United Church of Christ - JPANet: A Commission to Correct Corrections

JPANet: A Commission to Correct Corrections

justice scale Legislation is pending in the Senate that would establish a commission of expert researchers, policy-makers and justice workers to examine every aspect of the criminal justice system to see how it can be repaired. This important legislation (S. 714) has broad bipartisan support, and was passed by voice vote in the House July 27. It is coming up for vote in the Senate. Now is the time to add your support for its passage.

The United States has a system of criminal justice that is widely acknowledged to be broken. Our country incarcerates a far greater proportion of its citizens than any other country in the world. More than one out of every 99 people in the United States today is behind bars, and millions more are under judicial controls of probation or parole. Our system of criminal justice segregates people who are poor or disadvantaged. It is the primary repository for people with mental health disorders, who would be better treated than incarcerated. It returns people to community -- and almost all prisoners return to community -- with great burdens of unemployability, disrupted families, stigma and shame. It does not support the social life and well-being of our neighborhoods. Rather, it encourages crime.

This system is not working for any of us. The opportunity to examine the breadth of the criminal justice structure, from policing and arrests to public defense and reentry, will allow us as a country to build an understanding of how we can correct our corrections.

Tomorrow, September 21st, please join our UCC, ecumenical and coalition partners in contacting your Senators. Take action!

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Since its inception, the United Church of Christ has supported all efforts to move toward equal justice for all of our citizens. We seek to address the social conditions that encourage people to commit crimes, and to build the social structures necessary so that people can live in peace, unafraid of the harm that crime produces for us individually and as a society. These efforts can only function in the context of a working system of justice for our country. Our system, which returns so many either to incarceration or to broken families and lives outside of prison, is harming our people. It is a complex matter, and one that requires thought, research, creative approaches, and a disciplined and thorough review of the wide reach of the justice system so that we can learn how to re-create a structure of justice that works for everyone.

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Dear [Decision Maker],

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I am writing to urge you to support the National Criminal Justice Act of 2009 (Senate Bill 714), which passed the House by voice vote on July 27.  I believe this legislation is vital to the life of our country, and encourage your leadership in guiding this bill through to its completion.

The United States incarcerates a far larger proportion of its citizenry than any other country in the world, and with only 5% of the world's population, houses fully one quarter of all the people in the world who are in prison.  One in every 99 people in the United States is currently behind bars, and additional millions are under judicial controls of probation or parole at this very moment.

The criminal justice system affects every one of us -- the families and communities from which prisoners stem, and everyone who lives in the towns and cities to which they return.  And yet it has been demonstrated again and again that our prison system is not working.  It is not reducing crime.  It is comprised of people who are disadvantaged, and returns them to communities where they are shackled with additional burdens of reduced employability, debt, poverty and shame.

The National Criminal Justice Commission Act would establish a nine-member panel of experts to study every part of the criminal justice system over an 18 month period, shedding light on sentencing policy, rates and correlates of incarceration, law enforcement, crime prevention, mental health care, reentry, restitution, and many other areas of concern.  Of utmost importance to us is the need for a public defense system that functions well, is accountable, and is fully supported by the public that depends on it.

As a person of faith I am committed to working diligently to create a safer, fairer system for everyone.  Please support this legislation and urge your colleagues to support it as well.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State ZIP]
[Your Email]