Meet the Community's Prop 47 Executive Steering Committee Members

Yesterday the California Board of State and Community Corrections decided to waste $500 million on new jails, and nominate the chair for the ‪Prop47 ‬Executive Committee. Formerly incarcerated leaders from across the state are standing up for investing in care in the community not, cops and cages.

The Community's Prop 47 Funding Committee includes:
Darris Young & John from the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Dayvon Williams from Youth Justice Coalition
Deirdre Wilson from California Coalition for Women Prisoners
Dolores Canales from the Family Unity Network
Dorsey Nunn from Legal Services for Prisoners With Children
George Galvis from Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice
Jayda Rasberry from Dignity and Power Now
Jerry Elster from American Friends Service Committee
Kim Carter from Time for Change Foundation
Rosie Flores from California Partnership
Sammy Nunez from Fathers & Families of San Joaquin
Tracy Jones from Justice Now
Vonya Quarles from Riverside "All of Us or None"

Meet the Community's Prop 47 Executive Steering Committee 14 Proposed Members

The Proposition 47 Executive Steering Committee (ESC) is charged with directing 65% of the state’s savings to fund mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment and diversion programs. Historically, the process by which the agency creates ESC’s has lacked transparency and public engagement, resulting in committees that are often dominated by law enforcement. That’s why the community has put together our proposed slate of ESC members to guide Prop 47 reinvestment. This 14 member panel is comprised entirely of formerly incarcerated leaders from across California who are experts in substance abuse treatment, reentry programing, housing, and mental health treatment. These are experts that California needs to guarantee that savings are used to build the capacity of community-based programs that will support the communities most damaged by mass incarceration.

Via: http://ow.ly/UCthF 

A Fair Chance

Our nation is finally getting “smart on crime” after decades of policies like the War on Drugs. Today, we’re a nation where almost one in three adults—that’s 70 million people—has an arrest or conviction record.

That record has become a scarlet letter for job-seekers who can’t even get their foot in the door for an interview. Local communities have responded by adopting fair-chance hiring laws to ensure that people with records aren’t locked out of employment.

The movement is growing fast. More than 100 cities, counties, and states have adopted fair-chance hiring policies—42 in the past year alone. And that’s paving the way for action at the federal level. Here's how you can help.

Please SIGN THIS PETITION urging President Obama to take executive action to create a federal fair-chance hiring policy that covers federal agencies and contractors. There’s strong bipartisan support for opening up opportunity for millions of Americans unfairly shut out from the job market.

NELP’s new report, Advancing a Federal Fair-Chance Hiring Agenda, makes the case for reform and lays out a detailed plan. Read more about it in the Washington Post.

Over the coming months, NELP and our partners in this effort, All of Us or None and the PICO National Network, will be working to build pressure for presidential executive action, so that everyone has a fair chance at federal agency and contractor jobs. Thanks for your support!

—Maurice, Michelle, and the NELP team

Proposition 47 Community Forum

Proposition 47 Community Forum 

YOU’RE INVITED!

Prop 47 Community Forum: Progressives’ Role in Implementation

WHY: “Prop 47: We Support It, But It’s Complicated.”

WHEN: Sunday JANUARY 25, 2015 

1:00 – 5:30 pm 

WHERE: Golden Gate University School of Law

536 Mission Street in San Francisco, Room 2201 

(BART to Montgomery Street Station)

** 2.5 Hours MCLE credit for attorneys **

Panel discussions and breakout sessions, featuring: formerly incarcerated people, public defenders, legal service providers, advocates for prison abolition & civil rights 

• What’s the most comprehensive implementation model for Proposition 47 outreach? 
• Where do we go from here for large-scale criminal justice change? 
• How do we work with or around people who oppose change in our post-47 world? 
• How do we build the most inclusive movement we can for future success? 

1pm-2pm “Outreach & Implementation Models.” SF Public Defender Jeff Adachi, Alameda Public Defender Brendon Woods, Meredith Desautels of Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, Eliza Hersh of East Bay Community Law Center, Milena Blake from Californians for Safety & Justice. Moderator Alex Berliner of All Of Us Or None.

2:15-3:30 ”Building An Inclusive Movement.” Lenore Anderson of Californians for Safety & Justice, Prof. Cynthia Chandler of Golden Gate University, Manuel La Fontaine of All Of Us Or None, Laura Magnani of American Friends Service Committee, Natasha Minsker of American Civil Liberties Union, Lynne Lyman of Drug Policy Alliance. Moderator Dorsey Nunn of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children.

3:45-4:45 BREAKOUT SESSION “Cultivating A Network Of Unlikely Allies,” with facilitator Gopal Dayaneni of Progressive Communicators Network.

3:45-4:45 BREAKOUT SESSION “Next Steps Towards Change,” with facilitator Harriette Davis of All Of Us Or None.

4:45-5:30 Wrap-up & light refreshments