News and Commentary
This page displays timely announcements, news reports, and articles written by MOSES members previously published in our newsletters, yearbook, or venues. 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.
Upcoming meetings
General Membership (Hybrid, as of this edition) Sunday, May 18, 2:30-4:30 p.m. Sunday, June 8, 2:30-4:30 p.m. Sunday, July 13, 2:30-4:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 10, 2:30-4:30 p.m. Leadership Board (Hybrid) Saturday, May 31, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Saturday, July 26, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. MOSES Task Forces (via Zoom) Justice System Reform Initiative (JSRI) May 8, June 12, July 10, Aug. 14, 6:00-7:30 p.m. Racial Justice for All Children (RJAC) May 20,...
Some Good News from the Sentencing Project
Submitted by Katie Mulligan Youth arrests and incarceration increased in the closing decades of the 20th century but have fallen sharply since. Public opinion often lags behind these realities, wrongly assuming both that crime is perpetually increasing and that youth offending is routinely violent. In fact, youth offending is predominantly nonviolent, and the 21st century has seen significant declines in youth arrests and incarceration. Between 2000 and 2022, the number of youth held in...
Notes from the November 2024 Summit on Homelessness
By Patti LaCross This year the Temporary Education Program leaders of MMSD and Sun Prairie Schools, in coordination with the Education+ Advocacy Group of the Homeless Services Consortium (HSC) in which I participate, expanded the annual Homeless Awareness effort to include other Dane County schools. Here is some of what we heard that day: While the average US housing vacancy is 2%, Wisconsin's is now less than ½%. Dane County has the largest housing gap in the state, already 11,000 short....
Madison Christian Community: An Interview with Its Pastors
By Ken Warren Madison Christian Community (MCC), one of the faith communities supporting MOSES, is rather unique in the area. The church actually consists of two congregations from different denominations, Advent Lutheran of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) and Community of Hope of the United Church of Christ (UCC). The building contains two sanctuaries where the two congregations typically have individual worship services. About 45 times a year the two congregations have the...
Meet Returning Citizen Jessica Jacobs
By Margaret Irwin Growing up in a troubled home, Jessica Jacobs had to deal with a lot of problems; and as she puts it, the problems get passed down from one generation to the next. Jessica appreciates her mother, who did the best she could to take care of the family, mostly as a single mom. Nevertheless, Jessica had her first child at 14. She was fostered by a friend of the family when her mom wasn’t able to take care of her. Jessica started working full time and had to drop out of school...
A JustConversation on Discretion, Charging Disparities, and Racial Dynamics in Criminal Justice
A JustConversation on Discretion, Charging Disparities, and Racial Dynamics in Criminal Justice By Pamela Gates, with thanks to Vicki Warren On Jan. 17, 2025, JustDane and the Madison Justice Team hosted a panel that explored justice in Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin, and the nation under the particular topics of discretion, disparities, and equity. JustDane Associate Director Shar-Ron Buie moderated the panel at the UW Partnership Space before a very interested crowd that filled the room....
The Other Wes Moore (book review)
Wes Moore, The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates. Random House, 2011 Review by Sherry Reames Wes Moore was not yet governor of Maryland when he wrote this book, but his career was clearly full of promise. In the decade since his college graduation, he had won a Rhodes Scholarship for further study at Oxford, served with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, been chosen as a White House Fellow, and even given one of the speeches at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. As he explains in his...
Gearing Up for a Big Madison Action Day (Thursday, April 10)
Gearing Up for a Big Madison Action Day (Thursday, April 10) by Sherry Reames Although Madison Action Day is still a few weeks away, it’s definitely not too early to start preparing. The essential first step this year may be to shift our focus from discouraging national news to the relatively hopeful outlook for our issues here in Wisconsin. We have a better partisan balance in our State Legislature than we’ve seen in many years, a large number of new legislators to meet, and a budget...
Don’t Forget to Vote on April 1
Don’t Forget to Vote on April 1 From League of Women Voters materials, with thanks to Aileen Nettleto On April 1, we will have the opportunity to help select the next Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice and determine whether the Wisconsin State Constitution is amended again. Make your vote count! Educate yourself on the candidates and the issues Wisconsin State Supreme Court Justice The two candidates for the open seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court justice are Susan Crawford and Brad Schimel....
MOSES Goes to the Library and the Theater
MOSES Goes to the Library and the Theater The following books and theater events were reviewed in the five 2024 MOSES newsletters. They provide helpful background on mass incarceration in the U.S. and its effects. The books themselves can generally be found in the Madison Public Library system and often in one of our lending libraries. Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women. By Susan Burton and Cari Lynn, with a foreword by Michelle...