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The Economics of Jails, Prisons,
Political Prisoners and the Death Penalty

The panel discussion is offered to highlight the continuing problems of the proliferation of jail and prison construction, the use of prisons to control dissent and isolate the poor, and the waste and inhumanity of capitol punishment. The costs to the national budgets of operating security facilities, and the costs to the economy from the loss of productivity of those locked up, as well as those employed to guard them, will be discussed. Proposals will be offered to allocate the funds to more productive uses.

Organizer:

• Ray Hill, P.O. Box 3624, Houston, TX 77253; (713) 523-6969; fax: (713) 523-6969. Producer of "The Prison Show" on Pacifica radio station KPFT-FM Houston, plaintiff in U.S. Supreme Court decision Hill vs. Houston, a landmark freedom of expression case.

Facilitator:

• Julie Safari, 419 Lovett Blvd., Houston, TX 77006; (713) 666-3836. Co-producer of "The Prison Show" on KPFT-FM Houston.

Other Speakers:

• Clarance Brandley, c/o Shape Community Center, 3815 Live Oak, Houston, TX 77004; (713) 747-5328, is an innocent man sentenced to death in Montgomery County, Texas. (The conviction has been reversed but the reversal has been appealed.)

• Suzon Bridges, Amnesty International, 8319 Rebawood, Houston, TX 77346; (713) 852-7860. Coordinator of special Death Penalty Project.

• Ken MacDonnell, Box 3546 Magnolia Bend, Conroe, TX 77302; (409) 273-2532. Organizer, Texas Irish Association; authority on political prisoners.

• Mariba Karamoko, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), 92 Pinemont Ave., Atlanta, GA 30303; (404) 586-0460. Contributor to "Two Hundred Years of the Penitentiary".

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