Empowering You January 2019 Newsetter

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JANUARY 2019 NEWSLETTER The Time is Right: Criminal Justice Reform In Missouri By Christine Woody, Staff Lead for Criminal Justice 2018 has proven to be a successful year regarding Empower Missouri’s work on criminal justice. During the 2018 legislative session, Empower Missouri was intimately involved in the Raise the Age Coalition. This coalition included advocates across Missouri united in the goal of raising the age of juvenile jurisdiction from 17 to 18 years of age. Research shows that this change can both save lives (due to the high rate of suicide by youth in adult prisons) and lead to better outcomes around future employment and stable lives. To learn more about the Raise the Age issue, visit the website: www.raisetheage.com. Because of the tireless work of Empower Missouri, the rest of the coalition members, as well as that of our Legislative champions, Rep. Nick Schroer and Sen. Wayne Wallingford, the Raise the Age bill passed and was signed by the Governor on June 1, 2018! Missouri became the 46 th state to adopt the standard of 18 years of age for prosecution as an adult. Because of the success that we saw with Raise the Age in 2018 and because the state must act quickly to avoid the expense of building and operating new prisons, Empower Missouri leaders believe significant progress on criminal justice reform is currently possible. We decided to spearhead the creation of a new statewide coalition to work on additional criminal justice reform measures and convened an initial meeting of advocates and organizations, including formerly incarcerated persons, on August 30th in Jefferson City. We invited Nicole D. Porter from The Sentencing Project in Washington, DC, to join us at the meeting to discuss criminal justice reforms other states have adopted that have reduced incarceration without a loss of public safety. (Nicole gave a public presentation on this topic for our Central Missouri-Lincoln University Chapter the night before the meeting, and some legislators sent staff to this lecture.) Molly Gill of Families Against Mandatory Minimums also joined the August 30 meeting by telephone. Since the coalition launch, members have met with many key policy makers and leaders in the Missouri criminal justice system to share our ideas for 2019. We continue to research and discuss possible changes such as increasing the felony theft threshold, passing an elder parole bill, adopting “clean slate” legislation, ending cash bail, and/or reforming or reducing the use of mandatory minimums. We are optimistic that positive changes to our criminal justice system are possible in the coming year. To become a part of the Smart Sentencing Coalition, contact me at christine@empowermissouri.org . EMPOWERING YOU | 06
JANUARY 2019 NEWSLETTER Justice Advocacy Is Growing In Southeast Missouri Too By Tracy Morrow, Southeast Missouri Health Organizer As 2018 comes to an end, it’s a great time to reflect on education and advocacy that Empower Missouri has been able to generate in Southeast Missouri this past year. We have been working hard to help residents of the Bootheel know how to take action that will make an important difference related to access to basic human needs and fairness. Many residents of the Bootheel struggle with lack of affordable housing and even experience homelessness. With this in mind, we held events in centrally located areas to discuss these problems and how, as a community, we could respond. With the understanding that many circumstances lead to homelessness, Empower Missouri collaborated with both Poplar Bluff and Cape Girardeau to hold community events to provide a wide array of services in one location. These events were a big success and brought the issue to the forefront of people’s minds in those communities. Local legislators were invited to these events to ensure that policymakers understand what the people in their counties are facing. Our resource fairs consisted of organizations like the Missouri Food Bank, organizations that help with housing, agencies that help people navigate the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) application online, those who aid in getting birth certificates, groups that offer health screenings and much more. There were even groups providing essential items such as showers, haircuts and clean clothes. We also did a lot of work regarding the Farm Bill. Many households in the Bootheel, about one out of six, are receiving SNAP benefits. Many of these households have children residing in them. With the loss of benefits these, families would face more economic challenges, causing them to have to choose between the many things the families may need. The harsh work-hourtracking requirements would also put a strain on the people in Southeast Missouri because of the lack of jobs and transportation. The events we held helped people understand the intricacies of the bill. We explained the percentages of people who receive benefits, the amount of people who work and what would happen to people who lost their benefits, including who would be impacted most. We can’t forget the “Voter Protection” constitutional amendment that was passed in 2016. The new law that came out of this has caused a lot of confusion and frustration for the people of Southeast Missouri. To help people understand their voting rights, we held educational events to explain what the new rules meant, what people needed to be able to vote, and voter registration deadlines. Empower Missouri still believes this amendment was about voter suppression, not protection, and we continue to work with the Voter Protection Coalition to repeal it. Much of my focus is building relationships with communities since there is so much that we can achieve together that we cannot do alone. In addition, we want people in the Bootheel to understand the importance of making their voices heard in the state capital. In November, Empower Missouri hosted an advocacy training that was very well attended. We were fortunate to have JMO come from our Jefferson City headquarters to present. Both employees of agencies and private citizens came to learn about advocacy. Many people showed an interest in working in the local Southeast Missouri chapter, leading us to have high hopes for next year and the work we will continue to do. We believe good things will be coming for the Bootheel next year because of our increased unity and advocacy skills. Tracy@empowermissouri.org EMPOWERING YOU | 07
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