At least 170,000 different people are booked into county jails in Pennsylvania each year, and on any given day these facilities are collectively caging around 29,000 people.

The majority of people incarcerated in local jails have not been convicted of the offense for which they’re being held. They simply can’t afford to pay bail or are alleged to have violated probation (making them ineligible for bail), so they’re stuck behind bars waiting for their legal proceedings, which can take weeks or months.

ALC has extensive, multi-faceted campaigns targeting county jails in Philadelphia (Philadelphia Dept. of Prisons), Pittsburgh (Allegheny County Jail), Harrisburg (Dauphin County Prison), and elsewhere in PA including Lackawanna and Lehigh Counties. We build collective power to decarcerate and dismantle these deadly institutions, protect people who encounter them, and shift funding from jails to true public safety supports like housing, health care, and education.

Our legal, organizing, court watching, and communications teams operate in coalition with partners and in constant collaboration with people who are, or have been inside these horrific facilities, and their loved ones. We particularly focus our efforts on supporting the most vulnerable people in county jails including children in adult facilities; people with disabilities and acute mental and physical health needs; and queer, trans and GNC individuals.

We address conditions of confinement and use of force at jails including solitary, restraint chairs, pepper spray, and other weapons and forms of torture employed by jail staff. We agitate around strip searches, book bans, laundry policies, environmental conditions, food, access to hygiene and health care products and services, and more.

This work takes many forms including:

• Filing dozens of lawsuits, right to know requests, and other legal actions
• Participating in county jail working groups and networks across Pennsylvania
• Maintaining a visible, vocal, and influential presence at Jail Oversight Board meetings in Allegheny County, and leading a coalitional effort to establish an accountable oversight board in Philadelphia
• Monitoring deaths of people in jail custody and advocating around access to autopsies
• Conducting in-depth research, holding educational events for the public, and publishing reports and findings
• Building productive relationships with journalists who regularly spotlight issues related to jails
• Offering comfort supplies like personal hygiene items and bus passes to people coming out of jail
• Connecting incarcerated people and their loved ones with participatory defense hub self-advocacy support service and organizing court support for them during their appearances for legal proceedings

Learn more by searching in the Topics section on our homepage.