WHAT'S GOING ON?

Big banks recently raised $509 million from investors to build two massive new prisons in Alabama. State officials in Alabama plan to lump $400 million in federal COVID relief funds and $135 million from their state general fund on top of that, resulting in a $1.3 billion prison construction plan. If these prisons are built, they will be the largest prisons in state history, and they will guarantee the mass incarceration of (mostly Black) people in Alabama for generations to come.

WHAT BANK IS MAKING THIS POSSIBLE?

Regions Bank is acting as the trustee for the $509 million prison construction bond. That means that they will be the conduit through which money flows from these prisons back to investors for the next 30 years. We are writing as Alabamians and allies across the country to demand that Regions drop out of this horrific project. We do not accept billion dollar investments in mass incarceration. We do not accept people profiting from the incarceration of our neighbors. We do not accept a future where Alabama continues to lock up tens of thousands of people, more than half of whom are Black.

(As a note, we will not let the underwriting banks off the hook: Wells Fargo, Raymond James, Stephens, and Frazer Lanier. But at this stage, Regions needs to decide whether or not they will move forward with this $509 million bond.)

HOW CAN I HELP?

Please use this online action portal to contact these banks and demand that they drop the project. Then, share this online action as widely as possible. It is imperative that Regions Bank understand how widespread public opposition is to their involvement in this highly visible prison construction bond.