Release Aging People in Prison: A Campaign to End Elder Incarceration and Promote Racial Justice
Release Aging People in Prison/RAPP is an intergenerational grassroots advocacy campaign created and led by formerly incarcerated people. We work to dismantle the racist “law-and-order” policies that have more than doubled the number of elders behind bars over the past 20 years, to expand the use of parole, compassionate release, and clemency, and to end life imprisonment. By organizing community power to free incarcerated elders—women and men who have served decades in prison for crimes including those of violence; who have transformed their lives, developed profound skills and abilities, have much to share with their communities and families on the outside, and who pose the lowest risk of committing a new crime if released—we strike at the system of endless punishment that fuels mass incarceration and damages Black and other communities of color.