Thank you for everyone who attended our first Activism at a Distance Salon on Criminal Justice Zoom last fall. Those of you who attended will recall that many actions and projects were discussed, some already taking place in our Societies.  We also discussed some examples of work by organizations that might be suitable partners and other areas of concern that need to be addressed.

These Societies are/have been involved in local criminal justice actions:

• Baltimore:  Out4Justice
• Texas/NC:  Bail bond funding
• Austin: Police Reform initiatives
• Philadelphia:  Art for Justice (art shows for incarcerated artists), POWER (inter-faith projects)

Several targeted criminal justice problems we identified:

• Incarceration for minor offenses leading to excessive fines and bail
• Police reform (use social workers, mental health providers etc. when more appropriate)
• Excessive jail sentences
• Persistence of felony penalties past incarceration
• Support upon release/reentry

Suggestions made by Salon participants of what the AEU could do to support local Societies in their work:

• Create skills workshops on how to do effective activism
• And how to conduct a letter writing action (what, where, when, who, how).
• How to work with/get appointed to local boards and commissions

We are inviting those of you who are interested in continuing the discussion and playing an active role in fixing the criminal justice system to attend a planning session to consider our next steps. This includes the possibility of creating a project that could involve the Ethical Culture movement as a whole. Attending the previous salon is not a requirement for participating in this one; your passion for addressing the criminal justice issues running rampant in this country is all you need.

Zoom Info:

Join by computer, tablet, or smartphone: https://bit.ly/3IYCxJB

Join by phone: Enter meeting code 819 8227 1690