Graterford Prison Protesters Head to Court This Week

Seven members of Decarcerate PA, an anti-prison grassroots campaign, will be in a Skippack courtroom Wednesday morning on charges relating to a Nov. 19 incident in which the organization blocked the construction access road to Graterford in protest of the prison expansion.

During the incident that Decarcerate PA calls the “first-ever act of civil disobedience to block prison construction in Pennsylvania,” the protesters set up school desks, and a “little red school house” in the construction entrance for over an hour.

“The schoolhouse imagery highlighted the disparity between the governor’s decision to continue spending $685 million on prison construction statewide while slashing funding for education by over a billion dollars,” according to the organization.

The protesters face charges of defiant trespass, failure of disorderly persons to disperse upon official order, and persistent disorderly conduct.

The protesters believe the action was necessary to stop a greater injustice.

“We know that if they build these prisons, they are just going to lock up more people and cause more damage to our already struggling state,” said Sean Damon, one of the protesters facing charges.

The Nov. 19 event marks the second Decarcerate PA protest at Graterford over the past year.  in front of the Perkiomen Valley High School. No one was arrested during the incident.