Stop the ACA! RAIL attends anti-prison rally Stop 
the American Corrections Association

Philadelphia--Anti-prison organizers hosted a 
counter conference to the annual trade show of the 
American Corrections Association on the weekend of 
August 10-12, followed by marches and protests 
through the middle of the week. The trade show 
itself illuminated the financial interests that 
are driving the current prison craze in the United 
$tates. Opponents took the opportunity to expose 
some of the forces behind the prison-industrial 
complex, while protesting the whole system with a 
strong anti-imperialist agenda throughout the 
events.

What is the ACA?

In one workshop entitled "The Role of the ACA in 
the Prison Industrial Complex" the audience 
learned that the American Correctional Association 
(ACA) dates back to 1870 when it claims to have 
established the "guidelines for corrections in the 
United States and Europe." It is composed of 
political and industry leaders who, according to 
one of the speakers, all have sordid histories 
associated with inhumane institutions of 
incarceration. These include corporations 
profiting from prisons. 

One of the primary 
purposes of this group is to accredit prisons as 
meeting certain standards of care for its 
captives. Clearly, it is a bogus system where 
those dependent on prison expansion are 
responsible for regulating the standards in those 
prisons. One former prisoner mentioned that they 
would refer to ACA inspections as "walk by's," 
since all they did is walk by the building without 
taking any notes and then they would say, "looks 
good." Not surprisingly, the system of 
certification does not include any input from 
prisoners. It merely creates sham documentation to 
use in court and with the public to assure them 
that conditions are adequate. While claiming the 
contrary in an ad in the Philadelphia City Paper 
run prior to the conference, the ACA has enabled 
greater rates for locking up oppressed nationals 
and increased prison populations in general. One 
speaker reported that while the ACA may not 
directly fund lobbying efforts, the companies that 
are represented in the ACA such as the Corrections 
Corporation of America, do lobby, fund campaigns 
and support policies to increase imprisonment 
rates. Meanwhile they have worked to cut costs of 
imprisonment to the state to encourage further 
growth. For those who are campaigning for 
alternatives to prison, one should consider that 
the ACA is getting involved in halfway houses and 
other programs in order to diversify, especially 
in the face of growing discontent surrounding the 
current prison population. The key to survival in 
capitalism is to continue to expand and to keep 
money moving. Members of the ACA are doing this by 
fighting for contracts in these alternative 
programs within the U$ injustice system. The 
marriage of the state and industry within the 
prison system has existed for a long time. Their 
common interests are supported by the Amerikan 
labor aristocracy which sees their efforts as 
cleaning up the streets.(1) It also helps that 
they get to enjoy a piece of the profits. The ACA 
convention included general staff of prisons and 
prison-related industries, not just CEOs and 
wardens, offering a getaway weekend to share their 
wares of repression. In previous years products 
featured at the conference included lethal 
injection formulas, restraint chairs and stun guns 
and belts.

Organizing Behind Bars

Another workshop at the conference addressed the 
use of strikes, fasts and other forms of 
resistance by prisoners. The criticism made of 
hunger strikes was that the pigs don't care if you 
die, therefore in order for one to be successful 
there needs to be strong outside support. Speakers 
reported from experience that jamming the phones 
and fax with calls of support can make the 
difference between winning some demands and just 
being left to rot. One person spoke on a recent 
work stoppage in Baltimore, which was successful 
in bringing the prisoncrats to the table on issues 
such as searching visitors and phone rates. 

Another speaker is working with prisoners in Texas 
who had just begun a hunger strike. He reported 
that prisoners are making $1.50 an hour to make 
Eddie Bauer Clothes. The movement has also taken 
on an internationalist nature in their call for 
solidarity with prisoners in Turkey who inspired 
them. This strike is being reported on at 
www.ironhousesupport.f2s.com. At least one speaker 
said that it is impossible to get all of your 
demands, and if you get anything it will be a few 
token items. And if we look at the Attica 
uprising, which is one of the most significant 
historical examples of prisoner resistance, we see 
that demands that are granted are easily taken 
away. That is why it is important to keep the 
bigger picture in mind. Fighting winnable battles 
is key to the revolutionary movement. This means 
legal struggle for small demands at this stage. 

Meanwhile we must be studying, educating and 
organizing for revolution, for that is the only 
way the people will see all their basic demands of 
food, shelter, healthcare and freedom from torture 
fulfilled. During the question and answer period, 
former prisoners stated that books were what kept 
them sane while in isolation and were also how 
they became politicized. These statements 
demonstrate the importance of MIM's Serve the 
People Free Books for Prisoners Program, and we 
encourage those on the outside to support this 
program as a means of having a real impact on 
people and on the movement.

Day of Action

RAIL was present for the first day of action 
including the main march against the ACA 
conference. The organizers of the events were 
mostly anarchists. This provided a strong anti-
imperialist message, which drew good connections 
between prisons, the injustice system and 
capitalism as a whole. Their leadership was 
effective in organizing a successful conference 
attended by hundreds of people and a revolutionary 
rally with hundreds more. Where their leadership 
lacks is in long term goals. In fact, during an 
afternoon protest one organizer spoke of social 
programs as alternatives to the prison system. 

But in reality this is only handing people over to the 
same system with a friendlier face on it. There 
was a strong anti-capitalist message as well, but 
since anarchists are unwilling to speak of 
building a new government to replace the current 
one, their actions will continue to be limited to 
marches, teach-ins and isolated acts of 
destruction. In the morning there was a gathering 
outside the convention center to perform street 
theatre in protest of the injustice system and the 
ACA. The cops lining the entrance were almost as 
numerous as the protestors. Skits included one on 
killer cops targeting the oppressed, a game show 
where the goal was to convince people to build 
more prisons (entitled "sell a cell") and one 
featuring mockeries of CEOs present at the 
convention. The CEOs included those representing 
Keebler who apparently has a monopoly on cookie 
sales in prisons, and Victoria's Secret who uses 
prison labor. The afternoon ended with an 
excellent speech by one of the organizers exposing 
all aspects of the repressive system and its 
purpose. 

Prior to the march that evening, RAIL 
solicited signatures for postcards protesting 
censorship in various prisons across the U$ which 
have censored MIM and RAIL. After signing, two 
protestors volunteered to take some postcards and 
fliers around themselves. By the time the rally 
started most of the cards were signed, we had 
distributed MIM Notes and fliers describing the 
Free Books for Prisoners Program and our 
censorship problems, and we had gathered enough 
donations to pay for the postage to mail all of 
the postcards. The march itself featured many 
anti-police, anti-prison, pro-people chants. Stops 
included the District Attorney's Office (who is 
infamous for putting people on death row), a 
federal detention center, and of course the 
convention center where the ACA was meeting. 

The highlight was when we stopped at the detention 
center and protestors waved at captives who banged 
on the windows and flashed mirrors to express 
solidarity. The importance of the anti-prison 
movement is inherent in the dual force driving 
prison proliferation. The combination of economic 
interests in profit and political interests in 
repression, makes it unlikely that the system to 
slow its growth in the near future. Meanwhile the 
incarceration of more and more people only hastens 
the political education of more people who are 
locked up as well as those on the outside.

Notes: (1) Capital & State Join Hands In Private 
Prisons. MIM Theory 11: Amerikkkan Prisons on 
Trial. available for $5 ppd from MIM