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. 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.

Ways to Support MOSES

by | Jan 10, 2026 | , ,

Learn Check out the MOSES website:  mosesmadison.org Attend a monthly meeting. Meetings are held at the UW South Madison Partnership Space, 2238 S. Park St. in the Villager Mall; meetings are hybrid and can be attended via Zoom as well as in person. Check the events calendar on the MOSES website to confirm the meeting date and time.     Get involved Join a work group, task force, or committee. Volunteer for an event or action. Participate in a training. Testify at a hearing; attend a...

Thank you to Gala Sponsors

by | Dec 17, 2025 |

MOSES gratefully acknowledges these sponsorship contributions for the 2025 Gala:   Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa: $5,000 Dick Goldberg: $1,500 Summit Credit Union: $1,500 John Murphy: $1,000 Mary Anglim: $500 Grace Episcopal Church: $500 Call to Action Madison: $250 Pamela Gates: $250  

HUD Action Alert

by | Dec 1, 2025 | , ,

Action Alert: Contact Congress About Critical Homelessness Funding Earlier this month the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released a notice of new grant funding for the Continuum of Care Program, which included major changes to this primary source of federal homelessness funding. Additionally, because of federal delays, agencies were given less than two months to complete applications. Last week, Gov. Evers announced that Wisconsin was joining a multi-state lawsuit to...

Wisconsin Literacy Justice Coalition Informational Event

by | Dec 1, 2025 | , , , , ,

Every Child Deserves to Read: Become a Trained Volunteer Literacy Tutor Community Information Session Tuesday, January 13, 2026, 2-4 PM Goodman Community Center, Ironworks Building, Evjue Room 149 Waubesa Street, Madison Free Parking; Light refreshments will be served. ✓ No teaching experience required.✓ Free professional training provided.✓ Work one-on-one with one or more children 2 times per week.   Program Laurie Frost, Overview of the problem. Iris Patterson, *START Literacy Program...

Help Needed: Racial Justice for All Children (RJAC)

by | Nov 16, 2025 | , , , , , , , , , , ,

Help Needed: Racial Justice for All Children (RJAC) By Shel Gross We know. You have a lot on your plate. The idea of joining another committee automatically makes you want to stop reading. But what if you could support MOSES’s advocacy work in a way that you can fit into your schedule, instead of trying to fit into ours? Well, maybe you can. The Racial Justice for All Children Task Force (RJAC) has a lot of “positions” we need filled to do our work. Maybe there is one that works for you. Our...

Madison Justice Team Works with the Workers

by | Nov 16, 2025 |

Madison Justice Team Works with the Workers Goals: To Connect, Assist, Inform By Pam Gates   Diane Ballweg and Harry Haney, both longtime Madisonians, are the leaders of a relatively new alliance they call the Madison Justice Team. The team meets about once a quarter, to give people concerned about the criminal-legal system and those affected by it a chance to get together, share ideas, and find ways to collaborate. At the last meeting, held Sept. 29 at the UW South Madison Partnership...

Organizer’s Corner

by | Nov 16, 2025 | ,

Organizer’s Corner: James Morgan                                       Interview by Margaret Irwin   Journey to Justice Bus Tour   James and other MOSES members handed out flyers on the Capitol Square on Oct. 11; several people who took flyers came to the event on Oct. 12. “Fantastic” was the term James used to describe the exhibits on the bus (see p. X for a further report). He deemed the event, including the two panel discussions, “an eye-opening experience for everyone.” Reps. Darrin...

MOSES’s New Justice and Policing Task Force

by | Nov 16, 2025 | , ,

MOSES’s New Justice and Policing Task Force By Doug Maynard   As many MOSES members know, a new task force — the Justice and Policing Task Force (JPTF) — has been brewing for many months. It was envisioned as a more focused replacement for the previous Public Safety Task Force. The MOSES Leadership Board approved the new task force this past July; we now have eight active members, and we welcome others who are interested. See below for the dates and place of our next meetings. Once we...

MOSES Helps Create a Win for Jail Residents

by | Nov 16, 2025 | , , , ,

MOSES Helps Create a Win for Jail Residents By Sister Fran Hoffman   Throughout the summer of 2025, the MOSES Justice System Reform Initiative (MJSRI) continued to follow Dane County committee meetings. During the Public Protection and Judiciary (PP&J) Committee meetings, MJSRI learned that Sheriff Barrett was proposing a contract with Smart Communications, a for-profit telecom company, to undertake scanning of jail residents’ mail along with its paid options for telephone,...

Journey to Justice Bus Tour

by | Nov 16, 2025 | , , , ,

Journey to Justice Bus Tour By Pam Gates   On Oct. 12, midway through its 11-state journey across the United States, a huge Journey to Justice bus, full of displays about the use of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons and jails, stopped for a few hours at the Madison Christian Community. About 100 people showed up to experience the exhibits inside the bus; especially vivid was a recording of journalist John Oliver speaking on U.S. incarceration of juveniles.    MOSES’s own Talib Akbar was...