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

News and Commentary

This page displays timely announcements, news reports, and articles written by MOSES members previously published in our newsletters, yearbook, or venues. Signed articles offer information and interpretations to support advocacy, but are not official MOSES positions. Links to official MOSES position statements may be found on this page.  The main display shows all items with the most recent first. You can select particular topics, working groups, or types of information to see the articles of one type, with the most recent first. Also see the Publications & Resources page for links to whole newsletters and yearbooks as well as other resources for research.

Featuring a New MOSES Member: The Crossing!

by | Mar 1, 2024 | , ,

Featuring a New MOSES Member: The Crossing! By Margaret Irwin   Welcome to The Crossing – a new member of MOSES!  A multifaith, progressive student ministry at UW-Madison, its home is a beautiful, welcoming building that has stood on University Avenue since 1917. The Crossing is affiliated with and supported by three Protestant denominations: the United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ, and the American Baptist Church. It welcomes students of any or no religious background to...

Organizer’s Corner

by | Mar 1, 2024 | , ,

Organizer’s Corner                                    By James Morgan   Greetings MOSES! Once again, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank each of you for your time and dedication to MOSES as we move forward in 2024 to address criminal-legal system reform and the racial disparities in education and housing that contribute to mass incarceration and mass supervision in Wisconsin.    During my early tenure, we increased our membership by welcoming Middleton UCC, the Crossing UW...

Summary of JSRI Activities in 2023

by | Feb 1, 2024 | , , ,

JSRI spent 2023 working on the Jail (no surprise) and behavioral health. Much of the Justice System Reform Initiative (JSRI) work in 2022 was focused on the jail. This year we had a long stretch where the jail was not an issue - but spoiler alert - it roared back in December. JSRI used the time with fewer jail decisions to continue our focus on diverting people experiencing mental/behavioral health crises from the criminal legal system. Dane County Jail At the end of the 2022 County Exec...

Book Review: What’s Prison For?

by | Dec 18, 2023 | , , ,

What’s Prison For? Punishment and Rehabilitation in the Age of Mass Incarceration By Bill Keller, New York: Columbia Global Reports, 2023  Reviewed by Pam Gates Everyone should read this book. And I do mean everyone, at least every American. It’s short (159 pages, including footnotes), it’s concise, and it tells in a nutshell what the purpose of prison should be. And most American prisons fall far short, Keller says. We in MOSES agree with him, I’m sure, but if we could get everyone to read...

Oh, No! Not CRT! Undoing Distortions and Misinformation

by | Nov 21, 2023 | , ,

Dr. Gloria  Ladson-Billings spoke to Taking a Faithful Stand for Equity about Critical Race Theory. Taking a Faithful Stance for Equity is a coalition formed in 2021 to address attacks on diversity and inclusion in our schools. Leading members of the coalition are WISDOM, MICAH (the Milwaukee affiliate of WISDOM), Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice, the Wisconsin Council of Churches,  the Wisconsin Council of Rabbis, and the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee. 

Communications Team Seeks Members

by | Nov 18, 2023 |

Want to help spread the news about all the great things happening in MOSES?  Join the MOSES Communications Team!   We work behind the scenes to help MOSES members carry out their work of ending mass incarceration and mass supervision and eradicating the racial disparities in our community that contribute to them. We do this through a bi-monthly newsletter and an annual yearbook.  People who serve on the newsletter/yearbook team enjoy writing, keeping people informed, and working with a small...

Organizer’s Corner

by | Nov 8, 2023 | ,

Organizer’s Corner  By James Morgan Greetings, MOSES members! I’d like to first and once again thank each of you for your time, efforts, and dedication to our organization. We are at a unique time in our state and nation. It seems that at every turn events are occuring that tug at our hearts and minds in ways that perhaps, for some of us, are overwhelming.  World, national, and local politics and politicians appear to be embroiled in a politically entrenched world of theater, ignoring the...

End the Lockdowns! Action Draws 200 to State Capitol

by | Oct 15, 2023 | , ,

“End the Lockdowns!” Action Draws 200 to State Capitol By Pam Gates   Over 200 people participated in the WISDOM-sponsored “End the Lockdowns!” action at the state Capitol on Oct. 10. Religious leaders, including the current WISDOM president, loved ones of people being held in the state prisons in question, and formerly incarcerated people spoke passionately in protest of the inhumane conditions in which many Wisconsin prisoners are held. One mother  began her testimony by saying: “Had...