UPDATE - January 12th Rally to Close California Prisons now ONLINE

Heidi • January 10, 2023

In-person rally postponed due to weather and public health concerns

Due to important concerns about weather conditions and public health, the Close CA Prisons Rally and Press Conference will be held virtually only, on Zoom, at 9:30am PST on Thursday, January 12th and NOT in Sacramento in person.


Please keep your plans to join us on Thursday, 1/12 at 9:30am as we transition to this virtual space. If you’ve already registered for the rally, you’ll be receiving an email confirmation with a Zoom link. We know that many folks were bringing friends and allies on 1/12. Please alert them of this change and have them register for the digital rally as well. Also, please do invite others who might not have been able to attend in Sacramento but can attend in the virtual space.


We’re disappointed that we won’t be able to bring everyone together at the State Capitol Building in Sacramento next week, but that won’t stop our campaign from building on the momentum created by our community’s powerful organizing. 


At Thursday’s online rally, CURB (Californians United for a Responsible Budget) and #CloseCAPrisons will be:

  • Responding to any news from California’s 2023-24 Proposed Budget
  • Outlining our campaign’s demands for this year
  • Sharing highlights from our recommendations about future plans for prison closures
  • Participating in a collective digital action to deliver our demands to the Newsom Administration and the state legislature 


You can register HERE for the Close CA Prisons 1/12 Virtual Rally and Press Conference.

To use your social media platform to spread the word of the event, you can access this online toolkit.

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