Listen: Witness in Washington Webinar on Criminal Justice Reform

The movement for criminal justice reform has momentum on the national stage as bills that would reduce prison sentences and reduce the number of people going to prison make their way through the House and the Senate. The Office of Public Witness held a webinar to discuss what the proposed reforms would do, how they would impact the struggle for racial justice and equity in the US, and how the faith community has taken leadership to move these policies forward. 

Presenters:

Kara Gotsch

Director of Advocacy, Interfaith Criminal Justice Coalition

Alex Friedmann

Managing Editor, Prison Legal News and Advisor to PHEWA's Presbyterian Criminal Justice Network

Moderator: Nora Leccese

Associate for Domestic Poverty and Environmental Issues, Presbyterian Church USA

Listen to a link of the Webinar by following this link: https://pcusa.webex.com/pcusa/lsr.php?RCID=ae556b185672b3dd565641ae4cecbea9

Action Alert: Pass the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act

Urge your Senator to Support this Bi-Partisan Legislation

Click HERE to send a email to your Senator

Our beliefs direct us to protect the dignity and well-being of everyone impacted by the criminal justice system. That commitment extends to people who are victimized by crime, as well as to those who commit offenses. Current federal law demands harsh punishment for even low-level drug offenses. The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act seeks to restore proportionality and fairness to federal sentencing and aid in rehabilitation for people in prison. Tell your senators to support this bipartisan criminal justice reform legislation. 

The legislation has twenty six co-sponsors; if your Senator is among them consider thanking them for their commitment to justice and mercy. 

Sen. Durbin, Richard [D-IL]	10/01/2015
Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX]	10/01/2015
Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI]	10/01/2015
Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT]	10/01/2015
Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY]	10/01/2015
Sen. Graham, Lindsey [R-SC]	10/01/2015
Sen. Leahy, Patrick J. [D-VT]	10/01/2015
Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ]	10/01/2015
Sen. Scott, Tim [R-SC]	10/01/2015
Sen. Tillis, Thom [R-NC]	10/08/2015
Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]	10/08/2015
Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS]	10/21/2015
Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT]	10/21/2015
Sen. Flake, Jeff [R-AZ]	10/21/2015
Sen. Franken, Al [D-MN]	10/21/2015
Sen. Feinstein, Dianne [D-CA]	10/21/2015
Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN]	10/22/2015
Sen. Portman, Rob [R-OH]	10/26/2015
Sen. Paul, Rand [R-KY]	11/04/2015
Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA]	11/04/2015
Sen. Burr, Richard [R-NC]	11/09/2015
Sen. Kaine, Tim [D-VA]	11/09/2015
Sen. Roberts, Pat [R-KS]	11/10/2015
Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY]	11/10/2015
Sen. Ernst, Joni [R-IA]	11/17/2015
Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA]	11/17/2015 Thanks to the Interfaith Criminal Justice Coalition for their thoughtful language in this Action Alert.  Click HERE to send a email to your Senator

Register Now for Advocacy Training Weekend

“Lift Every Voice: Racism, Class, and Power”

ADVOCACY TRAINING WEEKEND 2016

APRIL 15–18, 2016

Compassion Peace and Justice Training Day - April 15

Ecumenical Advocacy Days
April 15-18

Registration Link: https://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/washington/advocacy-training-weekend-2016/

In our neighborhoods and around the world, social, economic, corporate, and political powers are working to reduce citizens’ access to decision-making. These practices violate the rights and silence the voices of those most affected by these decisions and severely hamper the ability of all citizens to determine the best policies for our communities and nations. As Christians, God calls us to lift up all voices so that we the people might regain influence in the policies that affect our nation and our world. Come to Advocacy Training Weekend April 15-18 and lift up your voice for transparent and participatory government at home and abroad.

At Compassion Peace and Justice Training Day, we will take a look at how Presbyterians are working to address the suppression of political and economic rights of people of color, immigrants, workers, and the poor in our own country and abroad. We will examine how decisions that affect the global economy, our day-to-day life, and the well-being of the entire global community are being made in secret with little or no transparency or accountability.

Join the ecumenical community for Ecumenical Advocacy Days, beginning the evening of Friday April 15^th and culminating with a lobby day on Monday April 18^th. Lift up your voice alongside other people of faith as you speak truth to power concerning the suppression of political and economic rights and the corporate undermining of the local voices of ordinary people, in the U.S. and around the world.

GENERAL INFORMATION

COMPASSION PEACE AND JUSTICE TRAINING DAY

·       Date: Friday, April 15, 2016

·       Time: 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

·       Location: New York Avenue Presbyterian Church (1313 New York Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.)

·       Cost: $75 (CPJ Day, not attending EAD), $55 (CPJ Day, also attending EAD), $30 (CPJ Day, students/youth under 30) (Prices will go up $10 after February 1, 2016)

ECUMENICAL ADVOCACY DAYS

·       Date: Friday, April 15 - Monday, April 18, 2016

·       Time: Begins at 7:00pm  April 15

·       Location: Crystal City Double Tree (300 Army-Navy Drive)

·       Cost: $199 (Early Bird Registration through March 18), $215 (Registration after March 18), $110 (One-day registration)

OPW Hosts Reverend Peter Gai of South Sudan Council of Churches

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 2 Corinthians 5:18 (NRSV)

In mid-October, the Office of Public Witness was honored to host the President of the South Sudan Council of Churches, Rev. Peter Gai.   Rev. Gai also serves at the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan.

Rev. Gai brought a message of peace and a pledge from the churches of South Sudan to be a

vehicle for peace in that war torn country.  Rev. Gai participated in a congressional briefing and met with high-level officials in the State Department, USAID, and the National Security Council.  He also met with the Sudan Working Group of the United States Institute of Peace and briefed the Washington Interfaith Staff Community.  In all of these meetings, Rev. Gai emphasized that the churches in South Sudan were ready to work for peace and that the church in South Sudan is the only institution that has the trust of the people and can reach them on a grassroots level.  He stressed that the church stands as one, that it is not part of the current crisis and it is willing to help to solve the crisis.

Since the conflict in South Sudan began in 2013, over 1.6 million people have been displaced and over 600,000 more have become refugees fleeing in neighboring countries.  The number of severely food insecure people has increased to 3.9 million.  In a United Nations rights report released earlier this year, the agency warned of widespread human rights abuses, including gang-rape and torture. The report was based on 115 victims and eyewitnesses from the northern state of Unity, scene of some of the heaviest recent fighting in the 18-month-long civil war notable for its new brutality and intensity.

The escalating violence has forced many aid agencies to relocate staff and suspend programs in South Sudan’s Unity State. Aid agencies have been forced to stop their life-saving interventions. As a result, the United Nations has reported that an estimated 40,000 people in southern and central Unity may be facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity and malnutrition from October to December 2015. Humanitarian partners have alerted that, unless unrestricted humanitarian access is urgently granted, food insecurity could deteriorate to famine in parts of Unity State, such as Leer, Guit, Koch and Mayendit.

The Greater Upper Nile area is the area of South Sudan in which the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan is predominant and the area of South Sudan on which Presbyterian Ministry has focused for over 100 years.

While the church can help with reconciliation, it can only begin once the fighting has stopped and aid can be sent to the hardest hit regions of South Sudan.  The United States

can help by urging full and unhindered humanitarian access to the most vulnerable, including in hard-to-reach areas. Factions in the conflict have blocked access to humanitarian aid, leaving millions of people food insecure, some on the brink of starvation. The United States should do everything in its power to pressure both sides of the conflict to allow aid to reach those who need it most.

Welcoming Mara Sawdy, New Young Adult Volunteer at the OPW

This upcoming year, I am serving as a Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) in the exciting city of Washington, D.C.! I am currently living simply in the city with my fellow D.C. YAVs as I work at Miriam’s Kitchen and the Office of Public Witness with the Presbyterian Church. The goal at Miriam’s Kitchen is to end chronic homelessness. Miriam’s provides guests with a meal, an art program, and access to various services. When I am there, I get to help people fill out paperwork to get vital records that they may need, help them search for jobs, and get to sit and listen to their stories. The job can be extremely challenging, but it is also immensely rewarding. One day, I helped a guest apply to various jobs on the computer. The next day I saw the same guest at a bus stop, and he gave me the biggest smile and thanked me yet again for all of my help. The Office of Public Witness is the public policy information and advocacy office of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Its task is to advocate, and help the church to advocate, the social witness perspectives and policies of the Presbyterian General Assembly. I recently attended a strike of low-wage federal contract workers to protest poverty pay. The entire time I was present at the strike, I felt such a feeling of unity and strength. Hearing the stories of those striking brought me to tears. It has been in small moments like these, whether a smile and thank you from a guest or experiencing the unity of those suffering, where I see God at work.

Mara Sawdy is a Young Adult Volunteer from West Newton, Pennsylvania. Mara is a recent graduate of Westminster College where she majored in environmental science with a minor in peace studies. Growing up, she attended West Newton United Presbyterian Church, where her grandfather served as a minister for 25 years. While at school she was involved in model United Nations, served as a member of the Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring, and interned at the Silk Road Fair Trade Market. Mara enjoys reading Agatha Christie novels, Downton Abbey, and visiting the various museums in D.C.

Action Alert: Protect Sanctuary Cities. Oppose Anti-Immigrant Attacks in the Senate

This Tuesday, October 20, the Senate will take up an anti-immigrant bill called the Stop Sanctuary Policies and Protect Americans Act that would withhold federal funding from so-called “sanctuary cities,” where  local law enforcement exercise discretion when inquiring about a person’s immigration status.  The bill would also introduce up to ten year mandatory minimum sentences for certain undocumented immigrants.   The bill is opposed by the faith community because it would harm communities by creating a fearful relationship between immigrants and local police. It would also force local law enforcement to spend valuable resources targeting law-abiding members of their communities instead of protecting citizens from harm.  Finally, the faith community opposes mandatory minimum sentencing requirements because they are unjust.   

  Please write to your Senators in advance of this potentially dangerous hearing to ask them to oppose S. 2146, the Stop Sanctuary Policies and Protect Americans Act introduced by Senators David Vitter (R-LA) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ).  We must stand in solidarity with our immigrant sisters and brothers seeking a better life for themselves and their families.

  The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has affirmed its support for immigrants many times. The 221^st General Assembly (2014) affirmed the formation of the Presbyterian Immigrant Defense Initiative, a campaign to “empower Presbyterians to work to change policies and practices that infringe on the human and civil rights of immigrants in our communities including immigrant detention, streamlined deportation, and the executing of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by local law enforcement.”

  In the book of Matthew, Jesus is asked what is the greatest commandment of all. He answers, “'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Join us in loving and protecting our neighbors and raise your voice against anti-immigrant policies.

Click here to contact your Senators today,