A Note from the Executive Director

YOUR help is needed to build the grassroots movement for more humane, healing and effective criminal justice policy in Massachusetts!

Dear Friend:

As CJPC enters its tenth anniversary year, we have the opportunity to make public policy changes that change people's lives – but we'll need your help to do it. You can help us educate, empower and mobilize toward a more just Massachusetts.

A SAMPLE OF ISSUES AT STAKE IN 2006

CORI Reform

Did you know that people who have a CORI are often kept from employment, housing, insurance, loans, and entrance to college and from becoming guardians or foster parents?

• Including people who were never convicted.
• Including people who have already "paid their debt to society."
• Including the wrong people due to misidentification created by the name/date of birth identification system.

House Bill 2874 would solve many of the problems with the current CORI system, making it easier for people to get jobs and housing, and contribute positively to their families and communities.

Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Reform

Did you know that the Commonwealth spends up to $43,000 each year to house each prisoner?

• At CJPC we believe that substance abuse is better addressed as a health problem than a criminal justice problem.
• S. 929 is a bill that would allow (but not require) that drug offenders with mandatory minimum sentences be paroled after two-thirds of their sentence is complete.

S. 929 is a concrete step toward a more just system that we can take this year – saving the Commonwealth money, allowing people to be eligible for pre-parole addiction and re-integration services sooner, strengthening individuals, families and communities.

EDUCATION, EMPOWERMENT, MOBILIZATION

CJPC has already helped lay the foundation for an '06 victory on these issues.

• We have educated legislators and citizens on these and other important issues of justice through personal contact, our newsletter and website, as well as contact with news media.
• We have empowered people to make a difference by helping individuals directly affected by the issues to compose testimony heard by the Judiciary Committee.
• We have mobilized people to call and write their legislators as well as to attend the Judiciary Committee hearing held on November 22, 2005.

The Fight has Just Begun

In 2006 CJPC is poised to build its power to win concrete legislative victories. We need your help to create a more just Massachusetts. Your tax deductible contribution will help change lives in the Commonwealth. In 2006 we plan to:

• Build power by building our membership. We'll recruit new members from diverse backgrounds, uniting blue collar workers, white collar professionals, ex-prisoners, senior citizens, college professors, students and current prisoners to work toward a more just Massachusetts.
• Educate, empower and mobilize our membership. We'll revitalize our list-serve and provide you with easy ways to make an impact on policy through action alerts and information. We'll hold public policy trainings, organize call-ins and write-ins to our state legislature, hold in-district meetings with our state legislators and organize folks to go up to the State House.

I will personally work with each member who is interested in taking a step beyond sending in membership dues in order to define easy ways to make a difference that fit into YOUR life. From making a two-minute call or sending an e-mail to a legislator to introducing us to other like-minded folks, YOU can make a big difference.

E-mail [email protected] to get involved!

Click here to join our E-Mail Action Network and receive online newsletter!

Already a member but want to be more involved? Contact [email protected]!

Of course, we'll continue to work to coordinate and amplify the efforts of our twenty plus organizational members by facilitating communication and collaboration through our newsletter, organizational member meetings and role in coalitions such as SMART (SMART on Crime Coalition), which CJPC helped initiate, and MARC (MA Alliance to Reform CORI).

Click Here to download an organizational membership form!

• Conduct innovative research and create media coverage for our issues.

We'll continue work on our County Project – research designed to promote the use of County Corrections as a laboratory for innovative programming/practices. We'll continue to build relationships with news media, speak at and coordinate public events, and look for other creative ways to create public awareness of issues of criminal justice and social justice.

Your CJPC membership includes a subscription to our monthly newsletter and our list serve (unless you choose to opt out). Your $25 membership dues will also help support the work of CJPC in a critical time of potential growth and impact – it will change lives by changing policy. Click here to join/pay dues. If you are in a position to support our work with a financial contribution, we hope you'll give as generously as you can afford.

Click Here to pay membership dues/donate online.

Click Here to download individual membership Form.

Click Here to download organizational membership form.

Please do not hesitate to call or e-mail me with any questions about the critical role your tax deductible donation will play in creating a more just Massachusetts or to discuss other fast, easy ways to get involved and make a difference. I look forward to working with you to create meaningful social change related to our criminal justice system.

Remember, people power makes the difference!

Warmest wishes,

Brandyn Keating, Executive Director CJPC • 508-982-2247 • [email protected]