The prison abolition movement seeks to abolish prisons and the prison system. The movement advocates for the abolition of prisons and the prison system on the basis of it being ineffective. Prison abolitionists present a broad critique of the modern criminal justice system, which they believe to be racist, sexist, and classist. They also see prisons and the prison system as an ineffectual way to reform criminals, decrease crime, and reconcile the victims of crime. For the prison abolition movement, the goal is not to improve the system or offer reforms, but to actually shrink the system into non-existence.
Read more about Prison Abolition Movement: Advocates For Prison Abolition, Prison Reforms and Alternatives, Arguments Made For Prison Abolition, Women and Prison, Illicit Drugs and Prison, Mental Illness and Prison
Famous quotes containing the words prison, abolition and/or movement:
“The martyr cannot be dishonored. Every lash inflicted is a tongue of fame; every prison a more illustrious abode.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men. When the majority shall at length vote for the abolition of slavery, it will be because they are indifferent to slavery, or because there is but little slavery left to be abolished by their vote. They will then be the only slaves. Only his vote can hasten the abolition of slavery who asserts his own freedom by his vote.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The preservation of life seems to be rather a slogan than a genuine goal of the anti-abortion forces; what they want is control. Control over behavior: power over women. Women in the anti-choice movement want to share in male power over women, and do so by denying their own womanhood, their own rights and responsibilities.”
—Ursula K. Le Guin (b. 1929)