EMI News & Articles

The Liberator

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State of Georgia Senate. Ornate inside of the chambers
Two words come to mind concerning the passage of Georgia Senate Bill 63 (SB 63) to expand cash bail and functionally outlaw charitable bailouts: criminalization and suppression.

Georgians will judge this legislation, based on both the ways it criminalizes the poor and suppresses the charitable efforts of organizations providing bail relief, to determine its legitimacy. To be sure, the criminalization of poverty and the overt suppression of charitable bailouts in no way quashes the movement to end mass incarceration. What it does suggest is that more needs to be done and can be done.

Opinion

In The News

The Georgia senator addressed the mass incarceration crisis and the responsibilities of faith communities to enact change.

By Seth Limmer, Michael Pfleger, Otis Moss III and Ciera Bates-Chamberlain:  Chicago Tribune

As people of faith, we know that everyone — regardless of race or income — deserves access to rights such as housing, education, health care and employment. The same should be true of freedom. However, long-extant systems of bonds and bail hinder economic and racial justice, as only those with the means necessary can buy their freedom.  The Pretrial Fairness Act affirms that access to wealth will no longer determine whether someone is jailed while awaiting trial.

From The Conference

From June 17-19, 2019, in Atlanta, Georgia, the Multifaith Initiative to End Mass Incarceration held our first conference, Let My People Go: Ending Mass Incarceration, to launch a multifaith response to mass incarceration. 

This multifaith, multiracial gathering drew more than 400 registered conference attendees representing 27 states.  In addition, more than 1,000 individuals attended the opening sessions of the Conference that featured Dr. Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, and Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock, senior pastor of historic Ebenezer Baptist Church.

Workshop leaders and attendees also included the formerly incarcerated, those directly impacted by incarceration, denominational representatives, judges, nonprofit leaders, prosecutors, lay leaders from various faith traditions, and lawyers. 

Participants were given a faith toolkit in both hard copy and electronic form to serve as a guide for congregational engagement. Most attendees made a commitment to do at least one action shaped by the Faith Toolkit before the end of the 2019 calendar year.

Videos

INCARCERATION RATE PER 100,000 PEOPLE

Black
1549
Hispanic
823
White
279
"Prisons do not disappear social problems, they disappear human beings.”
Angela Davis

Over 2.7 million children have a parent in jail or prison.

From Our Partners

Toska Medlock Lee

Odyssey Impact

Rabbi Lydia Medwin

Kareemah Hanifah

Resources

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

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