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Dear John, 

After spending 16 years incarcerated in federal prisons, Gwen Levi was
finally home.

Released to home confinement last June, Ms. Levi spent the past year
reconnecting with her sons and grandsons, helping to take care of her
elderly mother, volunteering at advocacy organizations that provide
critical services for incarcerated people, and perhaps most crucially -
increasing her chances of staying safe from COVID-19 as a 76-year-old
cancer survivor. 

But one year after her release, Ms. Levi was sent back to prison. 

Why? Because she missed a phone call from her case manager while she was
in a class to learn computer skills. 

[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition and demand President Biden grant clemency to Ms. Levi
today. 

Ms. Levi was one of thousands of people, deemed “low risk”, and released
from federal prison to finish their sentences on home confinement last
year due to the increased threat of the pandemic in prisons.

The vast majority of those released were elderly and living with
preexisting health conditions, often exacerbated by the lack of healthcare
within the prison system. 

But even despite the 99.9% success rate of home confinement,^1 the Trump
Administration used its final days to issue a legal memo that would not
only force people to return to federal prison, but also require people to
pay their own way back.^2 

Almost 20k Color of Change members, just like you, joined us in urging the
Attorney General to rescind the Trump-era legal memo and keep people like
Ms. Levi at home. 

But we were met with silence, and now Ms. Levi is back in a cage. 

John, this has gone too far and we can no longer wait on the
Attorney General and the Department of Justice. 

Now is the time to call on President Biden to use his powers of clemency
to release Ms. Levi from prison and protect 4,500 others just like her who
are at risk of being sent back to prison. 

[ [link removed] ]Add your name to the call for justice. Let’s move President Biden to
grant clemency for Ms. Levi and 4,500 others on home confinement. 

“I feel like I was attempting to do all the right things,” Ms. Levi said.
“Breaking rules is not who I am. I tried to explain what happened, and to
tell the truth. At no time did I think I wasn’t supposed to go to that
class. I apologize to my mother and my family for what this is doing to
them.”^3 

Now her mother is alone, and Ms. Levi fears she won’t be able to survive
without her help.^4 

John, it’s clear that this is about punishment, not public
safety or rehabilitation. Ms. Levi was trying to better herself and as a
result was sent to live in a cage.

When President Biden took office, he vowed to overhaul the criminal
justice system, cut the federal prison population by more than half, and
expand programs that offer alternatives to incarceration.

[ [link removed] ]Let’s hold President Biden to his word and demand he grant clemency to
Ms. Levi and 4,500 others on home confinement. 

If the Biden Administration won’t grant clemency to Ms. Levi and keep
4,500 people at home - he will be presiding over the fastest expansion of
the federal prison population in history.^5

John, this is not what we voted for. 

Ms. Levi deserves better, and she needs our support. 

[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition to grant clemency to Ms. Levi and help keep 4,500
people at home with their families. 

 

Until Justice is Real,

Scott, Rashad, Arisha, Megan, Erika, Malachi, Ernie, Palika, Madison,
Ariel, Trevor, Ana, McKayla, and the rest of the Color Of Change team.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

REFERENCES:

1.
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2.
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3.
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4. [link removed]

5. [link removed]


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