Anti-Recidivism Coalition

Today the California Supreme Court unanimously ruled SB 1391 constitutional, confirming the 2018 law that 14 & 15 year olds in California are prohibited from being transferred to adult court. We celebrate this decision and applaud the California Supreme Court for recognizing that youth have a unique capacity for transformation. Thank you to community organizations, formerly incarcerated people, and advocates who have fought for years to ensure the system treats youth as youth..., and responds with age-appropriate care and accountability. Healed communities are safer communities and we know firsthand how individuals can change their lives and future trajectories if allowed age-appropriate care, says ARC Director of National Advocacy, Michael Mendoza, who was not granted the sensible grace SB 1391 provides as a young man. ARC will continue to fight for our youth involved in the system by working to raise the age of those transferred to adult court even higher, in accordance with modern brain science. *This photo montage is of young people when they were 14 or 15 years old. California tried some of the youth pictured here as adults, who then spent decades in prison for a crime committed when 14 or 15. Others were kept in the juvenile justice system where they received age-appropriate education and counseling, and some had no contact with the justice system at all. Those pictured are now probation chiefs, lawyers, leaders in restorative justice, county heads of nongovernmental organizations, and among the authors of the Futures Denied report, published by Human Rights Watch and the W. Haywood Burns Institute in 2018: http://fairsentencingforyouth.org//2/08/Futures-Denied.pdf #OurCommunityOurPeople #YouthJustice #SB1391

Please join us this Friday, February 26, at 12pm PST as our host and Executive Director Sam Lewis welcomes ARC’s Advocacy team to unveil our 2021 State Advocacy priorities. Join us live on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to learn about our advocacy priorities which include juvenile justice, fair chance housing, ending extreme sentencing, and more! Featured speakers are:... Esteban Nuñez, Director of Advocacy Celina Chapin, Public Policy Associate Josh Pynoos, Policy Associate Miguel Garcia, Advocacy Coordinator Ronnie Villeda, Advocacy & Community Organizer #OurCommunityOurPeople #2021Advocacy #FairChanceHousing #EndExtremeSentencing #JuvenileJustice

Check out Life On The Outside Podcast’s most recent episode Call Me By My Name featuring ARC Life Coach Shone Robinson. Shone shares her powerful experience as a woman in prison, eating In-N-Out after 22 years inside, and her passion behind serving those still incarcerated. Huge shoutout to Life On The Outside for creating a beautiful story telling space where formerly incarcerated experiences like Shone’s are uplifted. Listen here: https://podcasts.apple.com//life-on-th...e-outs/id1331255622! #OurCommunityOurPeople #LOTO #UpliftingVoices

As we continue to highlight the stories and successes of our Black members and staff this Black History Month, join us for Black Girl Magic: Highlighting the Stories & Successes of Black Women. We will be welcoming guest host Jennifer Perkins, Community Relations Director at Oasis Church LA, Shone Robinson, ARC Life Coach, Raven McDowell, ARC Member, Journey Presley, Reentry Social Enterprises at Alma Farms, and April Grayson, Statewide Coordinator for the Young Women’s Freedom Center. You’ll hear how each of these amazing women are making our communities better.

In our quest to support people rebuilding their lives after incarceration, many of our members were hired to build the new Los Angeles Rams SoFi Stadium. We are grateful for the support of the NFL and the Rams as we work to expand opportunities for all. #InspireChange We are grateful to all of our partners in our Second Chance Apprenticeship Readiness Program, including the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, Miguel Contreras Foundation, Los Angeles Southwest Col...lege, the LA/OC Building and Construction Trades Council, and the U.S. Department of Labor. Congratulations to the 13 new organizations receiving support as part of Inspire Change! https://www.nfl.com//nfl-reaches-more-than-95m-in-contribu Sam Lewis, Scott Budnick, Carlos Cervantes

ARC continues to advocate that our incarcerated community members be among the first to be offered the COVID-19 vaccine but understands that fears and reservations exist. Take a moment to read Amend’s Information for Residents of Correctional Facilities: Frequently Asked Questions about the COVID-19 Vaccine. This highlights and answers some of the most frequently asked questions and concerns of incarcerated community members and their loved ones regarding the COVID-19 vacci...ne. This brief includes answers to questions like, Has anyone died of the COVID-19 vaccine? What are possible side effects of the vaccine? and, Is the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory? Read more here: https://amend.us//COVID-Vax-info-for-residents-1.10.21-FIN! -with Amend at UCSF

Defending Reforms: Ending Extreme Sentencing In LA Powered by Restream https://restream.io/ Join us as our host and Executive Director Sam Lewis welcomes ARC Life Coach, Pamela Thompson, and Paws For Life Programs Director, Jon Grobman, to discuss the necessity of ending extreme sentencing practices, especially in the wake of DA Gascon’s courageous reforms around ending many sentence enhancements in LA County. Data shows that extreme sentencing practices do not keep the public more safe and disproportionately affect communities of color, so why is it still common practice? Tune in live to hear the impact excessive sentencing has on our people, and how individuals who have survived these sentences are making the world a better place

Thank you NFL for your support of our work to end mass incarceration and to welcome people home with dignity! Thank you to the Los Angeles Rams for being an amazing partner in Second Chance Hiring! #InspireChange

Join us tomorrow, January 8th at 12pm PST, as our host and Executive Director Sam Lewis welcomes ARC Life Coach, Pamela Thompson, and Paws For Life Programs Director, Jon Grobman, to discuss the necessity of ending extreme sentencing practices, especially in the wake of DA Gascon’s courageous reforms around ending many sentence enhancements in LA County. Data shows that extreme sentencing practices do not keep the public more safe and disproportionately affect communities of... color, so why is it still common practice? Tune in live to hear the impact excessive sentencing has on our people, and how individuals who have survived these sentences are making the world a better place. We’ll be live on Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube, or register here: bit.ly/DefendingReform! #OurCommunityOurPeople #EndExtremeSentences - Paws For Life K9 Rescue, The Sentencing Project, Stanford Three Strikes Project

The ARC Ride Home program continues to provide recently released community members dignified rides home and remains successful due to partnerships with other community organizations. The following pick up was a success with the help of Tony Wallin from Project Rebound at Humboldt State. Hear about the day in Tony’s own words, below in our most recent dispatch from freedom. On our way to pick up Robert from Pelican Bay State Prison the sky was charcoal black and there was a c...onsistent downpour. When Robert exited the transportation vehicle the sun came out, a blue velvet stretched across the sky, and the rain stopped. After getting coffee we took Robert to the ocean for the first time in his life. It’s hard to put words to this experience, but it felt as if we all had just seen the ocean for the first time too. Huge waves crashed against cliff sides spreading mist into the emptiness and we stood in silence as Robert soaked in his new found freedom. We drove through redwood forests and stopped periodically along infinite shorelines to listen to beached seals sunbathing until we got to Klamath, where we drove along the Klamath River until it emptied into the Pacific ocean. Another first for Robert, witnessing a river meet the ocean. First meal was chicken fajita burritos along the pier in Old Town Eureka overlooking Humboldt Bay. After 6 years in Pelican Bay and a total of 14 years inside, ARC HART graduate Robert Reyes made it home safely to his family in Southern California on 12/26/20 with the help of Prop. 57 and the ARC Ride Home Program. Thank you Tony for bringing Robert home to his family. Join us in welcoming Robert home and sending him messages of support! #OurCommunityOurPeople #FreedomRides

Members, champions, and allies like you motivate everyone here at ARC -- especially in a year as challenging as this one. In 2020, we transitioned services for 1,600+ Members to virtual platforms. We disbursed $1mil in COVID-19 relief funds. We provided 250 Rides Home for folks returning from jail or prison. We passed 5 laws which will lead to critical system reforms. We graduated 2 Apprenticeship Readiness cohorts. We sent 40,000 bars of soap into CDCR. Despite the obstacles... and heartbreak of 2020, we feel a great sense of hope for the future reflecting on the progress we made during this time. Our mission to empower currently and formerly incarcerated people has never been more important. We hope you will consider a year-end gift to help keep up the momentum in 2021. Supporters like you make our work possible - thank you! https://antirecidivism.org/donate-now/ -or- text "ARC" to 707-070 to make your gift!

Election as Inflection Point: The Way Forward for Our Systems Powered by Restream https://restream.io/ Join us as our host Sam Lewis welcomes Scott Budnick, Shaka Senghor, Holly Mitchell, and Assemblymember Sydney Kamlager to reflect on the election results, the state of our communities, and look towards the future with hope.

Though we are disappointed to see Prop 25 fall short in front of CA voters, we will continue to fight for economic justice and equity at all levels of our systems, including pretrial detention. We especially want to thank our partners at Californians for Safety and Justice, Western Center on Law on Poverty, SEIU California, League of Women Voters of CA, members of the CA legislature, and especially ARC members and staff Akilah Shands, Michael Mendoza, Esteban Nunez, Sam Lewi...s, and Dominique Davis for their tireless advocacy on behalf of this initiative. We are committed to removing wealth as a primary determinant of freedom. We vow to work with the CA state legislature, formerly incarcerated people, community-based organizations, and counties to bring people home to their families, enhance safety for all, and make a world where all can thrive and be cared for outside of cages. #CareNotCages #BringingPeopleHome #EndCashBail

Join us Friday November 6th at 12pm PT as our host Sam Lewis welcomes Scott Budnick, Shaka Senghor, and Assemblymember Sydney Kamlager to reflect on the election results, the state of our communities, and look towards the future with hope. Register here: bit.ly/ForwardNow to hear from community leaders and reflect on this election with us. #OurCommunityOurPeople #2020 #MovingForward #JusticeReform

Tonight, millions of California voters rejected Prop 20, an initiative that would have expanded prison spending and made it more difficult to bring our people home. Thank you CA voters for ensuring we move forward in hope to bring more of our people back from prison and into freedom. Thank you for helping us defend justice (and the gains made with Props 47, 57, and AB 109), and move forward in empathy, not excessive punishment. We are so grateful to the organizations and ind...ividuals who drove this campaign. Shout out to ARC members and staff, especially Sam Lewis, Michael Mendoza, Esteban Nunez, Wendy Staggs, Dominique Davis, and many other formerly and currently incarcerated people who fought against Prop 20, because we know the stakes for those behind the walls. The future is freedom for many more of our community members and we will keep marching forward! #Victory #NoOn20 #OurCommunityOurPeople #BringingPeopleHome

Today, millions of CA voters approved Proposition 17, restoring the right to vote to over 50,000 Californians who have completed their prison terms. Together, we have freed the vote for our community members on parole! We are so grateful to the organizations and individuals who drove this campaign and especially to the ARC members and staff who, after tonight, are no longer disenfranchised because of their supervision status. We want to send a special shout out to Jose Grano... Gonzalez, Efrain Ortiz, Salim Allen, Mark Taylor, Raeshone Holmes, Jarret Keith, Alyssa Gallo, Cory Pepper, Jesse Cuevas, Sammy King, Curtis Nunez, Joshua Pinedo and so many others for their direct advocacy on behalf of Prop 17 and ACA 6. We know how important your voices and so many thousands of others are and we’re grateful that Californians across this state voted to include you in our democracy. Our democracy now includes more of US! #Victory #Prop17Passes #OurCommunityOurPeople #VotingIsEssentialWork #DemocracyNeedsEveryone

"Free us and let us boldly go into the unknown." Our ED Sam Lewis, who spent 24 years in American prisons, eloquently draws connections between the movement to abolish American chattel slavery, how progress takes time, & our shared fight to end cash bail in California. #YesOnProp25 According to Public Policy Institute of California, there will be fewer humans in cages if Prop 25 passes. ... "Many people booked for misdemeanors will be released more quickly under SB 10 than under the current system, while some people booked for felonies will be held longer. Nearly 40% of those booked into jail for misdemeanors142,500 peoplewould be released more quickly under SB 10. Conversely, slightly more than 1% of people booked into jail for feloniesabout 3,000 peoplewill be held for risk assessment rather than released within a few hours." https://ppic.org/blog/pretrial-reform-in-california/

ARC member Catherine is one of millions of American citizens who lost their right to vote because of a conviction history. Please don’t take yours for granted. If you're a California voter, there's still one day left to vote #YesOn17 to restore the right to vote to people, like Catherine, who have completed their prison terms and contribute every day to their communities. Share this message with your network #WithLove - Your Vote is Your Voice! #VOTE... Yes on Prop 17 Shaka Senghor

On the final weekend before Election Day, we'd love for you to read a piece from two of our mental health therapists on voting rights restoration using a social work lens and why Californians must vote #yeson17. "Just as social workers encourage clients, staff, and community members to participate in advocating for change, we must also actively engage in changing unjust laws that exclude the voices of people who have the right to participate in our democratic process. Giving... people on parole the right to vote embodies the most fundamental principle of our democracy: political equality for all citizens." Yes on Prop 17 https://theantirecidivismcoalition.medium.com/restoring-the

2020 Election Perspective from Our Incarcerated Community Members Powered by Restream https://restream.io/ Join us as our host and Executive Director Sam Lewis welcomes Jacob Brevard, ARC’s Associate Director of Inside Programs, and Norma Cumpian, ARC’s Manager of Women and Non-Binary Services to the show. This week’s conversation will feature phone calls and notes from currently incarcerated community members concerning the 2020 election. Propositions and candidates on the 2020 ballot affect the futures of our incarcerated community members, despite their inability to vote. Tune in to hear their unique perspective on this momentous election season.

ARC is excited to share this A Vote for Redemption: Yes on Prop 17 project, a collaboration between ARC Creatives and Re-Emerging Scholars. Four ARC Members and Staff members, currently on parole, gathered together on a weekly basis via Zoom to become witnesses in their desire to vote. These are their narratives. These are their images. ARC Creatives is an initiative that gives our members the space to not only consume art, but to create it. ... #YESon17 #FreeTheVote

Join us this Friday October 30th at 12pm PT as our host and Executive Director Sam Lewis welcomes Jacob Brevard, ARC’s Associate Director of Inside Programs, and Norma Cumpian, ARC’s Manager of Women and Non-Binary Services to the show. This week’s conversation will feature phone calls and notes from currently incarcerated community members concerning the 2020 election. Propositions and candidates on the 2020 ballot affect the futures of our incarcerated community members, d...espite their inability to vote. Tune in to hear their unique perspective on this momentous election season. Register here: bit.ly/2020BehindTheWalls! #OurCommunityOurPeople #Vote2020 #YESon17 #NOon20 #YESon25

Join Courage California for We Woke We Vote: A Criminal Justice Discussion live today 10/28 at 12pm on @CourageCA’s Facebook. ARC’s Director of Advocacy, Esteban Nunez joins Chesa Boudin, San Francisco DA, Diana Becton, Contra Costa DA, Lizzie Buchen, ACLU NorCal, Natasha Minsker, from Smart Justice CA to discuss how your vote can help move California forward towards restorative justice for all! #OurCommunityOurPeople #Vote

If Prop 25 passes, fewer people will be in cages. A new report from the California Policy Lab at UC Berkeley finds that a greater number of people booked into custody in California would be released before their arraignments if voters approve #Proposition25 this November and bail reform is implemented statewide. Vote #YesOn25! #EndMoneyBail https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu//new-research-prop-25-woul