Orlando 12/10: Florida Criminal Justice Reform Training for Faith Leaders

Please help us share with any Orlando contacts you have as we prepare for the legislative session. Thanks!

CALLING ALL FAITH LEADERS INTERESTED IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM

The Florida Council of Churches is launching a Reform Justice Campaign with support from the Leadership Conference for Civil Rights. 

The RJC will begin with a series of training sessions over the next three weeks for faith leaders to gain an understanding of the critical components of Florida's criminal prosecution system. In the trainings we want to communicate how 5 main components together generate poverty and break up families. These components intersect to create a web of injustice in Florida and we want to orient faith leaders to the legislative efforts to reform the criminal justice system starting this legislative session. We need your voice in Tallahassee and we NEED you at the training luncheon.

Five key components that together generate poverty and break-up families that we will cover: 

A. The death penalty

B. Direct filing youth

C. Ciivil citations (lack of)

D. Mandatory minimums

E. Rights restoration (lack of)

Orlando will have their session Saturday, December 10th at Carter Tabernacle CME Church, 1 South Cottage Hill Rd, Orlando, FL 32805. The second phase will be a RJC Advocacy Assembly during the legislative committee sessions early February 2017 in Tallahassee, Fl. Please RSVP for the luncheon using the link below. Hope to see you Saturday. If you have any questions regarding this event please feel free to contact Reverend Russell Meyers at rmeyer@floridachurches.org

RSVP link: www.floridachurches.org/ reform

Criminal Justice Reform comes to Pinellas County

Today Sheriff Bob Gualtieri put forward his Adult Pre Arrest Diversion Program. Among the highlights:

--The diversion program applies to a variety of misdemeanor offenses including theft, assault, battery, trespass, disorderly conduct, petit theft and possession of marijuana.
--If the offender meets the criteria, law enforcement must refer them to diversion instead of making an arrest.

--There is no cost to the offender for the diversion program. They will complete public service and possibly be referred to a program.

--The program will be adopted via a memorandum of understanding between all the local players in the criminal justice system. This means no ordinance has to be passed by the county or any of the municipalities.

--Successful completion of diversion means no record of arrest or conviction.

--The program is available to second and third offenders.

All in all, it appears that this program is a major improvement over the status quo. The goal is to reduce the number of admissions to the Pinellas County Jail, reduce the number of persons on probation, allow minor offenders an opportunity to avoid an arrest record, and promote fairness for all persons.

ACLU Reacts to Department of Justice Report on Racial Impact of Tampa Bicycle Stops

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - April 26 2016
CONTACT:  ACLU of Florida Media Office, media@aclufl.org, (786) 363-2737
TALLAHASSEE, FL –  The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) has released a report on its investigation into racially disparate bicycle citations issued by the Tampa Police Department.

The report found that the Tampa Police Department’s bicycle stop program “burdened Black bicyclists by disproportionately stopping them,” but “did not produce a community benefit in terms of bicycle safety, bicycle theft, or crime generally” in Tampa.

Responding to the release of the report, ACLU of Florida staff attorney Adam Tebrugge stated:

“We are grateful for the DOJ COPS review which validates what the ACLU and Tampa’s Black community have said all along: that the Tampa Police Department’s bicycle stops disproportionately targeted poor Black communities, stigmatizing young Black people with no benefit toward disrupting and preventing serious crimes.

"Parents and young people impacted by this policy have been saying for years that, whatever their intent, the Tampa Police Department bicycle stop program failed to promote public safety and unjustifiably targeted and stigmatized Black youth.

“The report outlines several recommendations and goals going forward which will improve relations between the community and the police department tasked with protecting it that were broken down by the bicycle stop program. We are especially pleased with the recommendations about increasing public transparency and collecting and reporting data on police stops. We look forward to working with city leaders and the community to ensure that these recommendations are implemented in a way that fosters mutual trust and respect between citizens and police.”

Florida Faith Leaders Against the Death Penalty

   February 5, 2016

   At this moment, Florida has no death penalty thanks to a ruling from the United States Supreme Court. The Florida Legislature is attempting to enact a new death penalty statute. This new statute will clog the court system, prolong the suffering of the families of murder victims, and cost taxpayers millions of dollars each year.
    I am asking you to copy the letter below and bring it to your pastor, priest, rabbi, or faith leader. Ask them to endorse the sentiments contained in the letter. If your faith leader is agreeable, please contact me and confirm that I may add their signature to the letter.
    We are in the middle of a historic moment where we can stop state sponsored killings in Florida.

Adam Tebrugge
Adam@TebruggeLegal.com


Voices of Florida Religious Leaders

     We, the undersigned clergy and religious leaders, reflecting the rich diversity of faith traditions in Florida, call for the end of the state's death penalty. Because we represent such a wide spectrum of belief and practice, we approach public policies, such as the death penalty, in as varied ways as we approach spiritual matters. However, we share the values of respecting the sacredness of all human life and in the human capacity for change. As leaders within our communities, the public often seeks our guidance on issues that require thoughtful consideration.
     We have concluded that the death penalty fails us. We join many in Florida who question capital punishment due to its record as an ineffective, unfair and fallible response to violence. The death penalty applies disproportionately to the poor and minorities and puts innocent lives at risk of execution. Since 1973, 150 individuals sentenced to death were later exonerated of their crimes. When a human life is at stake, there is simply no room for error.
     As religious leaders, we often serve as a resource to victims' families in the aftermath of murder. Given this responsibility, we have a special interest in advocating for policies that serve their needs and promote healing and well-being. There is growing evidence that the death penalty does the opposite: it prolongs victims' pain and delays healing while retrials, appeals, and reversals force families to relive their trauma.
      Finally, we cannot ignore the millions of dollars it costs to administer the death penalty system. In light of the serious economic challenges facing our state and the nation, the valuable resources expended on the death penalty would be better invested in programs to prevent crime and meet the needs of victims' families. As people of faith, we reaffirm our opposition to the death penalty in all cases and our belief in the sacredness of human life. We urge you, our elected officials, to examine the reality of Florida's death penalty and seek ways to achieve true healing for those who suffer because of violent crime. Please support the end of the death penalty. It is time for Florida to move beyond this broken and harmful system.

Press Release: An Evening with Van Jones

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Barbara Richards, Director, Project 180   

barbara@project180reentry.org

850-445-5682 

or: Adam Tebrugge

adam@tebruggelegal.com

Van Jones to Speak About US Criminal Justice System Reform

Sarasota, FL (January 13, 2016) – On Thursday, February 25, 2016 at 7:30 PM, the Hermann & Sally Boxser Diversity Initiative and Project 180 will present Van Jones, nationally acclaimed CNN political analyst and leader in the movement for criminal justice reform, at Sainer Hall on the New College campus.

As the head of #cut50, a national bipartisan initiative, Jones advocates a safe and smart reduction of the incarcerated population in the US by 50 percent over the next ten years, contending that “Reliance on excessively long sentences and the incarceration of low-level offenders is both morally indefensible and economically unjustifiable.”  At a time when families are homeless and schoolchildren go hungry, America spends $80 billion every year on the incarceration industry—an expense that has a devastating impact on individuals, communities and society as a whole.

Barbara Richards, Executive Director of Project 180, applauds the work of Van Jones and says, “Our current criminal justice system negatively impacts the life course of offenders and their families, strains public budgets and has limited resources to provide the whole-life rehabilitative services offenders need to succeed.”

The evening’s proceeds will benefit Project 180 and the Boxser Diversity Initiative. For tickets and more information see https://goo.gl/qY4uCr or contact Barbara Richards at 941-677-2281.

The Boxser Diversity Initiative, based in Sarasota, promotes diversity programs throughout Southwest Florida by partnering with like-minded organizations in the presentation of speakers and programs promoting diversity and inclusion.

Project 180 (www.project180reentry.org), a Sarasota-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is a prisoner reentry program. Project 180 seeks to reintegrate former offenders into community life by providing practical educational programs in Gulf Coast prisons and jails and by offering an annual lecture series on reentry for the public.

Event Details:

Who: Van Jones

What: Presentation about the Need for US Criminal Justice System Reform

Where: New College Sainer Art & Music Pavilion

5313 Bay Shore Rd Sarasota FL 34243

When: Thursday, February 25, 2016 at 7:30 pm.

Suggested donation $10. Students are free. To obtain tickets: https://goo.gl/qY4uCr

###