JUUstice Washington

A Unitarian Universalist State Action Network

School to Prison Pipeline Action Group Needs your Help

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The Interrupting the School or Prison Pipeline group is exploring bystander intervention training opportunities that JUUstice Washington might offer to congregations.  We are checking various options and there are a couple of training opportunities coming up in February that help this exploration.

Bystander intervention training opportunities.  One is coming up on February 13th.  Some key providers include Cortney Wooten, Seattle 350, Peace Keepers, and Poor People’s Campaign.

The first, on February 13, is by a training team out of DC.  They describe it as “an interactive, participatory, beginner’s workshop designed for those that may have none to little prior studies of bystander intervention.”  Payment is on a sliding fee scale.  The two times listed are two sections of the same training.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScUlPNGG7coDk5dQPYW-nbntdz08_iEr2Blj4-07g5SOp4N-Q/viewform

Edmonds United Methodist Church is offering a related workshop “Stepping into Allyship” workshop will be on February 9 from 6-8 pm. As we seek to create beloved community and dismantle racism, we are intentionally making the workshop free for all participants. The workshop will be led by local equity consultant and organizer, Courtney Wooten, who has collaborated with Edmonds UMC over the last three years. We hope that this offering will bless your communities as we work to together dismantle racism and white supremacy.  Registration information is available at Stepping into Allyship (google.com)  The presenter also does bystander intervention training.

The Interrupting the School or Prison Pipeline (post-Summit) group is exploring potential ways to find and boost existing programs that directly interrupt the school to prison pipeline.  Two programs that we are looking into are Speaking Justice and Community Passageways.  If you already work with either of these programs or have insights about their work, please let us know by contacting John Hilke at jhilke@juustwa.org.

The Interrupting the School or Prison Pipeline (post-Summit) group is monitoring and encouraging your engagement with the following legislative proposals dealing the police reforms and racial justice improvements.  We welcome additional assistance in monitoring and insights about these bills.  Please contact John Hilke at jhilke@juustwa.org, if you would like to help.

 

HB 1054 (Johnson) banning choke holds etc.

HB 1092 (Lovick) database of police use of force

HB 1089 (Ramos) compliance with I-940 on independent investigations of police violence

HB 1082 (Goodman) reform process of decertification and sanctions for police misconduct

HB 1088 (Lovick) standardizing reporting of police misconduct and impeaching office testimony

SHB 1044 educational opportunities in prisons

HB 1078/SB 5086  restoration of voting rights when persons leave prison

HB 1090  ban on private prisons

HB 1282/SB 5285 reduced prison terms for participating in educational programs

HB 1310  statewide de-escalation standard and limits on use of force

SB 5226  end debt-based suspensions of driver licenses

HB 1186 youth alternative corrections

SB? 5228 Antibias curriculum development

SB 5229 continuing education regarding antibias practices

Finding Humanity Podcasts

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To unpack some of the biggest threats humanity is grappling with today, each episode will draw on the expertise and life experiences of members of The Elders: former Presidents and Prime Ministers, UN officials, Nobel Peace Laureates, freedom fighters, and human rights champions, brought together by Nelson Mandela in 2007. From leading nations out of conflict, to defending the human rights of the most vulnerable, this series will explore how we, through our shared humanity, bold advocacy, and collective action, can challenge injustice and promote ethical leadership.
Listen here.

A NEW BILL AIMS TO END POLICE RAIDS LIKE THE ONE THAT KILLED BREONNA TAYLOR

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THE POLICE KILLING of Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot in Kentucky in March when plainclothes officers barged into her apartment in the middle of the night, has set off a series of state and local efforts to ban “no-knock” raids — the police practice of breaking into someone’s home unannounced to execute a search warrant. A bill introduced by New York state legislators on Thursday goes further than most of those efforts, seeking to not only ban the vast majority of no-knock raids, but also strictly limit other avenues for forcible entry by police.

The New York bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Brian Benjamin and James Sanders Jr. and Assembly Member Daniel J. O’Donnell, seeks to limit the use of unannounced, no-knock raids to the most severe circumstances, like the pursuit of a murder suspect or incidents involving active shooters, hostage-taking, terrorism, or human trafficking. It would ban the issuance of no-knock warrants aimed exclusively at searching for drugs, currently the most common use of these heavily militarized raids. But unlike other current and draft state and local legislation, as well as three federal proposals, the New York bill would also impose a host of restrictions on what are known as “knock-and-announce” search warrants, a more common type of forcible entry that has led to dozens of deadly encounters in recent years.

Read more here.

Fair Fight Bond Fund Accepting Applications for Those Detained by Immigration in WA

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The Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network is thrilled to share that the Fair Fight Bond Fund is open and accepting applications for people who are detained by immigration in the State of Washington and need support with paying bond.

To request assistance with paying a bond, a request form must be completed. This request form will be reviewed by the Fair Fight Bond Fund steering committee. The steering committee is made up of seven community members, including people who have been directly impacted and have experienced being in immigration detention. All requests for funds will be fully considered on a case-by-case basis and the steering committee will try to pay as many bonds as possible, so long as funds are available. The steering committee will aim to meet on a weekly basis to review applications and give responses as soon as possible.

The steering committee will aim to prioritize individuals who are facing especially difficult situations due to being detained. This includes applicants who are facing physical and/or mental health issues that are aggravated by being detained; applicants who are the primary caretakers to dependents who are facing immediate hardship due to the applicant’s detention; applicants who face serious economic hardship and have no or limited support, options, and resources to pay their bond; applicants who will face negative long-term effects on their immigration status due to being detained; applicants who are members of the LGBTQ community; and applicants who face marginalization based on their language, race, ethnicity, or religion.

Please find the English version of the application at this link: https://bit.ly/FairFightBondFundSupportEn.

And the Spanish version of the application at this link: http://bit.ly/FairFightBondFundSupportSpa.

If you would like a PDF version of this application, please send an email to bond@waisn.org.

We hope to have this application available in other languages soon. Please email vanessa@waisn.org if you are able to support with translating this form into other languages.

Applicants who are able to pay for part of the bond can note this on the application. It is not required to pay a part of the bond, but for those who can and want to, we provide this option as it helps the bond fund to cover more bonds.

Fair Bond Fund to Help Release Detained Immigrants

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As COVID-19 continues to impact our communities, those most at risk are the members of our community who are in detention. Last week, La Resistencia broke the news that dozens of immigrants at the Northwest Detention Center had been exposed to COVID-19 by a GEO guard. Last month, we heard how in Georgia, immigrants held at a detention center were subject to forced hysterectomies and general medical neglect. These reminders are just two of the many reasons that we know immigration detention centers should be shut down and ICE should be abolished.

While we prepare for the long-term fight, we are also doing what we can to free the members of our communities who are in immigration detention.

I am pleased to announce that the Fair Fight Bond Fund is gearing up to re-open in the coming weeks to pay the immigration bond funds of community members detained by ICE in Washington State.

Next week, we will be participating in Fall Freedom Day—an effort coordinated by the National Bail Fund Network to pay bonds to free hundreds of community members from immigration detention in one day. Last year, the NBFN moved $2.1 million and was able to pay the bonds of nearly 200 people detained by ICE across the country. The Fair Fight Bond Fund will be participating in these efforts this year and hope that with our partners across the country we can release even more of our community members.

As we work out some of the final details before we officially resume accepting and reviewing applications to help pay for immigration bonds, we ask that you consider donating to the Fair Fight Bond Fund so that we can have as much money in the fund to start paying bonds.

If you have any questions, interest in volunteering with the bond fund, or other comments, please contact me at vanessa@waisn.org. Please send questions or requests about paying for bonds for specific cases to bond@waisn.org.

In Solidarity,

Vanessa Reyes
Fair Fight Bond Fund Coordinator
Pronouns: They/She/Ella