#jailreform

The effort to secure the signatures needed to move the needle on healthcare, human rights, and dignity for some of the County's most vulnerable and targeted residents was led by Patrisse Khan Cullors and Jasmyne Cannick -- and bolstered by the community organizing work undertaken by Dignity and Power Now, which Khan-Cullors co-founded, and Justice LA, a broad coalition of organizations dedicated to reforming Los Angeles's criminal justice system. It was the first time in the County's history that a ballot initiative had been successfully advanced by two Black women and a stunning gathering of family members and survivors who bore painful witness to harms that had been visited upon their loved ones.

“I do this work not only as a woman who has been a community organizer and strategist for two decades, but as a sister,” said Patrisse Khan Cullors. "My brother Monte has lived with psychiatric illness and has never hurt another human being. But he was brutalized in the LA County Jails and no one was held accountable. No one should have to go through what he went through, what my parents went through. What I did,” she continued.   

“But with 25 percent of the people incarcerated in the LA County jails living with psychiatric disorder, it won't end unless we demand that it end. This is the concluding arc of work begun in 2016 with the establishment of the Civilian Oversight Commission that was led by community efforts. And it's also part of a larger moment of reckoning with our law enforcement community given that the voters will also be voting for the next D.A.”

In March of 2020, as voters make their voices heard about how they want to see people receive an expanse of care, not the breadth of our ability to bully, so too will they have the chance to make their voices heard about what they expect from their local D.A., Jackie Lacey. Lacey has come under significant criticism for her failure to prosecute even one member of law enforcement who used lethal force against unarmed people -- despite the hundreds of civilians that have been killed by Los Angeles police during Lacey's tenure.

Earlier this year, Lacey refused to file manslaughter charges against LAPD officer Clifford Proctor for killing Brendon Glenn, an unarmed Black man, in 2015 -- as even LAPD Chief Charlie Beck recommended that she do so. Her inaction prompted a statement from the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, with staff attorney Melanie Ochoa saying, "[Lacey's] decision suggests that no matter how egregious an officer's conduct is, no matter the evidence she has before her, she does not intend to hold any officer accountable for unnecessarily and inexplicably shooting a member of the public.”

“Ultimately,” said Khan Cullors, "these are all public servants who voters have trusted with the responsibility of safeguarding all of our health and safety. They have violated that trust. They have to answer for that failure.”

Lamia El-Sadek, managing director of Dignity and Power Now, agreed and added, “At a time when there is an increase in psychiatric illness throughout California and the nation, one would think that we would seek to be compassionate, proactive and just, plain smart in our decision-making. We know that investing in care upfront decreases harm to all and is, frankly, fiscally responsible. The cost of not caring for our people is not something Californians can afford -- physically, spiritually, or economically. The people of California have already led the way in compassion and evidence-based policies with initiatives like Proposition 47. We should continue to be a beacon for all our residents -- and the nation,” Sadek concluded.  

Martin Luther King once called on us to act in the fierce moment of now. That moment, that fierce moment of now, called forward by survivors is upon the residents of Los Angeles County. They have the power to demonstrate before the nation a powerful truth: if compassion and fiscally sound public health and safety measures can be centered in a county that is home to the largest jail system in the U.S., then it can take hold anywhere.

ACTIONS:

Read the full text of the Reform Jails and Community Reinvestment Initiative.

Learn more about the work being done in Los Angeles by visiting the sites for Reform LA Jails and Dignity and Power Now.

Investigate and support jail reform initiatives in your own city.

If you're an LA resident, get out in March 2020 and vote! 

Thank you to Patrisse Khan Cullors and Lamia El-Sadek for their comments.