prison systems it's the white convicts who zealously prohibit other prisoners from helping the system cage us (e.g. in the B.O.P., Muslims permit theirs to build fences -- the whites don't!)

Despite my disagreements about their racial ideology, their newsletter is always packed with valid statistics and useful contact information, which I made the use of.

updated 10/2012