Support Smarter Sentencing in 2015!

Today, one in one hundred Americans are caught up in the nation’s criminal justice system. While the U.S. only makes up five percent of the world’s population, we incarcerate twenty-five percent of the world’s prisoners. Since 1980, the size of the federal prison population has increased nearly 800 percent, due to the failed ‘War on Drugs’ and ‘tough on crime’ policies. Our federal criminal justice system should ensure proportional and equitable accountability for our brothers and sisters entangled in the criminal justice system, particularly in relation to racially biased sentencing.

Support for addressing mass incarceration has grown in recent years from both sides of the aisle. Sentencing reform is one of the proposed changes. Two pieces of legislation introduced this year, the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2015 (H.R. 920/S. 502) and the Justice Safety Valve Act of 2015 (H.R. 706/S. 353), would help to reduce the number of people our country incarcerates, ameliorating the overcrowding crisis within the federal prison system. They would also address the racially disproportionate outcomes in mandatory minimum sentencing.

Call on Congress to pass sentencing reform today.

The Smarter Sentencing Act, sponsored by Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Representatives Raúl Labrador (R-ID) and Bobby Scott (D-VA), would limit the long mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses, expand judicial discretion in cases involving the lowest level drug offenses, and reduce the federal prison population by retroactively implementing the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (a significant reduction in the sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine). This would impact around 8,800 people currently incarcerated. 

The Judicial Safety Valve Act, sponsored by Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Representatives Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Bobby Scott (D-VA), would restore judicial discretion in all federal criminal cases by allowing the broadest departure from mandatory minimum sentences.

As Christians, we should prioritize forgiveness, mercy, and reconciliation in our judicial system policies. In 1988, the 200th General Assembly weighed in, saying, “individual Presbyterians and the entities of the General Assembly should . . . advocate a social order where compassion and justice characterize efforts toward those in the criminal justice system.”

Then, in 2003, the 215th General Assembly stated in a ‘Resolution Calling for the Abolition of For-Profit Private Prisons,’ “the ultimate goal of the criminal justice system should be restorative justice, addressing the hurts and the needs of the victim, the offender, and community in such a way that all might be healed.” 

These two pieces of legislation are important ways we can build more compassion and proportional justice into our federal criminal justice system.

Let your Senators and Representatives know you support smarter sentencing.

'Praying with Our Feet' by Young Adult Volunteer AmyBeth Willis

Originally Published in the April 2015 edition of Presbyterians Today in her column 'A Young Adult Volunteer's Journey.' Watch for her next column in the May edition of Presbyterians Today.

In early December I marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in the chilly air, joining thousands of others shouting: “We can’t breathe! We can’t breathe!” Marching alongside me were two YAV alumnae who attend Union Presbyterian Seminary and Marranda Major, another YAV in Washington. The march was one of numerous demonstrations across the nation that day to protest the deaths of black men at the hands of police officers. Together, we were praying with our feet.

YAV Alum Lauren Voyles and YAV Marranda Major
march for racial justice.

This was my second march in DC; my first came the day after Michael Brown’s killer, officer Darren Wilson, was not indicted. I was so rife with grief and anger that I needed to act. Two YAV alumnae and I marched through the city that evening, fusing our anger, frustration, and sense of loss with that of hundreds of others. During the march, I became aware that my anger comes from empathy, not experience. My white skin allows me to trust that a police officer won’t shoot me for merely walking down the street.

The Washington DC Young Adult Volunteer board decided that the YAV house should be in a neighborhood that reflects DC’s demographics, meaning that we six white women stand out on our block. The growing Black Lives Matter movement has reinforced our commitment to engage our neighbors. Do we know them beyond an occasional hello? Are we making a point to talk with them about their life experiences?

Black Lives Matter also inspired us to spend one of our community days discussing how civil rights leader Willie Baptist’s thoughts on nonviolent movements relate to today’s movement for racial equality. We were concerned about the mainstream media’s apparent bias against the current movement and therefore committed to reading news from perspectives of people of color. We discussed how to be white allies to the movement, particularly as young adults of faith.

Each of our placements touches on racial inequalities in this country: Emily Powers and Mallory Price work primarily with older black men who live on the streets. Marranda’s work with NEXT Church emphasizes the need for racial dialogue in the church. Emily Wilkes, a Lilly Fellow, engages mostly white youth at the Pilgrimage, a Presbyterian ministry of service learning, in discussions about race and urban poverty. The wide range of public policy issues that Jenny Hyde and I advocate for--through the PC(USA) Office of Public Witness -- are impacted by race.

After seeing the movie Selma, we reflected on the power of ordinary people to effect change. In 1965 in Selma, Alabama, people our age were at the helm, risking their very lives. John Lewis was 25 when he was almost beaten to death on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. His example, alongside thousands of others, beckoned us to question how much we were willing to sacrifice.

Our community has begun to learn about issues of affordable housing in our neighborhood through a local tenant organizer. The lack of access particularly affects people of color. On February 6, we toured our neighborhood, learning about the struggles to keep rents low. The next day, we attended the "Housing for All" rally in downtown DC to push for affordable housing in 2015.

In the coming months, we Young Adult Volunteers in the nation's capital will continue to discover what it means to pray with our feet, our voices, and our lives as we seek to live faithfully into our calling to "love mercy and do justice." Will you join us?

Make Federal Jobs Into Good Jobs

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness Director the Reverend J. Herbert Nelson Joins Hundreds of Striking Low-Wage Federal Contract Workers Calling on President Obama to Lead the Growing “Fight for $15” Movement

U.S. Federal Contract Workers Strike for to

Ask President to Sign Model Employer Executive Order   

Washington, DC – On Wednesday at 10am, the Reverend J. Herbert Nelson, Director of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness, joined U.S. Senate contract janitors and food service workers, who for the first time in history, walked off their jobs to protest poverty pay.   

The U.S Senate contract employees joined hundreds of striking workers from the U.S. Capitol, Pentagon, Smithsonian Institution and other federal landmarks, where private companies receive lucrative contracts to run food service, provide janitorial services, and much more.

Reverend Nelson and several other faith leaders joined with workers to call on President Obama to lead by example and champion the growing “Fight for 15” movement by signing Model Employer Executive Order that gives a preference to federal contractors who pay living wages of at least $15 an hour, provide decent benefits like paid leave, and allow them to collectively bargain so they need not go on strike to be heard.  

In his opening remarks, J. Herbert Nelson called for the President to make federal contract jobs good jobs. He called for fairness in our labor market – “The fairness that I speak of today is not about simply earning enough to make a living, but instead enough to build a life worth living – and a legacy to leave behind.”

Presbyterians can join with Reverend Nelson in standing with low-wage workers and against poverty wages. Click here to write a letter to the President.

Today, the federal contracting process awards contracts to the lowest bidder, making the government the largest low-wage job creator in the country, funding over 2 million poverty jobs through contracts, loans, and grants to private businesses. Taxpayer dollars should create good jobs that pay workers livable wages, provide benefits, paid sick leave, and dignity in the workplace. We know from past movements that Executive Orders related to federal contract hiring can lead the marketplace, creating a tide that lifts all workers and builds a stronger economy.

This will be the twelfth strike in two years by low-wage contract workers who are organizing under the banner of Good Jobs Nation. This is the second time in a year that Reverend Nelson has walked with these workers.  In response to previous strikes and Congressional gridlock, President Obama declared he would “lead by example” by signing executive orders to boost the minimum wage to $10.10 and end wage theft on federal contracts. In the wake of the President’s orders last year, the CEOs of private companies like The Gap, IKEA, McDonalds and Wal-Mart announced that they too would hike starting pay and several cities passed ordinances to end wage theft. 

However, just like the thousands of fast food worker who are calling for better pay, benefits, and working conditions, federal contract workers say they need “More than the Minimum” to survive. Even after President Obama’s executive orders, the U.S. Government continues to be America’s largest low-wage job creator. We can do so much better.

Reverend Nelson was joined in his solidarity with low-wage workers by several other religious leaders who wrote in a letter –

Dear Mr. President,

In the faith community, we believe that every person is a child of God, that God wants shalom, that is, peace and wholeness for each of us, and that there is inherent dignity in work and the fruits of labor.

As you know, our nation generates great abundance yet only a few among us share in the bounty. This growing gap between the wealthy and everyone else is not only a political issue, but also a moral one that we are compelled by conscience to address. Indeed, it is an affront to human dignity when hardworking men and women are deprived of fully enjoying the fruits of their labor and must struggle simply to feed, clothe and shelter themselves and their children…  

As leaders of faith communities in the United States, we express our gratitude to you for exercising moral leadership by using your executive powers to start lifting low-wage workers out of poverty.   Our faith traditions advocate for justice, and we recognize that your actions provide a firm foundation for rebuilding a more fair and equitable society. 

However, given the scale of human suffering caused by poverty jobs, we urge you to do even more to aid our nation’s most vulnerable workers by promoting living wage and benefit standards on federal contracts with the power of your pen.  We believe that if you lead on this, our economy and labor market will once again follow your lead.

We therefore call on you to issue a “Model Employer Executive Order” that provides a contracting preference for companies that pay living wages of at least $15 an hour, offer good benefits and paid-time off for sickness and care-giving, provide full-time hours and predictable work schedules, as well as promote the rights of workers to bargain collectively so they do not need to strike to have their voices heard.  

For the complete letter and list of signatures, please visit the Office of Public Witness blog.

To read J. Herbert Nelson’s remarks, as prepared, please visit the Office of Public Witness blog here.

Click here to view the video of J. Herbert Nelson’s remarks.

###

Parts of this article are excerpted from a Media Advisory published by Good Jobs Nation, an organization of low-wage federal contract workers who are calling on the President to end the U.S. Government’s role as America’s leading low-wage job creator. Good Jobs Nation is supported by national faith, labor and advocacy organizations including Change to Win, Interfaith Worker Justice, Progressive Congress, and the Campaign for America’s Future.   Learn more at www.goodjobsnation.org.

J. Herbert Nelson Stands with Striking workers, remarks as prepared

Opening Speech given by Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II,

Rally for a Good Jobs Nation

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

(remarks as prepared)

Today, I am happy to represent the faith community in affirming that all work matters and that all workers deserve a livable wage for the work that they do. We are here today to urge the President make federal contract jobs, good jobs – with livable wages, benefits, paid sick days, safe workplaces, reliable schedules, and the right to bargain collectively. We appreciate President Obama’s initial raise to $10.10 an hour when he bypassed Congress and acted on moral authority.

However, we stand with these striking government contract workers to declare that $10.10 is not enough. Our nation cannot boast of being the land of the free, while allowing companies to pay wages that enslave its citizens to debt, poverty and an inability to provide a decent living for themselves, their children and generations to come. The workers who we stand with today represent the hopes of current and prospective students; parents; children; spouses; and grandparents. They represent a lifeline of hope not only for themselves, but others who depend on them to assist their dreams, hopes and future possibilities.

I was deeply disturbed when we held a rally in front of Union Station last year to hear a grandmother declare that she wanted to retire, but could not live on what her anticipated retirement income would be. So, she keeps on working as she ages with no hope for retirement. It is not fair for someone to labor all of her life at a wage that keeps her working in poverty unto death. We are a better nation than that that!

I stand today as a follower of the Christian faith tradition. Jesus tells the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16) in response to Peter’s question in Matthew 19:27: "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?" Peter wanted to know what reward would be given to those who give up everything to follow Jesus. In response, Jesus explains this truth about the kingdom of heaven. I cannot help but notice that Jesus uses an example of equitable pay to give a resonance of Spirit to provide a Kingdom reality to the fair treatment of workers.

These day laborers waited for someone to hire them. And, they were hired at different times during the day. Some of these workers started their day at 9:00 am and others throughout the day. One group was even hired with only one hour left to work. At the end of their workday those who were hired last were paid first and all of the workers were paid the same wage irrespective of the time of day that they started or how many hours they worked. Jesus called it a daily wage. We who share The Lord’s prayer frame it in Jesus’ context as “daily bread.”

This parable reminds us that all work that upraises the dignity of a human being and furthers the cause of our earthly stewardship to the world God created is worthy of livable wage. In other words, a living wage is what Jesus is seeking. Jesus knew that people working poverty jobs everyday and living in poverty could not buy bread, butter or milk cheaper than those of us with more money to spend. Jesus knew that a woman who works the same job and makes less than a man could not build a similar future. Jesus knew that all work should be valued when it affirms the dignity and worth of a human being and advances the positive possibilities of a society. And, workers are striking out of a conviction that they ought to be paid fairly for the work that they do. The fairness that I speak of today is not simply enough to make a living, but instead enough to build a life worth living – and a legacy to leave behind.

In God’s Kingdom there are no “big I’s and little You’s.” We are all precious in the good Lord’s sight. Work should offer us our daily bread – enough to live peaceably while peacefully living.

We, the members of the faith community join these workers today by strongly urging the President to seize the moral high ground and do for these striking workers what our country has done for now profitable corporations since 2008. We raised the corporations’ wage through bailouts and tax breaks. But now I say – I want my tax dollars to create good jobs – with livable wages, benefits, paid sick days, safe workplaces, reliable schedules, and the right to bargain collectively for the good of the whole.

Stand now with those who depend upon wages from these same corporations who we incentivized and bailed out – to do business with the federal government, they must create good jobs, not poverty jobs. Stand now for the mother who needs to feed her children – the father who needs to put a roof over his family’s heads.

I want to share with the workers who begin striking today. Be aware that you do not walk alone. People of faith are here today and will be with you in the days ahead. The power of faith will guide you in the days ahead. The love of faith will embrace you when you feel you stand alone. The guidance of faith will direct you when the way seems long with no end in sight. The presence of faith will comfort you in your moments of disappointment. Don’t you give up on the one who made you and guides you even now.

Because the Good Lord knows that $10.10 is not enough!!!

Nelson Stands with Hundreds of Striking Workers

(stay tuned to this blog for more information about and photos of the demonstration)

Action Alert:

This morning, the Reverend J. Herbert Nelson, Director of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness, joined hundreds of striking workers – mostly janitors and food services workers – from the U.S. Capitol, Pentagon, Senate, Smithsonian Institution and other federal landmarks, as they walked off their jobs in protest of poverty pay.

Click here to write to the President and walk with low-wage workers too.

J. Herbert Nelson Marches with Good Jobs Nation Workers
in July 2014

The Reverend J. Herbert Nelson, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Director for Public Witness, and several other faith leaders joined with workers to call on President Obama to lead by example and champion the growing “Fight for 15” movement by signing Model Employer Executive Order that gives a preference to federal contractors who pay living wages of at least $15 an hour, provide decent benefits like paid leave, and allow them to collectively bargain so they need not go on strike to be heard.  

Today, the federal contracting process awards contracts to the lowest bidder, making the government the largest low-wage job creator in the country, funding over 2 million poverty jobs through contracts, loans, and grants to private businesses. Taxpayer dollars should create good jobs that pay workers livable wages, provide benefits, paid sick leave, and dignity in the workplace. We know from past movements that Executive Orders related to federal contract hiring can lead the marketplace, creating a tide that lifts all workers and builds a stronger economy.

This morning was the twelfth strike in two years by low-wage contract workers who are organizing under the banner of Good Jobs Nation. This is the second time in a year that Reverend Nelson has walked with these workers.  In response to previous strikes and Congressional gridlock, President Obama declared he would “lead by example” by signing executive orders to boost the minimum wage to $10.10 and end wage theft on federal contracts. In the wake of the President’s orders last year, the CEOs of private companies like The Gap, IKEA, McDonalds and Wal-Mart announced that they too would hike starting pay and several cities passed ordinances to end wage theft. 

However, just like the thousands of fast food worker who are calling for better pay, benefits, and working conditions, federal contract workers say they need “More than the Minimum” to survive. Even after President Obama’s executive orders, the U.S. Government continues to be America’s largest low-wage job creator. We can do so much better.

Reverend Nelson was joined in his solidarity with low-wage workers by several other religious leaders who wrote a letter to President Obama calling for his moral leadership in response to the suffering created by poverty wages –

We therefore call on you to issue a “Model Employer Executive Order” that provides a contracting preference for companies that pay living wages of at least $15 an hour, offer good benefits and paid-time off for sickness and care-giving, provide full-time hours and predictable work schedules, as well as promote the rights of workers to bargain collectively so they do not need to strike to have their voices heard.  

Click here to stand with Reverend Nelson and low-wage workers in calling on the President to use taxpayer dollars to create good jobs, not poverty jobs.

For the complete letter and list of signatures, please visit the Office of Public Witness blog.