Throughout the state of California, organizers and communities impacted by incarceration are demanding an end to jail expansion. JusticeLA (a coalition of grassroots organizations) celebrated an unprecedented victory in February 2019 when the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to stop jail expansion in LA County. However, the fight continues as JusticeLA works to ensure the County’s plan for a replacement mental health treatment center serves the community’s needs and is not just another jail with a different name.This fight is echoed in the Bay Area. Over the last four years, the No New Jail Coalition has fought to close the San Francisco County Jail and protest the human rights abuses against the jail population experiencing mental illnesses. These efforts are led by coalitions of allied organizations comprised of advocates, organizers, formerly and currently incarcerated people, and their families who organize for community-based treatment, release, re-entry, and diversion while simultaneously building the relationships and trust necessary to fight together.
Join us for this webinar to hear about the lessons learned from JusticeLA’s victory and what is required to create successful and effective coalitions to end mass incarceration. We will hear from organizers from Los Angeles and the Bay Area about the current status of the fights to end jail expansion throughout the state and the role of funders in advancing these campaigns.
Speakers
- Ivette Alé, Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB)
- Eunisses Hernandez, JustLeadershipUSA
- Lily Fahsi-Haskell, Critical Resistance
- Melanie Havelin, John M Lloyd Foundation (Moderator)
California Criminal Justice Funders Group
Founded in 2014, the California Criminal Justice Funders Group (CCJFG) is a network of institutional funders and individual donors who invest in a wide range of criminal justice reform efforts in California. As an active learning community, CCJFG members come together regularly to share information, learn from one another and from criminal justice advocates and thought-leaders, create partnerships, collaborate on specific efforts, and leverage our collective capacity on criminal justice issues to enhance our overall impact in the field. The CCJFG is committed to engaging new funders and partners and leverage new resources to strengthen the effectiveness of the criminal justice reform sector in California. The CCJFG is guided by coordinator Adrienne Skye Roberts and an active steering committee.