NO NEW WOMEN’S PRISON. Now or ever.
We are Families for Justice as Healing and The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls. Our mission is to end the incarceration of women and girls.
We are organizing to stop Governor Healey’s plan to build what is now an almost $400 million women’s prison.
PLEASE JOIN US FOR THE 2026 FREEHER MARCH ON SEPTEMBER 12: bit.ly/FreeHerMarch26
The formal 2025-2026 legislative session has ended and the legislature failed to pass our priorities: the Prison Moratorium, Elder and Medical Parole, Decriminalizing drugs, and the MA Survivors Act. Read more here.
We are also pressuring Suffolk Construction to drop out of being the construction manager for the new women’s prison project - take action at: bit.ly/SuffolkToolkit
★WAYS TO GET INVOLVED: bit.ly/nonewprisonvolunteer
★CONTACT: mhanora@justiceashealing.org
TAKE ACTION:
1) Sign up for the FreeHer MarchÂ
2)Â Let your legislator know how you feel about their failure to pass criminal legal reforms
3)Push back on Suffolk Construction
4) Email the Governor’s Office
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★ Sign up for the FreeHer March
Join us for our annual FreeHer March on September 12 in the Boston area to demand we build a better future for all of us in Massachusetts - not a $400 million women’s prison! We’ll be marching, chanting, and uplifting the demand to bring women home, keep them home, and invest in our communities, not prison construction. After the march, we’ll have a picnic.
SIGN UP NOW: bit.ly/FreeHerMarch26Â
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★ Let your legislator know how you feel about their failure to pass criminal legal reforms
The formal legislative session ended on July 31 and the legislature failed to pass key bills to protect people and families directly impacted by the criminal legal system including the Prison Moratorium, Elder and Medical Parole, and the MA Survivors Act among others.
Please call and email your own State Senator and Representative with your feedback about their record during the 2025-26 legislative session.
★ Find your legislators here: https://malegislature.gov/Search/FindMyLegislator
Example Email or Call Script:
Please customize your message with info like why these bills were important to you and any actions you took to help advance these bills. Feel free to include other important legislation you were supporting.
Dear Senator/Rep ______________,
I live in your district, and I am a constituent. I’m aware that the legislature did not pass key criminal justice reforms to protect directly impacted people and their families including the Prison Moratorium, the MA Survivors Act, and Elder and Medical Parole. All of these bills were vetted by their respective committees after hearings with lots of community support on the record then left to die in Ways and Means.
The legislature did not do enough this session, and that makes me feel…
I reached out to your office about these bills when…
These bills were important to me because…
As a constituent I want you to know that…
I urge you to pass these needed reforms quickly next session. Prison construction is the wrong direction for the Commonwealth. Instead we need policies that reduce the size and spending on the criminal legal system and invest in what people need to be safe and successful in the community.
Sincerely,
Name, Town
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★PUSH BACK ON SUFFOLK CONSTRUCTION
Suffolk Construction was selected to be the construction manager for the almost $400 million women’s prison construction project at MCI-Framingham. The company is currently negotiating their contract with the state. Suffolk will be responsible for overseeing the entire project beginning now in the design and planning phase through construction, which is slated to begin in 2027.
We are demanding that Suffolk Construction withdraw from the contracting process. No profit from women’s suffering! Take action now!
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★EMAIL THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE
In a moment of federal crisis, let’s call on our Governor to invest in communities, not prison construction that will only advance the Trump agenda.
★Email the below address, and use the form below to send your message to the Governor’s office.
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/email-the-governors-officeÂ
Example Message:
Dear Governor Healey,
I am your constituent calling on you to pause the $360 million women’s prison project immediately. Incarcerated women and formerly incarcerated women also oppose this project.
Your administration has failed to meaningfully engage with directly impacted women. Please listen to them now and pause plans for prison construction: tinyurl.com/FraminghamVoices
We need policy change before prison construction. You can begin by using your clemency powers to address systemic injustices with sentencing relief and release elderly and sick incarcerated women who are no threat to public safety.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your City/Town]