John, our advocacy helped bring Gwen Levi home!
In just 4 days, almost 50k Color of Change members signed a petition calling for the release of Ms. Levi, a 76-year old cancer survivor, grandmother, mother, and Black woman.
Ms. Levi was one of thousands of people who were deemed high risk for COVID-19, and released from prison last year to finish their sentences on home confinement. But last month, she was sent back to prison after missing a phone call from her case manager while attending a computer skills class that she, with good reason, believed she had been approved to take.
Thanks to her legal team and public outcry, Ms. Levi was just sent home on compassionate release - which means she is indefinitely free- and is now back with her family, including her 94-year old mother who she helps take care of.
John, now it’s time for us to use our collective power to protect the other 4000+ elders who were also released from prison on home confinement last year and are at threat of being sent back on a technicality like Ms. Levi, or when the Administration declares the pandemic is over.
Because of a bureaucratic error, Ms. Levi was once again ripped from her family and thrown into a cage. We can't let this happen to anyone else.
John, these are real people - mothers, fathers, grandparents, children, community members - who have been spending their home confinement supporting loved ones financially and emotionally.
And unless President Biden intervenes, they’ll be taken from their communities once again and sent back to prison.
Any circumstance where people are sent back to prisons is in direct contradiction to the Administration’s public promise to invest in ending mass incarceration.
And if measures aren't taken to keep 4,000+ people at home and out of prison, the Administration will be presiding over the fastest expansion of the federal prison population in history.1
Add your name to the call for justice and demand President Biden grant clemency today!
John, it’s important that we take a moment to celebrate this victory for Ms. Levi and her family while uplifting the work that still needs to be done.
None of us can be free until we’re all free.
Let’s show up for our elders once again!
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.
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REFERENCES:
1. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/312297?t=8&akid=51558%2E4731121%2Ew47dbM
Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Please help keep our movement strong.
