The primary goal of criminal justice reform is to lower rates of incarceration, and a big step in achieving that is to stop the prison industrial complex. So it shouldn’t come as any surprise to for-profit prison companies that, when they announced a plan to add more square feet to L.A. county jails, that a leading voice in the Black Lives Matter movement would make it her business to get in the way.

Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Movement, along with the Reform L.A. County Jails Campaign will hold an event in Southern California on Thursday (August 8) with the aim of stopping a $2 billion jail expansion project granted by L.A. County to the McCarthy Building Company. And Cullors will be bringing a few high-profile friends along for the cause. Insecure star, activist and co-founder of BLD PWR Kendrick Sampson, Compton rapper Buddy and singer/songwriter/artist Lauren Jauregui are just a few of the high profile names who will stand side-to-side with Cullors at the #CancelMcCarthyContract rally.

The Reform L.A. County Jails Campaign will deliver its goal of demanding that L.A. County and McCarthy Building Company cease building jails and instead, expand greater access to treatment for people living with mental health disorders. 

The #CancelMcCarthyContract campaign will personally deliver a “pre-litigation” letter to Sachi Hamai, the CEO of L.A. County and McCarthy Building Company CEO Mike Bolen, advising both parties that swift legal action will be taken if they refuse to cancel the jail expansion contract. Reform L.A. County Jails asserts that the Board awarded a multi-billion dollar contract to the building company without receiving comparing bids from multiple vendors, which California law requires.

In addition to the delivery of the letter, the campaign and Cullors are slated to hold a rally and press conference featuring Juan Correa, whose son died in a L.A. County Jail, the ACLU’s Peter Eliasberg, Queen Sugar actress Dawn-Lyen Gardner, Grey’s Anatomy actor Jason George, actor, activist, and co-founder of BLD PWR Kendrick Sampson, and UTLA Vice-President Cecily Myart-Cruz, among others.

In one month, over 4,000 individuals have signed the Cancel McCarthy petition online.

If you are in Southern Cali and want to join the movement, here are the details of the event:

On Thursday, August 8 the press conference will take place on the steps of LA County Board of Supervisors: 500 W Temple St at 9:30am PT and then the crew will head to Newport Beach at 9:30am PT.