This contains posts about reports, testimony and sign-on letters by District advocacy groups and other entities related to District criminal legal system issues.
Galen Baughman was one of the original organizers of what became the ReThink Justice DC Coalition, assisting Charlie Sullivan in forming and operating the group, when it was called the First Friday Group. He was the group’s first administrator, until his incarceration in Virginia three years ago based on a technical violation of his parole. …
Continue reading “Galen Baughman case gains support to overturn unjust civil confinement”
Prison Policy Initiative has published a report–using D.C. as a case study–to show how much non-criminal – and often drug related – “technical” violations of probation and parole contribute to unnecessary jail incarceration. From their report: “In the nation’s capital, the scope of the problem is conspicuous. The Washington, D.C. Department of Corrections estimates that …
Continue reading “D.C. data shows how minor supervision violations contribute to excessive jailing”
There is a new report titled Establishing Principles for the Creation of a Local Paroling Authority in Washington, D.C. published today with this post. This was developed as a joint effort between the ReThink Justice DC Coalition and the DC Reentry Task Force. The report lays out 19 principles that a new local parole function, …
Continue reading “ReThink Justice and Reentry Task Force Report – Principles for a Parole Entity”
Local advocates have been calling for the parole function to be returned to District control for many years. The ReThink Justice DC Coalition’s New Visions Committee has been one of the groups deeply involved in this advocacy.
By John Stanard and Anna Sineva On July 7, 2020, the DC Council passed a revision to police reform legislation it had passed in early June. My colleague (Anna Sineva) has been following this closely and monitored the proceedings (all 10 hours) as they unfolded. The following is our summary of key points from the …
Continue reading “Report on new DC Council Police Reform Legislation”
The ReThink Justice DC Coalition participant Julie Petersmeyer, organized 46 local clergy to sign on to a letter sent to the DC City Council and Mayor Bowser. Titled Faith Leaders in support of Restoring Local Control Over Parole in the District of Columbia, the letter calls on the Council to take action to bring the …
Continue reading “Local Control of Parole Clergy Letter Sent to DC Council and Mayor”
The ReThink Justice New Visions Committee has been very active advocating to get the District government to move for without delay to take action to assume control of the parole function which now rests with the United States Parole Commission (USPC). Malcolm Young, Co-Chair, New Visions Committee, with the assistance of other committee participants, submitted testimony …
This Community Call To Action was prepared by the co-chairs of the DC Reentry Task Force in collaboration with ReThink Justice and other District criminal justice advocacy groups.
The ReThink Justice DC Coalition has sent a letter to Mayor Muriel Bowser, DC Councilmember Charles Allen and Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton calling on them to “bring a sense of urgency to address the gaps left by the sudden closure of Hope Village.” The letter was signed by a number of local criminal justice reform …
The Corrections Information Council published information today regarding the impact of the closure of the Hope Village men’s federal halfway house for DC citizens who are residents there.
