by MOSES Publications | Jul 8, 2026 | Children & Youth, Events, Featured, Fundraisers, MOSES activities, Reviews, Trauma, Youth & Schools
Judge Everett Mitchell Wows Audience at MOSES Lunch and Learn
Justice for Dane County kids is his passion
By Pam Gates
On May 20, The Honorable Judge Everett Mitchell gave an impassioned speech about his work for juvenile justice to a rapt audience of about 80. The event was a MOSES-sponsored Lunch and Learn fundraiser at Lake Edge Lutheran Church, with an excellent lunch provided by Melly Mel’s Deli and Catering. In addition to being inspirational and motivational, the event was practical: it cleared an unprecedented $5,000 for MOSES!
Mitchell said his position as an elected official – he is a Dane County Circuit Court judge – brings a vulnerability: He can become a target for those who disagree with his approach. Nevertheless, Mitchell works courageously to “create a system to fight other systems.” The system he fights was established by Chapter 48 in the state statutes, which he urged us to read and study. If we’re really committed to change, he said, we have to understand the system; the real pipeline, he said, is child welfare to juvenile delinquency to adult prison. Chapter 48 feeds the pain and trauma of that pipeline.
The child-welfare system removes kids from their home if there are certain lacks or certain problems, such as drug addiction. But treatment, which can help parents keep their children, may well not be available on a timely basis. Parents are given 15 months to get themselves together – 15 months to deal with perhaps a host of problems: generational trauma, mental health issues, addictions, lack of housing, illiteracy. Dane County doesn’t offer enough services or partnerships to help these people deal with such severe issues. “By kindergarten, it’s almost over,” Mitchell said; if children have experienced such extensive devastation in early childhood, their prognosis is bleak.
In Wisconsin, a child as young as 10 can be charged in adult court. A 14-year-old can be waived into adult court, and for 17-year-olds adult court is automatic. Mitchell, like MOSES, knows that kids can’t really comprehend what is going on in the courts; he says the juvenile court system is a cruel mimic of the adult system.
How do we get services in place? It costs $1,254/day to incarcerate one child, almost $500,000/year! Half a million! For one child! We prefer, Mitchell said, to have that money spent on incarceration rather than on, say, schools. “We don’t incarcerate as many as we used to since I’ve been here,” he declared.
“Before I sentence a child to prison, I take my time.”
He told the story of a youngster, barely 16 years old, who was on a GPS bracelet. Mitchell was told the child was not cooperating with the GPS and should be sent to prison. He delved into the case and found that the youngster was the father of two children, both by 23-year-old women; that he was unhoused; and that he was illiterate. For starters, had this youngster been 23 and the women 16, he would have been charged with statutory rape. Next, being unhoused made it impossible for him to be in a predictable place to satisfy the GPS. And – he couldn’t read or comprehend what was required of him to stay out of prison.
“We need to reestablish a better system,” Mitchell said. “The current system does what it’s supposed to do. My vision is a family system. The parents need parents, too. I’ve never met a bad child.”
“You know how to behave,” he told us, “because somebody invested time in you. We need to recreate family systems, build empathy. We need to tell kids, ‘I’m sorry.’ We need to protect them and demand accountability. Kids love boundaries. They need to understand consequences.”
The Madison school district’s Office of Youth Engagement is a good resource; it offers culturally relevant service providers in real time. One change Mitchell has been able to make in Wisconsin is forbidding handcuffs on kids in court.
There is lots of sex trafficking in Dane County, Mitchell told us. Kids are extremely vulnerable. It’s important to tell kids: “You’re not invisible. I see you, and I’m there for you.” Mitchell told stories making it clear that he sees the kids and is there for them. “I’ve been fighting all my life to get where I am now,” he said.
There’s a beauty in what we do in MOSES, he declared, and he urged this mostly older audience to engage in the fight for Dane County’s most vulnerable kids. Most of us were too old to become foster parents, but we could sign up for CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocates) and become trained community volunteers whom a judge could appoint to advocate for a child in the system. “Do not follow the path that has been given,” he urged. “Give babies a chance.”
In response to a question from MOSES member Eric Howland, Mitchell spoke very positively of the drug-court program as an opportunity for treatment with a whole support team. The drug court builds a sense in youth that their sobriety matters. It’s so important to give people the treatment that they need, he said. He added that most people who participate in drug court are white. Blacks get labeled dealers, which means they can’t participate in drug court. We need more treatment courts to give people a different path. We don’t need to put a nail into a heart that’s already been broken.
The super-predator myth has been debunked, he said, adding that he’s not alone in his advocacy for kids in the system.
Q: How many kids are in the system in Dane County?
A: Hundreds: in Deferred Prosecution, in foster homes, in different states because the right facilities aren’t available for them here.
Q: What about appropriate services in Dane County?
A: We’re at the height of a heroin-fentanyl epidemic. We need to leverage mental health treatment and kinship care and build a coherent platform.
Mitchell invited MOSES to learn about the ATTA Program, an alternative to youth incarceration. ATTA stands for Assessment, Treatment, Transition, and Aftercare. Reach out to him to tour Dane County’s Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center, which is headed by Juvenile Court Administrator Ed Pearson. We’re working around the system, Mitchell said. Kids shouldn’t have sentences longer than 12 months, and they shouldn’t be sent off to some other state for appropriate services.
MOSES Organizer James Morgan expressed appreciation from all of us for Mitchell’s presentation of the realities for kids caught in the system in Dane County. As he made very clear, Judge Mitchell is fighting for these Dane County kids with courage and commitment.
by MOSES Publications | Jul 8, 2026 | Advocacy, Housing, Newsletter, RJAC Racial Justice for All Children
Report on Housing Group’s Call to Action
By Patti La Cross
On June 3, the Housing Group of the Racial Justice for All Children task force put out a Call to Action. We asked MOSES members to join us in nudging Madison’s Community Development Authority (CDA) to retire some of its most restrictive rules faced by individuals and families seeking housing through the CDA because they have no other options.
Those rules include using consequences of poverty itself: little or no income; debt that keeps people unhoused; a notice of eviction – whether or not the eviction took place; “contact with police,” whether or not the applicant was party to a criminal activity and whether or not they were arrested; an out-of-date ID card; and pages more that we saw as “low-hanging fruit,” ripe for change. While we don’t know how many MOSES members submitted the requested letters, and the CDA hasn’t shared any changes they may intend to make, we thank all who sent comments.
This was our first use of the new Call to Action option, which we accomplished with Barbie Jackson’s help. I am hopeful this handy Call to Action tool will allow members throughout MOSES to join across task forces to support the work of the whole.
by MOSES Publications | Jul 8, 2026 | MOSES Member Congregations and Organization, Newsletter
By Carol Rubin
SnowFlower Sangha is a community of people from many backgrounds that is dedicated to practicing Buddhist mindfulness and meditation in the tradition of our teacher and Zen master, Thich Nhat Hanh. SnowFlower was established in 1991 and has grown from one weekly gathering of about 15 people to six weekly meditation gatherings that are held either on Zoom, in person, or in hybrid sessions. On Tuesdays and Fridays, members usually meet in person at the Friends Meeting House on Roberts Court, right off Monroe Street. Snowflower also offers days of mindfulness, weekend retreats, Kalyama Mitta (spiritual friends) groups of eight that meet monthly, and potlucks.
SnowFlower participants come from many faiths and cultures. Longtime practitioners practice mindfulness meditation alongside beginners, and everyone can enjoy brief dharma talks after meditation. The only requirement for participation is a willingness to be curious, to learn, and to step away from daily life for 1½ hours, or, as Thich Nhat Hanh wrote, “to stop our thinking and talking and go back to ourselves, with a smile and breathing.” Participants sit on chairs or on cushions.
The sangha (a community practicing together) is one of the core principles of Buddhism and also one of its core activities. Thich Nhat Hanh (often called Thây, or teacher, in Vietnamese) has said that everyone needs a sangha to practice with in peace and joy, to help each other through difficult moments, and to be nourished and supported in the practice of meditation. Thây is remembered as one of the rare Buddhist leaders to invite his followers to engage in deep social justice activism, not just meditation. “A Sangha is also a community of resistance,” he wrote, “resisting the speed, violence and unwholesome ways of living that are prevalent in our society.” Martin Luther King Jr. nominated Thich Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize, in honor of his efforts to resolve the Vietnam War. It is in this spirit of social activism that SnowFlower was among the first five congregations to join MOSES 14 years ago.
While SnowFlower follows the Mahayana Buddhist tradition, people of all faiths are welcome, and many continue to follow their original faith traditions as well as Buddhism.
by MOSES Publications | Jun 23, 2026 | Advocacy, Calls to Action, Featured, JPTF Justice & Police TF, JSRI Justice System Reform Initiatives, Policing
MOSES In Action
Rachel Kincade
MOSES has officially supported police oversight including the OIPM and the PCOB since September 28, 2025. (Link to official statement) Since then, we have testified in favor of full funding and against any attempts to weaken police oversight.
Police oversight in Madison is concentrated in two bodies: 1) the Office of the Independent Police Monitor (OIPM) which investigates cases of potential police misconduct, reviews the Madison Police Standard Operating Procedures, looks at statistical data on police practices, and issues reports. 2) The Police Community Oversight Board (PCOB) which hires and supervises the Independent Police Monitor.
An alder, who is no longer with the council, presented amendments that would take away the Independence of the OIPM and make it a city entity. The Council had reduced their already scant budget, reducing the time of the data analyst (while the police department hired two more data analysist), and without a case manager. MOSES members organized. Members of our Justice Reform Initiative (JSRI) and the Justice and Policing Task Force (JPTF) came together to work on this issue.
We all met and under William Park-Sutherland’s leadership and created a full history of the PCOB and the OIPM all the way to what is happening now. We provided members with calls to action. It was very informative and the presentation went smoothly with Mary Anglim and Eric Howland doing the background – how and why it was formed. They showed the many years it took to get this ordinance in place.
Eric also covered the budget and how it has steadily been cut. Jeanie Vershay and I talked about where things were at now and provided a call to action. In December 2025 the PCOB hired a new Independent Police Monitor (IPM), Aeiramique (Meeka) Glass. She is an experienced police monitor and has brought new life to Madison police oversight. Recent publications from the OIPM, starting with two statistical studies in their annual report and now two high profile investigative reports on police cases have challenged Madison’s views of its police department and also brought criticism of police oversight.
Aeiramique Glass is doing her job in a powerful way. I was on the PCOB for the first four years. In my opinion, she is doing exactly what the original ordinance calls for and is extremely effective. William brought it home by talking about the ordinance changes and the need to support the PCOB and OIPM. He acknowledged that Madison has the best ordinance in the nation, because it holds the super power of subpoena. Kathy Luker shared a way to get congregations involved, another great call to action. Other calls to action include calling your alder and expressing the need for the original ordinance and a call to the mayor asking for full funding for at least 1% of the Madison police departments budget to bring the data analyst to full time, hire a case manager and more money for independent council.
A call to action came out for attending and speaking at a PCOB full board meeting on short notice. Our President made a statement of MOSES’ support; Eric spoke passionately about the power the police have and the need for a fully funded OIPM. I asked them to just hire IM Glass as the permanent IM. Barbie supported the ordinance. Jeanie summed it all up by talking about the death of Richard Lee Johnson in police custody and stated this was a call to action.
I’ll leave you with another MOSES Call to Action: MOSES is preparing to testify at the Madison Common Council meeting on August 4th. At that meeting several amendments to the statutes that govern police oversight will be considered. Several amendments have already been proposed to weaken police oversight. Where we stand: Keep the interim IM as permanent, fully fund the OIPM, and keep the original ordinance.
This is how MOSES takes Action.
by MOSES Publications | Jun 4, 2026 | Life After Prison
Member Congregation hosts JustDane Reentry Simulation
By Pam Gates
The MOSES member congregation that I belong to, Prairie Unitarian Universalist Society, received a very nice donation from the family of a founding couple after their passing. To best use the money, the Prairie board decided that committees could request funding for special projects, and the board would evaluate and select those to fund.
Three social action committee members, including the two co-chairs (I’m one of them), had taken a JustDane Reentry Simulation in December 2024. We were all very impressed with this powerful program. My co-chair suggested that Prairie host a simulation with some of the money from the special fund. (JustDane charges $2,800 for a simulation; those who attend don’t have to pay anything.)
Prairie’s board approved our request, so the social action committee worked with JustDane’s Volunteer and Community Engagement Manager, Dani, to plan the event. I sweated a bit: even with advertising targeted to MOSES, to Madison’s other two UU congregations, and to the Prairie congregation itself, people weren’t signing up in droves, no matter how impressive I kept telling them the program was. In a leap of faith, I ordered 110 cookies from Just Bakery and hoped for the best. But I was very nervous.
By the morning of April 26, the day of the simulation, we had 33 people signed up, and most of them did show up. As the program began, a JustDane staffer gave each participant a packet with the name and brief profile of the returning citizen they would be for the duration of the simulation. Tables had been set up in the lobby and at the back of the meeting room. Reentry volunteers sat at these tables and directed participants as they tried to fulfill tasks a returning citizen would have to do: find a job, find housing, secure medication, meet with a parole officer, etc., etc.
JustDane staff and volunteers did an excellent job of demonstrating the challenges of the reentry process. MOSES Organizer James Morgan played the role of sheriff, taking people to “jail” for whatever reason he chose at the moment. JustDane Circles of Support Coordinator John Givens was a strong taskmaster; he blew a harsh whistle to signal the beginning and ending of each reentry “week” (15 minutes each) and sternly chided people who didn’t get back to their seats (“home”) on time. He made it very clear that a returning citizen has little to no autonomy.
After a harrowing hour of attempting to reestablish themselves in the community, participants were allowed to sit down, eat cookies, and listen to Dani and Givens explain the statistics of incarceration and recidivism, with an emphasis on Wisconsin’s embarrassing statistics. To close the program, two formerly incarcerated people offered their perspectives. They made it clear that support is crucial to making it after incarceration: support that an agency like JustDane gives.
I’m very glad we hosted the simulation, and I’m also glad it’s over! It was challenging to drum up enthusiasm, even though I myself am convinced of this program’s value. Probably a Sunday afternoon in spring was not the best timing. Lots of other events were going on, and it was a nice day as well. But now 30 more people have a better gut understanding of the discouraging struggles that people returning to the community from incarceration face. And that is worth a lot.
