So... You called/emailed Monday. It's Tuesday. The field is shifting: we need you to call/email again! Debate is unfolding now. Big decisions are being made: for better and worse. Find your state rep here.
UPDATE 11/14 11AM < click to go right to the prefilled email
Hello! We are at the stage of #AmendmentActivism when we shift away slightly from itemizing individual amendments: some have been withdrawn. Some have passed, been rejected. Deals are being made behind closed doors. Horses are being traded.
As things combine and disappear and trade and re-emerge in further amendments... We need you to reach out again and RE-EMPHASIZE the principles we want to see in a strong criminal legal system reform bill:
- SMART SENTENCING REFORMS: Eliminate mandatory minimums, no new man. mins, decriminalize addiction, no new penalties, eliminate/no new "special penalties" like school zones or assault on police (all of these disproportionately affect the poor and communities of color)
- EXPANSION OF STATE SURVEILLANCE POWERS: these proposals go so far as to specifically enable prosecutors to target people involved in street-level drug distribution and solicitation (yes, drugusers) for wiretap surveillance. No. No to all of it.
- REFORM WRONG-HEADED "TOUGH" ON JUVENILES policies: science and data show--harsh penalties for children and young adults is damaging, and works against the goal of re-integrating youth into our communities.
- REFORM THE CRUEL AND UNUSUAL: Solitary confinement is abused and abusive and causes tremendous psychological harm that will need to be addressed for years and years after. MA solitary rules are appallingly out of date and have disturbing lack of oversight. Fix it.
- REDUCE COSTS/PENALTIES associated with an individual's encounters with the legal system: it is a vicious cycle that disproportionately hurts the poor. (NB: with the withdrawal of Amdt 197, our best opportunity is already off the table. But we should remember this is a principle and an aim).
Adapt ur email template for your state rep, here (UPDATED 11/14)....
(If the 'prefilled email' doesn't work: a cut/paste version lives here: progma.us/cjr-house-2017nov)
On these contentious issues, our advocacy must be consistent and continual.
This is Happening NOW.
Debate and Voting is sched'd for M, T, W. PLEASE DO NOT LET THIS SLIP BY. Contact Your State Rep Now(< click for email template or c/p from here: progma.us/cjr-house-2017nov), and help 2 other people around you do the same! )
(We learned some good (and some hard) lessons from the 10/27 Senate Bill...read up after sending your email/making your call!)
