Pledge of Resistance Against the Most Expensive Federal Prison in U.S. History!
Federal Bureau of Prisons
On Friday, March 1st, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) published their Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) concerning the proposed $500+ million dollar construction of Federal Correctional Institution Letcher (FCI Letcher), a 1,408-bed federal prison to be built on a former mountaintop removal coal mine site in Roxana, KY.
Until April 15, 2024, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is accepting public comments on whether the prison should be built. During this period, anyone in the United States can submit comments expressing their opposition
Building Community Not Prisons (BCNP) will submit this petition and all the signatures as one comment on April 15th to the Bureau of Prisons! But we encourage you to write your own comment too at the link below! BCNP is a national coalition of people in Letcher County and across the country that oppose the construction of this prison in Letcher County or anywhere else. BCNP is calling on Congress to rescind all funding for this prison and to invest in the things that actually work to keep all our communities safe (like housing, education, healthcare, transportation & more!).
Signed the Petition? Write a Public Comment Opposing the Prison here:
Petition by
To:
Federal Bureau of Prisons
From:
[Your Name]
Dear Bureau of Prisons,
We, the undersigned, pledge our consistent, continuous, and unwavering opposition to the construction of both the proposed Federal Correctional Institute (FCI) and Federal Prison Camp (FPC) in Letcher County, Kentucky. We oppose this prison on many grounds, including environmental, economic, and social reasons. Despite promises to bring jobs to the region, a new prison in Letcher County will employ very few locals and will undermine other economic development projects. The proposed location on a mountaintop removal site situated near a coal slurry impoundment would not only do harm to the surrounding community and ecosystem if the site is dug up for construction, but also to those who will be incarcerated inside of it. This is not to mention the often insurmountable barriers that family members and loved ones will face when trying to visit their incarcerated loved ones from as far away as DC, Chicago, Atlanta, and more. Letcher County and the “sending communities” where people who will be incarcerated will be sent from deserve so much more than a new prison.
We stand with the residents of Letcher County and those from the sending communities who oppose this prison and will do everything in our power to stop its construction. We advise the BOP to choose the No Action alternative in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. We urge decision-makers to halt the construction of the federal prison in Letcher County and prioritize investments to address the residents of both Letcher County and the sending communities' needs, promote economic development without reliance on incarceration, and uphold principles of environmental and racial justice.
We stand together united and committed to stopping this prison.
Sincerely,
[Your signature]