There are numerous non-profits and other organizations working to bring more equity to the criminal justice system. A few of these organizations are highlighted below:
The Sentencing Project
The Sentencing Project works for both policy reform in the criminal justice system as well as researching and advertising alternatives to incarceration. It is also working to shed light on the injustices in the criminal justice system, including the disproportionate incarceration of people of color.
Their goal is to combine advocacy, research, and media to create fundamental and lasting change in the criminal justice system.
Click here to view The Sentencing Project's website
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a large non-profit organization that works to advocate for individual rights and freedom, spanning from freedom of speech, privacy rights, and due process. Injustice in the criminal justice systems (particularly racial injustice) is one of the many issues that the ACLU is combatting, and their website has extensive information about criminal justice reform, as well as personal stories of those who have served time for non-violent crimes.
Click here to see what the ACLU is doing to bring reform to the criminal justice system
Click here to see what the ACLU is doing with regards to overall racial rights
All of Us or None
All of Us or None is a civil rights organization that is working to bring more awareness to issues facing previously incarcerated individuals and their families. Their mission states:
The goal of All of Us or None is to strengthen the voices of people most affected by mass incarceration and the growth of the prison-industrial complex. Through our grassroots organizing, we will build a powerful political movement to win full restoration of our human and civil rights.
(Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, 2013).
They do so by working on specific issues that affect this population, including voting rights, "ban the box" (regarding the box on job applications that asks about previous convictions), and "clean slate" (helping formerly incarcerated individuals get their records dismissed).
Click here to watch a video about All of Us or None
Click here to view All of Us or None's website
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP)
LEAP is a non-profit comprised of former members of law enforcement and the justice system. LEAP is dedicated to promoting change in current drug enforcement policies, and believe that current policies actually worsen the problem. Because men of color have disproportionately high rates of incarceration due to minor drug charges, changing drug enforcement policies is a major piece in reforming the criminal justice system.
Click here to hear Major Neill Franklin, a retired police major and member of LEAP, discuss the problems with drug policies and the criminal justice system.
To view LEAP's website, click here
Homeboy Industries
Homeboy Industries is a non-profit in Los Angeles that helps formerly incarcerated and gang-affiliated individuals get back on their feet by providing services such as employment assistance, tattoo removal, mental health counseling, drug abuse counseling, educational coursework (including a GED program) and legal services. It also has seven "social enterprises," including a bakery, a cafe, a grocery store, and a diner. It is the largest gang intervention organization in the country, and serve low-income people of color who have previously had limited to no access to quality social services, like education.
Homeboy Industries is also trying to change the way we look at the criminal justice system: because it is much more expensive and much less effective to keep non-violent offenders in prison, why not take that money and spend it trying to give support to high-risk or formerly incarcerated individuals? This is the change that Homeboy Industries is trying to inspire.
For more information on Homeboy Industries, click here
Susan Burton
Susan Burton started an advocacy organization called A New Way of Life, which helps previously incarcerated women transition back into their community by helping them find housing, jobs, and work on their education.
To learn more about Susan Burton, watch the video below:
References
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children. (2013). All of Us or None. Retrieved from http://www.prisonerswithchildren.org/our-projects/allofus-or-none/
There are several local initiatives that you should check out, like Youth Undoing Institutionalized Racism (YUIR). They are actively working to disrupt the construction of the new Youth Jail. The New Jim Crow-Seattle, who are working to raise awareness in this region. And Washington Incarceration Stops Here (WISH), another group working to curtail mass incarceration in the state of Washington.
ReplyDelete