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

MOSES Advocacy Helps Pass Resolution 556 #nonewjail

by | May 22, 2015 | Advocacy, Meetings

MOSES ADVOCACY RESULTS IN IMPROVED CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND JAIL RESOLUTION 556 BEING PASSED BY COUNTY BOARD.

Tireless advocacy by the volunteer members of MOSES, an inter-faith social justice organization, led to numerous improvements to Resolution 556, which was passedUNANIMOUSLY PASSED tonight by the Dane County Board. “The passage of this resolution demonstrates that when everyday people organize in solidarity, the community can significantly improve our County’s criminal justice system” said Morris Wexler, VP of MOSES, and longtime regulatory consultant. By passing resolution 556 “the County board is unequivocally stating its support for eliminating racial disparities, reducing incarceration, reducing the number of jail beds as well as its opposition to the construction of a new stand-alone jail” (RES 556, 316-319) as well as creating three community Work Groups to investigate solutions and make budget recommendations to realize the comprehensive reform of Dane County’s criminal justice system.

Specifically MOSES efforts led to:

  1. Unequivocal language that rejects the construction of a new stand-alone jail.
  2. An official commitment to comprehensive reform of the Dane County Criminal Justice System.
  3. Adoption of a set of guiding principles for future action.
  4. Inclusion, as partners, of people of color, people with mental health needs and people affected by incarceration within the Work Groups.
  5. Focus on racial and mental health disparities in the Work Group investigations.
  6. Prioritization of racial equity in access to and participation in community-based programs and alternatives to jail.
  7. Grounding future criminal justice budgets and jail planning in the recommendations of the Work Groups.
  8. Encouraged a competitive bidding process for criminal justice reform on contracts.

MOSES is proud of its contribution to this victory for justice in Dane County – but this is just the beginning. “The MOSES Jail Task Force will be transforming into smaller task forces to support the resolution’s Work Groups to ensure that our vision for criminal justice reform and investing in community-based alternatives becomes a reality” said Jeanie Verschay, a member of the MOSES Jail Task Force, and the Executive Director of Employment Connections. MOSES recognizes and thanks all supervisors who voted for and sponsored resolution 556 and especially supervisors, Stubbs, Bayrd, Corrigan, Pan, Wegleitner, Dye, Hendrick, Pertl, and Willett for their work either on committee or in meetings with MOSES. MOSES also recognizes the work of other community groups that helped shape resolution 556: YGB, NAMI, No Dane County Jail Working Group, MUM and DD Coalition among others.

Get INVOLVED HERE!

Donate to MOSES MADISON HERE!

For more information please contact: info@mosesmadison.org

[Urgent Action] Contact your legislators: Second Chance Act and Jail Resolution

by | May 18, 2015 | Advocacy

On Tuesday, May 19th, the Joint Committee on Finance may consider a budget amendment to pass the Second Chance Act, moving most 17-years-olds out of adult corrections and into the juvenile system. Please take 30 seconds to call your State Senator and Assembly Representative with this message: “Please support the Second Chance proposal to return 17-year-olds to the juvenile system, which will be considered in the budget discussions. action-thDon’t let another year go by without making this needed reform, which will be good for kids, for families, and for our communities.” Per David Liners: “We might be close to winning this one!”

On Thursday, May 21st, the County Board will vote on Resolution 556. MOSES Jail Task Force has had a huge win in getting nearly all of our most important policy recommendations incorporated.

Resolution 556 commits to implementing significant improvements to the Dane County criminal justice system to eliminate racial disparities, dramatically reduce solitary and incarceration for people with mental illness, and increase community alternatives.  Additionally, the resolution strongly states the County Board’s support for reducing the number of jail beds, and explicitly opposes the construction of a new standalone jail. A copy of Resolution 556 is attached to this email.

WE NEED YOU TO CONTACT YOUR COUNTY BOARD SUPERVISOR THIS WEEK TO TELL THEM TO PASS 556!
MOSES Jail Task Force members have put several months and countless hours into this important resolution; it’s now YOUR TURN to ensure that the whole County Board feels the power of MOSES in support of Resolution 556!
Attached is a brief statement of support you can use.

Letter to send to your legislators about Res. 556
Resolution 556 with edits