2022

2021 

2020 

• December 17, 2020 – Signed Open Society Foundation sign-on letter to the Biden/Harris administration urging them to addressing school discipline and reverse many of the flawed and racist policies and actions of the Trump administration on public education.

• December 9, 2020 – Signed Unlock the Box’s transition letter to the Biden/Harris administration urging them to make ending solitary confinement an early priority.

• December 3, 2020 – Signed letter to Senator Warren and Rep. Pressley in support of the COVID-19 in Corrections Data Transparency Act (S. 4536/H.R. 7983). The bill requires the collection and reporting of key data on the spread and effect of coronavirus within all of the nation’s correctional facilities. 

• December 1, 2020 – Signed Children Thrive Action Network’s (CTAN) federal transition priority recommendations regarding the wellbeing of children of immigrants to be shared with the Biden-Harris transition team. These federal transition recommendations lay out shared priorities for COVID relief and early actions across immigration enforcement, health, education, nutrition, and economic security.

• November 23, 2020 – Signed onto letter of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights urging Members of Congress to co-sponsor the Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act (S. 4360).

• November 6, 2020 – Signed onto letter urging Congress to quickly pass what is referred to as the “deposits fix,” allowing receipts from federal deferred and non-prosecution agreements to flow into the Crime Victims Fund to prevent devastating cuts to federal funding for victim service programs through the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA).

• September 16, 2020 – Signed unto letter from the Vera Institute of Justice to Rep. Pressley and Sen. Warren supporting the bill they introduced, COVID-19 in Corrections Data Transparency Act (H.R. 7983/S. 4536), requiring the collection and reporting of key data on the spread and effect of coronavirus within all of the nation’s correctional facilities

• September 10, 2020 – Signed onto Unlock the Box letter to the CDC urging them to issue clear guidance on reducing inmate population and reducing the spread of COVID-19 in facilities. Sept. 8, 2020 – Signed onto CLASP letter to Congress urging that immigrants and their families be included in the next COVID-19 legislative relief package.

• September 8, 2020 – Signed onto CLASP letter to Congress urging that immigrants and their families be included in the next COVID-19 legislative relief package.

• September 3, 2020 – Signed onto open letter to Senate leadership urging them to include prison phone justice in the next stimulus package. The COVID-19 Compassion and Martha Wright Prison Phone Justice Act, which passed as part of the HEROES Act (H.R. 6800), and its bipartisan Senate analog, Martha Wright Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act (S. 1764), would: (1) establish the FCC's authority to regulate all prison and jail calls, (2) set interim rate caps to $0.04/min for prepaid calls and $0.05/min for collect calls, and (3) prohibit site commissions. 
  
  
• August 13, 2020 – Signed onto a letter by the Legal Action Center to Congressional leadership asking that they include the Medicaid Reentry Act in the next legislative COVID-19 package. If passed, the Medicaid Reentry Act (included in the HEROES Act) would allow Medicaid to provide health care in the last 30 days of incarceration to improve outcomes for individuals returning to the community.

•  August 13, 2020 – Signed onto a letter led by the Leadership Conference for Civil & Human Rights (LCCHR) to Congressional leadership urging for a vote on the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment & Expungement (MORE) Act in September. The MORE Act would remove marijuana from the list of Schedule 1 drugs under the Controlled Substances Act, thus decriminalizing the substance at the federal level and enabling states to set their own policy. 

• August 10, 2020 – Signed on to a joint report by the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center of Howard University and the Criminal Justice Policy Program of Harvard Law School on COVID-19 recommendations. The report, entitled “The Contradiction of Colorblind COVID-19 Relief: Black America in the Age of Pandemic,” asks Congress to ensure COVID-19 relief sufficiently addresses the harms being done to the Black community.

• July 29, 2020 – Signed on to endorse the Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act which prohibits federal funding of school-based law enforcement and provides funding for positive supports instead. Senators Murphy (D-CT) and Warren (D-MA) introduced the bill in the Senate and Representatives Omar (D-MN) and Pressley (D-MA) introduced the bill in the House.

• July 28, 2020 – Signed on to endorse the FAMILIES Act, which would create a Parenting Sentencing Alternative (PSA) for parents and caregivers. Under the FAMILIES Act, federal judges would be able to divert parents and caregivers from incarceration into a comprehensive program that would better serve them, their families, and society by offering resources, services, and training that would meet their unique needs.

• July 27, 2020 – Signed onto a letter organized by The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, that asks Congress to honor the life of John Lewis by passing the Voting Rights Advancement Act and the election provisions of the HEROES Act.

• July 8, 2020 – Signed onto a letter to Chairwoman Maloney, Chairwoman Lowey, and Ranking Members Comer and Granger, organized by Civil Rights Corps, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and other partner organizations. The letter expresses opposition to Operation Relentless Pursuit (ORP), a program that encourages the criminalization and over-policing of Black and Brown communities. The letter also urges Congress to evaluate the efficacy and racially inequitable effects of ORP.

• June 12, 2020 – Joined other organizations in signing onto the Civil Rights Principles for Safe, Healthy, and Inclusive School Climates, led by The Leadership Conference Education Fund, to be shared with Members of Congress to ensure Black children and all children are treated fairly in the nation’s schools. 

• June 8, 2020 – Signed onto a letter organized by Act4JJ opposing the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s (OJJDP) guidance that asserted keeping young people in detention was a safer alternative to release during Covid-19. The letter asks Sen. McConnell, Sen. Schumer, Rep. Pelosi, and Rep. McCarthy to hold oversight hearings to address OJJDP’s inaction. 

• June 3, 2020 – Signed onto a letter organized by The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights to Attorney General Barr requesting the DOJ open a federal civil rights investigation into Breonna Taylor’s death, participate in an investigation into the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department for its potential systemic constitutional violations, and for the DOJ to take action to investigate unconstitutional policing nationwide. 

• June 3, 2020 – Signed onto a letter organized by The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights to Attorney General Barr requesting the DOJ be transparent about its findings from the FBI’s criminal investigation into George Floyd’s death, participate in an investigation of the Minneapolis Police Department, and take action to investigate unconstitutional policing nationwide.  

• June 2, 2020 – Signed onto the Council of State Governments Justice Center letter to Congressional leadership asking for inclusion of funding for supplemental prisoner re-entry programs in the next COVID-19 relief package.  

• May 15, 2020 - NJJN signed onto comment drafted by Citizens for Juvenile Justice (CFJJ) directed to the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) regarding their interim final rule (the “Rule”) implementing the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) authorized in the CARES act (Public Law 116-136). See 85 Fed. Reg. 20811. The comment asks the SBA to rectify their improper denial of access to the PPP based on a loan applicant’s involvement with the criminal legal system. April 20, 2020 - Sign-on letter (coming soon) organized by the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) urging Congress to include immigrant families and children in the next COVID-19 relief package to ensure that millions of children in mixed-status immigrant families are able to benefit from critical health and economic assistance.

• February 20, 2020 - NJJN signed onto the list of organizations supporting the Disability Integration Act. It is intended to ensure that people with disabilities can live in the community rather than be forced into nursing facilities and other institutions. 

• February 18, 2020 -  Sign on letter to congressional appropriations leaders requesting $105 million in funding for the Reintegration of Ex-Offenders (RExO) program in the FY21 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill. RExO provides reentry and workforce development services to individuals (including young people) with criminal records.

• February 18, 2020 -  Act4JJ sign on letter to the leaders of the Subcommittees on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies asking for strong funding for juvenile justice and delinquency prevention programs for FY21 to ensure that implementation of the updated JJDPA is successful.  

• February 18, 2020 -  Sign on letter to the leaders of the House and Senate Subcommittees on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies thanking them for continued funding and funding increases for innocence and forensic science programs in the FY20 appropriations bill and asking for strong funding in FY21.

• January 27, 2020 - Sign on letter initiated by the Drug Policy Alliance to the House calling for a bar on mandatory minimums, and a study analyzing the public health and public safety impacts of the temporary extension.

• January 15, 2020 - Stakeholder sign-on letter initiated by National Criminal Justice Association to Attorney General Barr asking for strong funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) in the FY21 budget. 

• January 14, 2020 - Sign on letter to Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler requesting a mark-up for H.R. 5053, the Justice for Juveniles Act. The Justice for Juveniles Act would exempt youth from the onerous requirements of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) and ensure youth can access justice when they suffer harm. 

• January 8, 2020 - Stakeholder sign-on thank you letter initiated by National Criminal Justice Association thanking congressional appropriations leaders for the strong funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) program included in the FY20 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies bill. 

2019