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.

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...

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...