National
MacArthur Grants Aimed at Reducing Numbers in US Jails
JAKE PEARSON, Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is giving 20 jails of all sizes $150,000 each to come up with ways to reduce the number of people unnecessarily behind bars.
The grants are the first step in the Chicago-based charitable group’s plan to spend $75 million over the next five years to bring more fairness to the criminal justice system.
“At the end of the day, what we’re talking about is systemic change,” said Julia Stasch, MacArthur’s president.
About 12 million people pass through the roughly 3,000 local jails in the U.S. every year, most for nonviolent offenses. MacArthur officials and others note that jails, which unlike state prisons mostly detain inmates who are pre-trial, have increasingly become warehouses for mentally ill people and those too poor to afford bail.
The selected corrections systems will design a plan and work with experts to coordinate judges, prosecutors, court administrators, police and corrections officials to make the criminal just system run more efficiently, Stasch said. From the 20, half will then be picked for a second round of funding of $500,000 to $2 million next year to put the plans in place.
The nation’s biggest jail systems in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago and Philadelphia were selected for the planning grants, as well as smaller lockups, such as the rural, 239-bed jail in Mesa, Colorado. In Pennington County, South Dakota, which is near the Pine Ridge reservation of the Oglala Lakota Tribe, the grant will go to the sheriff’s office and judicial officials to support drug courts, behavioral health programs and alternative sentences for juveniles.
MacArthur officials said the grants were awarded to counties addressing a host of criminal justice reforms, including the sometimes-conflicting missions of law enforcement agencies that can result in mistrust of the authorities and fairness of the courts.
To that end, jails in two cities at the center of high-profile deaths of black men by white police officers in the past year, in St. Louis County, Missouri, which includes Ferguson, as well as Charleston County, South Carolina, which includes North Charleston, will be receiving grants.
“Our bigger ambition than just reducing the population really goes to the fairness and equity of the system,” Stasch said. “We really believe that the hyper incarceration in this country really starts there in local cities and counties.”
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
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Barbara Lee
Congresswoman Barbara Lee Issues Statement on Deaths of Humanitarian Aid Volunteers in Gaza
On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12). “This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.
By California Black Media
On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12).
“This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.
The same day, it was confirmed by the organization that the humanitarian aid volunteers were killed in a strike carried out by Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Prior to the incident, members of the team had been travelling in two armored vehicles marked with the WCF logo and they had been coordinating their movements with the IDF. The group had successfully delivered 10 tons of humanitarian food in a deconflicted zone when its convoy was struck.
“This is not only an attack against WCK. This is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the direst situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said Erin Gore, chief executive officer of World Central Kitchen.
The seven victims included a U.S. citizen as well as others from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Palestine.
Lee has been a vocal advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza and has supported actions by President Joe Biden to airdrop humanitarian aid in the area.
“Far too many civilians have lost their lives as a result of Benjamin Netanyahu’s reprehensible military offensive. The U.S. must join with our allies and demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire – it’s long overdue,” Lee said.
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