prison

"I promise you that if I am reelected, I will build a prison in every county of eastern KY."
-Paul Patton, (reelected) Kentucky Governor.

In the mid-1990's as part of a massive prison building effort launched by then Governor George Allen, the VA Department of Corrections decided to construct two 1,200 bed facilities to house the state's most dangerous criminals. Both Red Onion and Wallens Ridge have received continued media coverage for reports of abuse and human rights violations. Across the country, state governments are building prisons in economically depressed rural communities to house mostly urban populations. The United States now has over two million citizens in prison and jail and 5.1 million children with an incarcerated parent. Included with this growing problem is the disproportionate number of urban people of color who are in prison. Likewise, rural people are frequently not given any voice in the development of a prison economy in their community.

Appalshop's Community Media Initiative's goals in exploring our local prison economy are:

Develop networks and relationships between struggling rural and urban communities in which they speak for themselves.
Examine the impact on individuals, families and communities on all sides of the criminal justice system.
Create an ongoing public dialogue on the mass incarceration of individuals in the United States.
Document the stories of those individuals and families who are both incarcerated or employed within the new prison economy in the mountains of central Appalachia.

The above links lead to interviews with government officials, prison advocates, rural people living in areas where prisons have been built, and family members of prisoners. We feel the prison economy presents a complex set of questions involving issues of identity, race, class and control over the development and futures of both rural and urban communities.