Voters will decide on the issue at the ballot box on May 20th

CONTACT: Ben Wilcox, benjamin.wilcox@phila.gov

WHAT: Prison reform and good government advocates will convene before City Council’s budget hearing on the Department of Prisons to promote and publicize Councilmember Isaiah Thomas’s efforts to create an Office of Prison Oversight and Independent Prison Community Oversight Board. The press conference precedes the budget hearing for Philadelphia Department of Prisons, where Councilmember Thomas will continue to explore the proposal on the record. Voters will ultimately decide to create the office and board on May 20th by voting on Ballot Measure #3.

WHEN: April 9th, 2025 at 1:00 PM

WHERE: Outside City Hall Room 405 1400 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19130

WHO:

• Isaiah Thomas – Majority Whip of City Council (Democrat – At Large)
• Nicolas O’Rourke – Minority Whip of City Council (Working Families Party – At Large)
• Saleem Holbrook – Executive Director, Abolitionist Law Center
• Keisha Hudson – Chief Public Defender, Defender Association of Philadelphia
• Pennsylvania Prison Society
• Lauren Cristella – President and CEO, Committee of Seventy
• Jane Golden – Executive Director, Mural Arts

VISUALS: Artwork made by artists incarcerated at SCI Phoenix, courtesy of the Guild Program at Mural Arts

MORE INFORMATION: phlcouncil.com/prisonoversight

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