Imagine being behind bars right now because you can’t afford bail or had to drive on a suspended license to get to your job. Overcrowding in jails and prisons means that you're likely double or triple bunked, with shared access to showers, phones, vending machines and other facilities. Staff cycle in and out of the prison, potentially bringing the virus in (and then taking it home) every single day.

There is no one to protect you, and no way for you to protect yourself.

Tune into our Real Justice Demands Smart Justice discussion May 13.

Listen to formerly incarcerated community organizers share their experience during the ACLU’s Real Justice Demands Smart Justice town hall on May 13 6 p.m CST. They’ve all experienced life behind bars and then became organizers to reform our criminal legal system.

Coronavirus forced the nation to pause, but the reality is that many Americans have their lives disrupted every day by systemic racism and our broken criminal legal system. Criminal justice reform was important before and is now more important than ever. Join the conversation.

Panelists:

• Sean Wilson, Smart Justice Statewide Organizer for the ACLU of Wisconsin
• Elizer Darris, Organizer for the ACLU of Minnesota
• Kristie Puckett Williams, Statewide Campaign for Smart Justice Manager for the ACLU of North Carolina
• Richard Griffin, Grand Rapids Field Organizer for the ACLU of Michigan’s Smart Justice campaign
• Jarrett M. Adams, Attorney and criminal justice reform advocate
• Johnny Perez, Director of the U.S. Prison Program for the National Religious Campaign Against Torture
• Dominique Walker, Criminal justice reform advocate, Dallas, Texas
• Erika Pettus, Smart Justice Campaign Advocate for ACLU of Kentucky

If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to Elizer Darris at edarris@aclu-mn.org.

The ACLU Campaign for Smart Justice is a multi-year effort to reduce the U.S. jail and prison population by 50% and to combat racial disparities in the criminal justice system. Our fight to end mass incarceration and eliminate racism in the criminal legal system is focused on ending cash bail, identifying and reducing prosecutorial abuse of discretion, and advocating for new laws in state legislatures. In addition to working to reverse the tide of overincarceration, we also seek to protect constitutional rights, eliminate racial disparities, and increase government accountability and transparency. Our panel will include Smart Justice organizers from Minnesota, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Kentucky and Michigan.