2023 Wishlist: Criminal Justice with Dignity
My wishlist this year highlights my belief that people are far more than the worst thing they’ve ever done. I truly believe that people can do great harm and, also, that people can be transformed. I believe that our criminal legal system can hold people accountable and still recognize their humanity. Everything on this list […]
A One-Two Punch for Juveniles
April brought a one-two punch for juveniles. Punch One: Jones v. Mississippi (April 2021) For the last 20 years, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a string of decisions limiting the most severe sentences for children. The Court abolished capital punishment for juvenile offenders. It prohibited life without parole (LWOP) in cases that did not involve […]
Two Suspicious Deaths by Hangings of Black Men in California
*Originally published on Medium on 06/16/20. Robert Fuller, a twenty-four-year old black man, was found on June 10th, hanging from a tree near City Hall in Palmdale, California. With very little investigation, the local police quickly declared his death to be an apparent suicide, a response that Fuller’s family and friends flatly disputed. There was […]
New Jersey’s Prisons and the Coronavirus
New Jersey just took a major step toward protecting the public from the coronavirus. It ordered the release of nearly 1,000 low-level offenders in county jails – which represents about one-tenth of the jail population. This makes good sense. Jails and prisons are breeding grounds for viral diseases. People in prison live on top […]
My Speech About Felony Disenfranchisement at the 2020 Official NYC Women’s March in Foley Square
It’s 2020. In 1920 – just 100 years ago — the 19th Amendment was ratified and women of the day finally won the right to vote. The right to vote is one we hold dear. The right to vote means everything to so many of us. How many of you — like me — are […]