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.

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...

Call to Action: Dane County Budget

by | Nov 5, 2025 | , , , , , , , ,

Call to Action RALLY at City County Building Wednesday, November 5 5:00 - 5:45 p.m. City County Building 210 Martin Luther King Blvd Speakers James Morgan, MOSES Community Organizer Linda Ketcham, JustDane Executive Director Heidi Wegleitner, Dane County Board Supervisor, District 2 Health & Human Needs Committee Chair Yogesh Chawla, Dane County Board Supervisor, District 6 Chair Environment, Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee Land Conservation Committee Others to be announced...

College In Prison

by | Nov 1, 2025 |

Good News in Brief   The college-in-prison program that began at Bard College in New York in 1999 has expanded in recent years to 18 additional colleges and universities in 13 states. Among the schools that now offer prisoners the opportunity for a high-quality liberal arts education behind bars are Wesleyan University, Grinnell College, Morehouse, Yale, Villanova, Boston College, and Notre Dame. For more information, see the website of the Consortium for Liberal Arts in Prison.  In...

Interview with Expert on Independent Police Monitors

by | Oct 25, 2025 | , ,

MOSES and its Justice and Policing Task Force support the Independent Police Monitor and the Citizen Police Oversight Board (PCOB) as they are undergoing transition after the recent resignation of the Independent Monitor. The MOSES co-sponsored a Zoom interview organized by the Community Response Team with experienced Independent Monitor Joseph Lipari. He discussed the qualifications needed for an Independent Monitor and best practices for having an effective IM. Here is a link to a recording...

Introducing the WISDOM Task Force on Immigration

by | Oct 16, 2025 | ,

Introducing the WISDOM Task Force on Immigration By Sherry Reames    WISDOM’s statewide Task Force on Immigration has been meeting monthly since November 2024 with the general goal of “empower[ing] individuals and communities to fight for immigrant rights, ending discriminatory practices, restoring fair access to identification, and preparing for emergencies.” Since this is a broad and ambitious mission, the task force has defined four focus areas and invites participants to choose the...

Community Listening November 12

by | Oct 16, 2025 | , , ,

Community Listening Session at the Capitol Coming Up on Nov. 12   WISDOM’s Community Listening Session on November 12 will provide a valuable opportunity to discuss our priority issues with a group of legislators, legislative aides, and interested members of the public. The event is scheduled for the North Hearing Room on the second floor of the State Capitol from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on that Wednesday. Speakers will include representatives from WISDOM’s major campaigns for Immigrant Rights...

Review of Writing My Wrongs

by | Oct 16, 2025 | ,

Writing My Wrongs: Life, Death, and Redemption in an American Prison By Shaka Senghor: Convergent Books (a Penguin Random House division), 2016 Reviewed by Pam Gates   This is a painful book to read. It makes one feel the struggles and despair of someone locked away in prison. But – read the whole book. Things didn’t look too good for Shaka Senghor, born Jay White, during his teens or for much of the time he was in prison. But Shaka Senghor did at last find himself; his trek from despair and...

South Side Farmer’s Market A Real Treasure

by | Aug 27, 2025 | ,

South Side Farmer’s Market A Real Treasure By Pam Gates   The South Side Farmer’s Market has been in business for 24 years, providing south Madison with fresh, affordable food in a safe, family-friendly place on the Labor Temple grounds, 1602 S. Park St., at the corner of Wingra Drive and South Park Street.    Robert Pierce, owner of the Market, has been doing this kind of work “one way or another,” he says, since he was a kid growing up in South Madison. “I’ve been growing and picking...