We have a special request to make of you. Would you be willing to send an urgent message to California Governor Gavin Newsom?
Today, July 9, 2020, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reports there have been 1,640 cases of COVID-19 at San Quentin State Prison since the first reported case on May 31, 2020. So far, seven people there have died.
“I’ve always considered San Quentin as the heart of the PYP Sangha. It’s where I started in 2002, and where I have now taught more than 1,500 classes. I’ve had the privilege to meet and know amazing men of many cultural identities. It has enriched my soul, enlightened me, and advanced my healing,” says James Fox, Founder of Prison Yoga Project. “Please join me and pray that all men there be safe from inner and outer harm and that they somehow find moments of inner peace in this crisis.”
Would you be willing to send an urgent message to California Governor Gavin Newsom? We need your voice so that this tragedy does not repeat.
My name is __________ __________, and I am writing to encourage you to act boldly and swiftly to reduce California’s overcrowded prisons and our jails and detention centers. COVID-19 is spreading rapidly, and the Administration must act with urgency. Reducing overcrowding will not only protect prisoners and staff, and it will protect the public from increased community spread and unnecessary healthcare resources utilization. Thank you.
Copy the message above and follow these steps:
1. Navigate to https://govapps.gov.ca.gov/gov40mail/
2. Fill in your name and email address, select “Prison Issues/Concerns” from the dropdown box, and click “Continue.”
3. On the next page, select “Pro” and paste your message in the comment box
Compassionate action is our calling. Thank you in advance on behalf of the more than 113,000 men and women incarcerated in California’s prisons!
Thank you,
Prison Yoga Project
Prisons, jails, and detention centers make up most COVID-19 hot-spots, endangering the people incarcerated therein and the surrounding community. For more information about what’s happening in your state, visit The Marshall Project’s A State-by-State Look at Coronavirus in Prisons.