Category Archives: Fiscal Affairs
Convener’s Corner | June 2018
June 1, 2018 Clemency Letter for Alice Marie Johnson to Donald Trump May 30, 2018 President Donald TrumpThe White House1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Re: Clemency for Alice Marie Johnson #14873-076 Dear Mr. President:We are writing to urge you to grant clemency to Alice Marie Johnson. We join a strong list of supporters […]
Convener’s Corner | May 2018
May 15, 2018Entire video here – VOTE FOR JUSTICE “Vote for Justice: An Evening of Empowerment with Artists and Activists,” powered by the Justice Roundtable coalition on May 9 was spectacular. The event began with a reception featuring a poignant Art for Justice display; a justice-themed book pavilion made up largely of titles authored by Soros […]
Livestream: Vote for Justice | An Evening of Empowerment with Artists and Activists
What are the overarching political, economic and human costs of this country’s criminal punishment system? How can we add to the visibility and focus of the resistance movement against policies and practices that have brought about mass incarceration? How can we paint a transformational vision for the future? When will criminal justice reform be a […]
Convener’s Corner | November 2017
November 3, 2017 Despite Gross Disparities Between Opioid and Crack Treatment, No Funding for Restorative Justice“There’s racial disparities here. When there was a drug issue in the African American community we were prosecuted, we were put in jail, children were put in foster care, families were ripped apart. It was treated like a criminal justice […]
Convener’s Corner | August 2017
August 25, 2017 Trump Pardoned Arpaio – What we gonna do???Excuse my language, but I am pissed. Not because Trump pardoned Arpaio — the Executive has an unfettered constitutional right to grant clemency to whoever s/he wishes. I am outraged because we as a progressive community are too often stymied by what the conservative and […]
Convener’s Corner | May 2017
May 12, 2017 New DOJ Guidance to Prosecutors Fundamentally Flawed Attorney General Sessions has dusted off the atrocious Ashcroft sentencing memo from 14 years ago, which directed prosecutors to charge arrestees with the most serious provable offense, and resurrected it as Trump’s bid to obliterate Smart on Crime sentencing policies from the Obama Administration. The […]
Convener’s Corner | March 14, 2017
March 14, 2017 My reflection: From his 1980s–style “tough on crime” and “law and order” bombast, his selection of the controversial Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, and his criminal punishment-focused Executive Orders, the handwriting is on the wall that we will likely see a return to the flawed policies of the past which resulted in […]
Convener’s Corner | February 15, 2017
Feb. 15, 2017 reprinting – FEATURE HILL ARTICLE ON ACLU’S JESSELYN MCCURDY, a stalwart leader with the Justice Roundtable coalition! “In Civil Liberties Fight, Never Say Never” The Hill, by Megan Wilson, 2/14/17 Jesselyn McCurdy still remembers the call. “Clarence is going to come home,” a voice said. It was the attorney for Clarence Aaron, […]
Convener’s Corner | February 6, 2017
Feb. 6, 2017 Criminal Justice Reform Must Include Life Without Parole Sentences The recently released report from The Sentencing Project, “Delaying a Second Chance: The Declining Prospects for Parole on Life Sentences,” stresses that “thus far, criminal justice reform has largely excluded people in prison with life sentences. This growing “lifer” population both illustrates and […]
Convener’s Corner | January 2017
Jan. 17, 2017 As one Administration comes to a close and another prepares to assume the helm, Justice Roundtable takes a moment to thank the outgoing chair of the United States Sentencing Commission for her leadership in moving issues of federal sentencing reform. Re: Chief Judge Patti B. Saris’ Outstanding Service to the United States […]
Convener’s Corner | November 22, 2016
Nov. 22, 2016Eerie Blast from the Past An eerie somber blast from the past – Taifa’s January 7, 1995, analysis of the “Take Back Our Streets” Act of Newt Gingrich’s Contract on America, several months after the passage of the now-infamous 1994 Crime Bill – the Violent Crime Control and Safe Streets Act. Click here to […]
Convener’s Corner | November 3, 2016
Nov. 3, 2016 Taifa’s Reflection on Hatch and Clemency I can’t believe something I just did. After reading Senator Orrin Hatch’s November 2, 2016 National Review article, “The President Needs to Show More Caution in Commuting Felons’ Sentences,” I immediately scribbled off an email to five of my criminal justice reform colleagues (Doug Berman, Mark […]
Convener’s Corner | October 2016
October 8, 2016 Ava DuVernay takes the 13th amendment by storm! “The title of Ava DuVernay’s extraordinary and galvanizing documentary 13TH refers to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which reads “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United […]
Convener’s Corner | June 2016
June 5, 2016 I am pleased to announce the first ever National Clemency and Criminal Justice Reform RADIOTHON, to be broadcast Friday, June 17 th from noon-6:00pm (ET) andaccessible live via the internet, http://www.wpfwfm.org/radio/ The Radiothon is scheduled 45 years after former President Nixon declared drug abuse as “Public Enemy Number 1.” Shortly after his […]
Convener’s Corner | May 2016
May 26, 2016 An excellent and timely article from Illinois Federal Public Defender MiAngel Cody. “But the Legislation Doesn’t Go Far Enough — Its Time to Check Our Unincarcerated Privilege in the Conversation About Sentencing Reform.” Huff Post Politics, May 24, 2016 Toward the end of her article Cody stresses, “As the unincarcerated, we should […]
Convener’s Corner | April 2016
April 2016 The Justice Roundtable applauds the United States Sentencing Commission for strengthening and broadening the criteria of compassionate release by stressing eligibility for federal prisoners based on any of four categories: medical conditions, age, family circumstance, or other extraordinary and compelling reasons. As stated in its April 15 press release, “The Commission’s action encourages […]
Convener’s Corner | March 2016
March 2016 As convener of the Justice Roundtable, I am thrilled that our advocacy in the area of executive clemency has culminated in some very exciting and memorable moments for formerly incarcerated people who have been granted clemency. On March 30-31, we successfully coordinated the attendance of nearly 30 commutation recipients from the Obama, Bush, […]