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About the multifaith Movement

The Multi-faith Initiative to End Mass Incarceration (EMI) is focused on catalyzing a faith-rooted response to this issue in a way that adds value to existing work and furthers coherence in faith-rooted efforts. Our vision is for multifaith communities to exercise and amplify their calls and actions for eliminating mass incarceration in a dedicated, savvy, and impactful manner, at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, GA.

Mission

The Multifaith Initiative to End Mass Incarceration (EMI) leverages the power of U.S. faith leaders and communities to emphatically demand and act for an end to mass incarceration on the local and national level.

Vision

EMI organizes an effective moral witness against the laws, policies, and policing practices that contribute to mass incarceration, drawing upon ancient traditions, moral vocabulary, and institutional strength to address the depth of this human rights catastrophe. We employ these strengths to seed an alternative system rooted in love, mercy, atonement, restoration, and transformation that promotes human thriving equitably for all.

Goals

We engage congregations and their leaders to educate their communities and move them towards actions that end mass incarceration. We offer models and training toward changing the narrative of incarceration, lifting up theologies of forgiveness, compassion, and justice. We lead faith communities in advocating for substantive change to public policy.

Meet The Team

Rev. Dr. John Vaughn

EMI Co-Chair

Linda Davis

EMI Co-Chair

Peter Toren

EMI Co-Chair

EMI Board of Directors

Rabbi Lydia Medwin

Johnny Perez

Bruce Turnbull

Zachary Crow

Nicole Fauster-Bradford

Judge Velma Tilley
  • Toska Lee
  • Rabbi Hilly Haber
  • Burrell Ellis
  • Jayna Hoffacker 
  • Saun Hough
  • Donna Hylton
  • Sucheta Kamath
  • Imam Mansoor Sabree
  • Leslie Anderson
  • Chavis Jones
  • Rev. Ronnie Fuller

Our History

Let My People Go

The Multifaith Movement to End Mass Incarceration (EMI) began with the Reverend Raphael Warnock, the Rev. Dr. Katherine Henderson and Rabbi Peter Berg sharing a vision to see faith communities collectively organize to stop the human rights catastrophe of mass incarceration. 

With this vision as a guide, these faith leaders brought together the historic institutions they lead (Ebenezer Baptist Church, Auburn Theological Seminary and The Temple) to catalyze a national faith-based effort to end mass imprisonment. 

The convening of this multifaith movement is focused upon the importance of leveraging the spiritual power, people power and resources of faith communities toward the effort to end mass incarceration.

Core Partners

Ebenezer
Baptist Church

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The
Temple

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Auburn
Seminary

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Some of the EMI partners sitting in the pews, listening at an event.
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Conference attendants sitting in the pews, looking down at the program notes.
Rev. Raphael Warnock holding a microphone.
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The Temple
Ebenezer Baptist Church
Rev. Raphael Warnock standing in the podium holding a microphone.

Rev. Dr. John H. Vaughn is the Co-Chair of the National Board Of Directors for the Multifaith Initiative to End Mass Incarceration.  He serves as the Executive Pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church. He works closely with the Church’s Senior Pastor, the Rev. Dr. Raphael G. Warnock, in managing the overall vision, ministries, and operations of this iconic, international congregation. Previously, Rev. Vaughn served for almost ten years as the Executive Vice President at Auburn Theological Seminary. Auburn is a national leadership development and research institute that equips leaders of faith and moral courage for multifaith movements for justice.

Before joining the staff of Auburn Seminary, Rev. Dr. Vaughn served as the Program Director for the Twenty-First Century Foundation, a national foundation that advanced strategic giving for Black community change. He also previously served as the Executive Director of the Peace Development Fund, which provides funding, training and assistance for grassroots peace and justice organizing.

Previously, he served as the Minister for Education and Social Justice at the Riverside Church in New York City under the leadership of its senior pastor, the Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes. The Rev. Dr. Vaughn, an ordained minister in the American Baptist Churches, received his undergraduate degree from Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass, his Master of Divinity from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, and a Doctor of Ministry from Drew Theological School.

Since returning to Atlanta in 1999, Linda Davis has been involved in numerous non-profit organizations as a dedicated community volunteer.  She has served on the board of The Temple and chaired several Temple committees. Linda led the first independent board of Zaban Paradies Center. Previously operated by The Temple, this non-profit provides an adults-only residential program for couples experiencing homelessness.  As an active member of American Jewish Committee in Atlanta, Davis has done extensive interfaith work in the community.  She is a member of the National Leadership Council and the AJC Atlanta Board of Councilors. 

Linda has a decades long involvement with Camp Twin Lakes, having chaired an annual fundraising program and served on the board. CTL is a thirty year old non-profit providing transformative camp experiences for children with disabilities, serious illnesses and other life challenges.

The Jewish Women’s Fund of Atlanta is very important to Davis. As past chair of the organization she has helped guide it into position as the premier organization in Atlanta investing in solutions that drive social change for Jewish women and girls. JWFA’s impact is felt not just locally but domestically and in Israel.

Since graduating from law school in 1985, Peter Toren has built a distinguished legal career spanning over four decades. He spent nine years as a federal prosecutor with the Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, rising to Acting Deputy Chief, and subsequently served as a partner at several prominent law firms where he specialized in intellectual property litigation.

Toren has maintained a strong commitment to pro bono work throughout his career, including representing a death row inmate in Alabama through the Equal Justice Initiative, and has successfully represented a Chinese-American scientist in her civil rights case against the United States.

As a recognized authority in intellectual property and cybercrime law, Toren has authored or co-authored three leading treatises, including one published by the Federal Judicial Center for the education of federal judges. He has written over 125 articles on legal topics and is regularly quoted by major publications including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post.

In addition to his legal practice, Toren serves on the boards of several non-profit organizations, including EMI. He earned his J.D. with honors from the University of San Francisco School of Law and holds an M.I.A. from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.

Rabbi Lydia Medwin proudly serves as Co-Chair of the National Board Of Directors for the Multifaith Initiative to End Mass Incarceration. Rabbi Medwin joined the clergy team at The Temple in 2014 and currently serves as Associate Rabbi. A native of Memphis, Tennessee, and a proud Southern Jew, she has dedicated her rabbinate to the pursuit of justice in our society and greater compassion for the most vulnerable. 

Lydia attended the University of Texas in Austin (hook ’em) and Hebrew University for undergraduate studies. She was ordained on the Los Angeles campus of Hebrew Union College in May of 2010.  While there, she received a Masters of Hebrew Letters and a Masters in Jewish Education.

Rabbi Medwin is a certified Jewish Meditation Teacher. She is a co-author with Dr. Ron Wolfson and Rabbi Nicole Auerbach of The Relational Judaism Handbook: How to Create a Relational Engagement Campaign to Build and Deepen Relationships in Your Community(Kripke Institute). While in rabbinic school, Lydia met her husband, Dan Medwin, and they and their three children are thrilled to be a part of The Temple community.

Johnny Perez – Director of U.S. Prisons Program – Johnny is a highly accomplished criminal justice reform advocate, public speaker, and thought leader in the field of ending torture and inhumane treatment in the U.S. prison system. As the Director of the U.S. Prisons Program for NRCAT, he leads numerous campaigns to end solitary confinement and works tirelessly to build the capacity of faith leaders and directly impacted communities to engage in education and legislative advocacy across the United States.

In addition to serving on the board of the Juvenile Law Center and the Urban Justice Center, he is also an advisory board member and research consultant of the Urban Institute’s Prison Research and Innovation Initiative. Johnny’s expertise and leadership have been recognized by various media outlets and academic institutions, and he has been invited to speak at law schools and institutions of higher learning nationwide.

Beyond his professional achievements, Johnny is a dedicated father and continues to mentor formerly incarcerated students at St. Francis College of Brooklyn, where he obtained his Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice, and a professional photographer at Day 1 Pictures which he founded. Learn more about Johnny’s life and work. 

Bruce Turnbull – Retired after more than 40 years in private law practice, Bruce Turnbull is now an avid advocate for reform of the criminal legal system.  He co-chairs the Criminal Justice Reform Initiative and is a member of the Board of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and is a member of the Board of the Multifaith Initiative to End Mass Incarceration.  Bruce represents JCPA on several Washington, DC-based coalitions advocating for reform of the criminal legal system.  He is also Secretary of the Board of the Jews United for Justice Campaign Fund, a member of the Lawyers’ Committee of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and a member of the Board of the Bolechow Jewish Heritage Society. 

Bruce and his wife, Susan Wolf Turnbull, reside in Bethesda, Maryland and are the proud parents of two adult sons and their wives and especially proud grandparents of four young grandchildren.

Zachary Crow is the director of decARcerate, a grassroots coalition working to end mass incarceration in Arkansas with and on behalf of prisoners and their families. DecARcerate works through a combination of community education, smart legislation, advocacy, and activism. 

Crow spent two years living alongside and learning from homeless, incarcerated, and formerly incarcerated individuals in Atlanta, Georgia as a part of the Open Door Community, a residential community in the Catholic Worker tradition seeking to dismantle racism, sexism, and heterosexism, abolish the death penalty and proclaim the Beloved Community through loving relationships with some of the most neglected and outcast: the homeless and those in prison.

Zachary is a radio personality, storyteller, filmmaker, and poet. Along with Judge Wendell Griffen, Crow hosts “The Barbershop Radio Hour,” a weekly call-in show centering around issues of social justice on KABF 88.3. His first feature-length documentary, “We See No Enemy,” was released in March 2013 and chronicles five Palestinian stories from the West Bank. His first book of poetry, “Dancing In The Eddies” was released in April 2018.

Crow serves as an ordained minister with New Millennium Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, which describe themselves as “progressive, welcoming, inclusive followers of Jesus.”

Nicole Fauster-Bradford serves as CAIR’s Community Advocacy Director. Her experience includes conducting extensive civil rights compliance work for local and federal governmental agencies, private entities, and institutions of higher education, with a focus on Title VI, Title VII, and Title IX investigations. Fauster Bradford also previously served as CAIR-Georgia’s Civil Rights Attorney, where she zealously represented and advocated for community members facing severe cases of religious discrimination throughout the state.

Fauster-Bradford’s passion for community advocacy and justice stems from her personal and professional experiences which have taken her across the United States, Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia, where she has worked on civil and human rights issues affecting Muslims, refugees, migrant workers, and various other underserved groups. 

Fauster-Bradford received her Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center with a certificate in Refugees and Humanitarian Emergencies. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with majors in Global Studies and Arabic and a minor in Social and Economic Justice.

Judge Velma Cowen Tilley graduated from UGA in 1974 and UGA Law in 1978. After clerking at the Georgia Supreme Court for 2 years, she returned to Cartersville to practice law for 18 years in the law firm of Vaughan and Tilley. She was a Special Assistant Attorney General representing Bartow County DFCS for nearly 12 years.  Serving as Judge of the Bartow County Juvenile Court from January 2000 until January 2016, Velma has been the President of the Council of Juvenile Court Judges and has served on several committees on behalf of children around the State.  Velma was one of three writers of the Proposed Model Code which was the starting point for the rewrite of the Georgia Juvenile Code. 

In her retirement, Velma and her husband, Stan Tilley, moved to Atlanta for a new chapter in their lives. Velma is an elder at Trinity Presbyterian Church and is active in justice initiatives there and in greater Atlanta.  She and Stan, also an elder in the church and an attorney, have three adult sons, two daughters-in-law and one grandson, of whom they are very proud.

Resources

You have the power to change the narratiave about mass incarceration in your community.

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