Online Resources
The American Friends Service Committee
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Quaker organization
dedicated to promoting principles of nonviolence and justice through
their service work and peace programs around the world. The AFSC
responds to issues related to war, poverty and injustice and seeks to
transform oppressive institutions in society through peaceful means.
Break the Chains
Break the Chains works to build a national movement within communities
of color against punitive drug policies, with the ultimate aim of
enacting alternative policies that promote racial justice, public
health, and human rights. They hope to increase awareness that drug
addiction is a disease, not a crime, and to reduce the stigma attached
to it by working to promote drug treatment as a positive human right. In
addition, Break the Chains seeks to increase access to treatment outside
the criminal justice system for low-income people of color and to
promote a range of harm-reducing approaches to deal with drug abuse and
addiction.
Changing Minds
Since 1994, over 350 college in prison programs have been shut down,
leaving fewer than a dozen still functioning. Changing Minds issues
reports on the effects of a college curriculum on prisoners and on the
general prison environment. In particular, they analyze the ways in
which college affects a female inmate's experience, how it impacts her
children, as well as the long term effects of college on her economic,
social, and civil engagement. Those at Changing Minds believe that it is
important to document the consequences of the current public policy and
to evaluate the benefits of a college in prison program.
Criminal Justice Program, Brennan Center for Justice
The Brennan Center for Justice is a non-partisan public policy and law
institute that focuses on the fundamental issues of democracy and
justice. Their work ranges from voting rights to redistricting reform,
from access to the courts to presidential power in the fight against
terrorism. A singular institution—part think tank, part public
interest law firm, part advocacy group—the Brennan Center combines
scholarship, legislative and legal advocacy in its effort to promote
change in the public sector.
Critical Resistance
Critical Resistance aims to build an international movement to end the
Prison Industrial Complex by challenging the belief that caging people
makes for safer communities. Their long term goal is to completely
abolish the Prison Industrial Complex, while they also emphasize the
current need for alternative punishments for criminals. They identify
themselves as part of the global struggle against injustice and
powerlessness and believe that the government funds used for prisons
should be spent on education, housing and health care.
INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence
INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence is a national activist
organization comprising of radical feminists of color who work toward
ending violence against women of color and their communities through
direct action, critical dialogue and grassroots organizing. INCITE!
focuses on "violence directed at communities" such as police violence,
war, and colonialism and "violence within communities" such as rape and
domestic abuse.
Justice Now
Justice Now works to end violence against women and to abolish the
prison system. They believe that the current prison system is damaging
to the people it imprisons and to the communities affected by it. In
addition, this organization functions as the first teaching law clinic
in the country solely focused on the needs of women prisoners and
provides legal services for them, such as compassionate release, heath
care access, defense of parental rights, sentencing mitigation, and
placement in community-based programs.
Moratorium 2000
Founded by Dead Man Walking author Sister Helen Prejean, Moratorium 2000
is an organization that works toward the complete abolition of the death
penalty. Through a series of petitions and public lectures, Sister Helen
Prejean and the other members of Moratorium 2000 attempt to educate
people about the killing currently taking place in America's prisons.
They use evidence such as the growing number of innocent people
exonerated from death row and the fact that various states are
considering moratoriums to support their claims. Moratorium 2000
contests that the current prison system is seriously flawed and that the
only way to correct this wrongdoing is through the abolition of the
death penalty.
Penal Reform International
Penal Reform International is a non-governmental organization working on
penal and criminal justice reform worldwide. PRI seeks to achieve penal
reform by abolishing the death penalty, reducing the use of imprisonment
worldwide, ensuring that human rights are upheld, and using
non-custodial sanctions to support the social reintegration of
prisoners. They work in conjunction with penal reform activists, NGO's,
and inter-governmental organizations such as the United Nations.
Prison Activist Resource Center
The Prison Activist Resource Center (PARC) is a prison abolitionist
group committed to exposing and challenging the institutionalized racism
of the Prison Industrial Complex. They work with current and previously
incarcerated prisoners, as well as their families and friends, to
provide practical support and solidarity. In addition, PARC educates
teachers and activists on prison issues in order to build action
networks that expose the human rights violations occurring in prisons.
Prison Moratorium Project
Founded in 1995, the Prison Moratorium Project is an organization
dedicated to abolishing the prison system and exploring alternate forms
of punishment. As part of the larger anti-prison movement, this
organization promotes a revolution in thinking about crime and
punishment, rather than seeking reforms within the already-broken
system. Comprised of activists, community members and formerly
incarcerated people, the Prison Moratorium Project is focused on
reacting to the current injustices of the prison system and educating
the public about governmental responses to crime.
Queers for Economic Justice
Queers for Economic Justice is a progressive non-profit organization
committed to promoting economic justice in a context of sexual and
gender liberation. Their goal is to challenge and change the systems
that create poverty and economic injustice in their communities, and to
promote an economic system that embraces sexual and gender diversity.
Queers for Economic Justice believe in the interconnections between
multiple oppressions that perpetuate economic injustice and they work to
eradicate them through grassroots organizing, public education,
advocacy, research, legal action, leadership development and coalition
building with gay rights and economic justice organizations.
Sista II Sista
Based in Brooklyn, Sista II Sista is a community organization comprised
of working class Black and Latina women who are dedicated to fighting
for justice and creating alternatives to the current system by making
social, cultural and political change. Completely non-hierarchical, this
organization seeks to teach young women about leadership using a
holistic approach and encourages their members to imagine a different
world for their community.
Sylvia Rivera Law Project
The Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP) works to guarantee that all people
are free to self-determine their gender identity and expression,
regardless of income or race, and without facing harassment,
discrimination, or violence. They seek to increase the political voice
and visibility of low-income people of color who are transgender,
intersex, or gender non-conforming. SRLP works to improve access to
respectful and affirming social, health, and legal services for our
communities. The members of SRLP believe that in order to create
meaningful political participation and leadership, all people must have
access to basic means of survival and safety from violence.
Transgender, Gender Variant, and Intersex Justice Project
The Transgender, Gender Variant and Intersex Justice Project's (TGIJP)
mission is to challenge and end the human rights abuses committed
against transgender, gender variant/genderqueer and intersex (TGI)
people in California prisons and beyond. Recognizing that poverty born
from pervasive discrimination and marginalization of TGI people is a
major underlying cause of why TGI people end up in prison, TGIJP uses
innovative combinations of direct services and community organizing to
support the leadership development of the TGI communities.
Women in Prison
Women in Prison (WIP) is a British organization working with women at
risk of going to prison, in prison and after release to promote their
resettlement, personal development, education and training. They work to
educate the public and policy makers about women in the criminal justice
system and promote alternatives to custody. WIP highlights the unique
experiences of women prisoners and seeks to make those experiences known
to the greater population. In addition, WIP functions as an advocacy
group that often works in conjunction with other prison reform and
women's organizations.
Women's Prison Association
Women's Prison Association (WPA) is a service and advocacy organization
committed to helping women with criminal justice histories realize new
possibilities for themselves and their families. The services provided
by the WPA make it possible for women to obtain work, housing, and
health care; to rebuild their families; and to participate fully in
civic life. Through the Institute on Women & Criminal Justice, WPA
pursues a rigorous policy, advocacy, and research agenda to bring new
perspectives to public debates on women and criminal justice.
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