The following statement was submitted by DeAnna Hoskins, President and CEO of JustLeadershipUSA.
I’m writing to you today to share the concerns of JustLeadershipUSA, and key national partner organizations regarding the First Step Act.
Despite
recent revisions, many of them good, thanks to the leadership of our
sisters at the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly
Incarcerated Women and Girls, JLUSA remains in qualified opposition to
the First Step Act. Our mission is to cut the U.S. correctional
population in #halfby2030. While the First Step Act brings home many of
our loved ones, and contains good policies including unshackling of
pregnant women, earned credits, and sentencing reform - the bill does
not address or seek to undo structural racism; instead it re-entrenches
it and sets a precedent in creating more harm by the implementation of
risk assessment tools that demonstrate biases toward Black and brown
defendants.
I
urge you to read our full statement and our policy brief which,
together, outline our urgent concerns with this legislation, the
consequences for our families and communities, as well as our proposed
alterations.
I
hope you will join us in fighting for justice toward our mission of
cutting the US correctional population in #halfby2030 and empowering the
people most affected by incarceration to drive policy reform in ways
that are fully informed.
Thank you.
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