Madison Organizing in Strength, Equity, and Solidarity
for Criminal Legal System Reform

Engaging Our Congregations: First Unitarian Society (FUS)

by | Jul 13, 2025 | MOSES activities, MOSES Groups, Newsletter

By Nancy Kosseff 

The First Unitarian Society (FUS) has been a MOSES member since 2013, following a vote at our annual parish meeting. Carol Rubin and James Morgan had stirred interest through a presentation they had made previously at FUS.  

At the time, our congregation was moving from a standing-committee structure to a ministry-team structure. Small groups of members could form a team focusing on a particular justice issue or parish need. The idea was that these teams would be flexible in responding to current needs, and that they would disband when no longer needed.  

Several of us organized the MOSES ministry team shortly after hearing Carol and James. We attended MOSES organizational meetings and worked to put MOSES membership on our next parish meeting agenda. 

FUS is a large congregation, with dozens of new people joining and others moving on from one year to the next. Keeping everyone aware of the work of MOSES is a continuing challenge. Our team members have also come and gone.  We currently have about six active members, who meet monthly to brainstorm, plan, and evaluate our efforts at engaging the broader membership. Kathy Luker is our current facilitator.  

We have sponsored two or three First Friday Films each year, which have included a pre-film potluck dinner or snack and a post-film discussion. Our team has also hosted several forums on local and state justice-related issues, which are presented between the two Sunday services. Once or twice a month, we host a table during the coffee hour between services. On the table we have MOSES brochures, newsletters, and yearbooks; half-size sheets explaining the work of our ministry team, and sign-up sheets for people wanting to join the team or to learn more. A trifold on the table highlights current and upcoming MOSES and WISDOM news and events. A lending library of relevant books fills one end of the table. 

This spring, the congregation designated a weekend offering for the Dane County Deferred Prosecution Program (DPP). The DPP offers selected people who have committed an offense the chance to attend classes and set up a restitution plan. When they complete all their requirements, the offense is deleted from their record. Donations collected that weekend went to a DPP fund that helps low-income participants with bus fare, court fees, class costs, and other requirements, such as restitution payments, for remaining in the program. Two people spoke about the DPP’s impact on real lives at all three of our weekend services. 

One of our co-ministers, Rev. Kelly  Asprooth-Jackson, has attended several MOSES and WISDOM events, including the MOSES Gala, WISDOM’s Madison Action Day, and a protest action against lockdowns at Waupun Correctional Facility. Rev. Kelly also provides regular staff support to our ministry team. Most recently, we have brainstormed together about ways to add younger FUS members to our team. We have also been exploring the idea of writing letters to incarcerated individuals, a project organized by our national denomination. We are hopeful that this type of undertaking will have broad appeal to our membership.   

 

Reentry 2030

by | Jul 13, 2025 | Life After Prison, Newsletter, WISDOM Post Release

From the Council of State Governments Justice Center

Submitted by Katie Mulligan

Reentry 2030 is a nationwide initiative whose goal is successful reintegration for every person with a criminal record. The initiative aims to reduce recidivism, expand Medicaid access, and improve employment and housing for people returning to their communities from incarceration. In the past year, North Carolina, Nebraska, and New York have joined Missouri and Alabama in signing onto Reentry 2030. These states have set ambitious goals: Nebraska is committing to 90 percent job access for people returning to their communities, while North Carolina wants to reduce homelessness by 50 percent among people leaving incarceration. Learn more about the initiative in this Jails to Jobs article. 

Youth Restorative Justice Summit

by | May 21, 2025 | Children & Youth, MOSES activities, Restorative Justice, RJAC Racial Justice for All Children, Schools

By Shel Gross

On February 28, Barbie Jackson and Shel Gross were given the opportunity to have a table at the Madison Metropolitan School District’s Youth Restorative Justice (RJ) Summit. At that table, they invited youth to respond to this question: What do you want the community to know about RJ? Here’s what the youth said:

Youth (teens) are leaders and facilitators.

RJ helps with voicing opinions.

RJ is a very welcoming place!                    

RJ is a learning experience.

Everyone should be understood.                      

Everyone belongs in and with RJ.

RJ is a good way to work things out.                    

RJ provides a safe place.

RJ is about communication, not just about punishment and taking sides.

Resolving conflict peacefully is a very helpful and essential part of school. 

There is no right or wrong way to contribute to restoring justice. If you show up and put in the work, self-reflect, and practice kindness, you are doing enough.

RJ is learning about yourself, to better understand the world around you and how it affects you.

RJ works not only to resolve conflict, but to create family and community.

RJ is not just confined to a room, but incorporated through every day and action.

Everyone should be respectful!

RJ is like family to me, and it is very transformative. 

RJ is so cool!

RJ is about beliefs, mindsets, and values as much as it is about practice.

RJ can be different for everyone.

RJ includes all genders, races, and identities.

How to Talk Effectively with Legislators About Our Issues Tips from WISDOM Training Sessions

by | May 21, 2025 | Advocacy, Featured, MOSES activities, WISDOM

How to Talk Effectively with Legislators About Our Issues 

Tips from WISDOM Training Sessions

By Sherry Reames

  • Do some research in advance about the committee or individual legislator you’ll be talking to. If possible, get advice from other members of MOSES or WISDOM who have met with these committees or individuals in the past.
  • Spend some time looking at the information that’s available on the web. The legislature’s official website, legis.wisconsin.gov, gives a capsule biography of each legislator that includes their education, professional experience, organizational memberships, committee assignments, etc., and there are even links to the bills they have authored or supported in the past. The legislators also have their own websites, which tend to emphasize their life experience and the issues they have chosen to campaign on.
  • Give your testimony or make your visit as part of a group, if possible, and decide in advance which of you will present each issue or aspect of an issue.
  • Don’t be disappointed if you end up talking with an aide instead of meeting the legislator in person. Often the aides have more experience and expertise on our issues than the legislators they work for.
  • Your speaking time will be limited (just 2 minutes, if it’s a budget hearing!), so use the time well. Jot down the points you want to make, and consider practicing with a stopwatch.
  • Try to say something they are likely to remember because they haven’t heard it before. If you have a powerful personal story, use it. If not, at least mention your own experience or expertise on the issue. If you have recent data or statistics from a reliable source, it’s good to include that, too. If it’s a budget hearing, be sure to give them an estimate of the numbers involved and the anticipated savings.
  • Speak as clearly as possible. Avoid jargon and acronyms that your hearers may not recognize.
  • Be prepared to answer questions about your issue and to counter likely objections. But don’t bluff; if necessary, it’s ok to say you don’t know and will get back to them with the answer. Then follow through, of course.
  • Prepare a written version of your testimony that you can leave in the legislator’s office or email to them later. This written version can give more details, statistics, and sources than you have time to present orally and should also include your contact information.
  • Take good notes (or ask someone else in the group to do so) about the response you receive from each legislator or staff member. How receptive did they seem to our positions on the issues? What questions or objections did they raise? Did they promise to support any of our asks? Did they make any helpful suggestions about ways to proceed?
  • If you met with an individual legislator or aide, follow up a few days later with a note thanking them for their time and suggesting your willingness to continue the conversation.

 

Organizer’s Corner

by | May 21, 2025 | Organizer

Organizers’ Corner 

By James Morgan 

Greetings, MOSES members! 

 

I recently had the pleasure of visiting with congregants at Prairie Unitarian Universalist Society, one of our member congregations. My discussion centered on the value of relationships, individual and collective, and how relationship-building is one of the key components in building a base for collective power. I expressed how speaking or thinking about relationships often brings to mind terms like kinship and connectedness, and how there are degrees of relationship: familial, public, etc. 

 

For me as the Organizer for MOSES, building strategic, meaningful, and trustful relationships is imperative in how I think about my responsibilities and duties to our organization. As our President, Saundra Brown, often says, one-on-ones are a key component in building relationships in our organization and in building collective power. 

Relationships bring a feeling of community, which keeps us all involved and confident in our contributions to the organization. In relationships, we come to understand that we are not alone in our values, ideals, and principles. Being in relationship with one another gives us the ability to support one another as we tackle difficult issues relating to justice. 

 

The scope of relationships within MOSES, an organization of many faiths and cultures, of people with diverse backgrounds and of different ages, makes us unique in our ability to build collective power to right some of the wrongs that we have chosen to address. 

 

Let’s Stand Together Strong! Let’s Do MOSES!