Hi! My name is Evalyn, I am an eighth grade student who is trying to make a difference in my community. In the United States, we are told that prisons are supposed to rehabilitate criminals and that they work to help them change. This is not true. USA prisons do the exact opposite. They make rehabilitation way harder than it should ever be. The conditions are inhumane and go against the eighth amendment in its entirety. Solitary confinement is one of many ways they dehumanize their prisoners. This is one cause of a huge issue in the US called recidivism. Recidivism is the tendency of a convicted criminal to reoffend. Right now, the recidivism rates in the States are about 70% while in other countries like Norway or Austria have rates that are less than 30%. The conditions in these prisons are a threat to everyone, not just criminals. Because ex-inmates have not been correctly rehabbed, they pose an active risk to the people in their communities because their risk of committing a crime after being released so much higher than it should be. Without the help of the community we will not be able to make a change to help millions of people that this affects. 

What changes are you signing for?

In order for prison rehabilitation to become affective, some changes that should be made include eliminating solitary confinement, and enabling things like set activities throughout the month, unlocking cells for longer periods of time, free phone calls, and giving inmates more responsibility without guards parenting them 24/7.

What will this petition do?

Signing this petition will give an astronomical boost in my official message to the Massachusetts Representatives and will make the chances of this being acted on will be much higher with the support of you!