Exactly one week ago on August 13, 2019, you helped Justice L.A. stop jail expansion in Los Angeles County!
We stopped a $3.5 billion jail plan!
We stopped a new jail for women that was going to be 70 miles away from Los Angeles!
We stopped a new jail specifically to cage people with mental health needs!
We won for our community and we did that!
This victory is celebrated on the shoulders of community members on the front lines of state violence, youth targeted by gang injunctions in our neighborhoods, mothers that buried their children as a result of sheriff violence, and families separated because they could not afford bail. Through our collective work, we have not only stopped two jails in our county, but we have also redirected the County away from punitive systems and towards community reinvestment.
But our organizing is not over! The Sheriff’s Department made it clear that they will fight progress every step of the way. It is up to us to ensure the implementation of a new vision for Los Angeles County.
So what's next?
Ensuring the reinvestment of the nearly $1 billion that would have been used for jail construction.
Fighting for robust pretrial reform that does not replace money bail with risk assessment instruments nor an expansion of electronic monitoring in Los Angeles County.
Continuing to build on the Alternatives to Incarceration Workgroup's interim report and ensure that the final report reflects the will of the community.
Building mechanisms to hold the Sheriff's Department, probation department and the district attorney accountable and shifting systems of care into the administration of health departments and community-based organizations.
Eliminating the attacks of police and law enforcement on L.A.'s communities of color.
We successfully stopped the county that jails more people than anywhere else in the nation from spending $3.5 billion to expand a flawed jail system, and instead, are moving the County towards a collective reimagining of what our jail systems in Los Angeles County can look like.
They told us not to bother. They told us it was inevitable. They told us to quit.
"Care not cages" is now truly the path forward in Los Angeles County, and Dignity & Power Now, along with you, our members and supporters, will be playing an essential role in developing this new vision.
For All Incarcerated People, Their Families, and Communities,
