Year-Long Lockdown at the DC Jail to End After Sustained Advocacy
After a grueling 400+ days of 23-hr-a-day lockdown at the D.C. Jail, the DC Department of Corrections announced plans to end the lockdown. This decision directly impacts the nearly 1,500 neighbors in the jail who have been on this lockdown for more than one year.
Check out the May 13th article from The Washington Post about plans to end the lockdown.
This decision came six days after Neighbors for Justice submitted a petition to 17 District leaders and their staff that called for an end to this lockdown. The petition was signed by nearly 400 organizations and individuals from across the District and beyond. We asked for a change and they listened.
Our thanks to everyone who added their voice to this important issue! This simple act of collectively showing that we care mattered. Our voice, nearly 400 strong, calling for full consideration and quick action for our neighbors at the jail was heard.
See the full petition to end the lockdown.
Our thanks to Councilmember Allen and others for advocating on this issue. Our thanks to Director Booth at the DC Department of Corrections for preparing the plan. However, there is more to do. This plan does not provide access to classes, services, and resources for residents who are not fully vaccinated. The plan will be implemented in a staged approach, meaning it will take time before everything is fully operating.
This change came about after months of outreach to District leaders about the need to develop a plan to safely end the lockdown and a campaign that tracked and share the number of days of lockdown.
