Where Climate Change and Criminal Justice Meet

Description:

As wildfire and hurricane seasons are heightened by the climate crisis, and in the wake of the devastating impact of COVID-19 on those who reside in the nations prisons, it's been made clear that incarcerated individuals aren't considered when protection plans are formed by policymakers. Prisoners, exploited for their labor during COVID, and underpaid for their work to fight the natural disasters raging in this country, are left with no defenses when those very emergencies threaten their lives, from being left during hurricanes in south and east, to breathing in the smoke of wildfires they are pleaded with to battle. This panel will seek to explain the necessity of intersectionality between criminal, climate, and labor justice in forming policies aimed at creating better conditions.