In this issue…
Making Sense of Bail Reform in New York
Connecticut: A Community Conversation on Health, Equity, and Justice
Making Sense of Bail Reform in New York
Rikers Island Jail Complex, operated by the New York City Department of Correction.
As you likely know, we are so close to passing bail reform in New York. It looks like there are agreements on discovery reform and speedy trial reform, however bail reform remains in negotiations between the Assembly, Senate, and Governor Cuomo even now. The budget is due in a few short days, and our best shot at winning reform may be right now.
The bail reform discussion in Albany is, overall, pretty confusing, and hard to track. We’ve received calls and emails from our friends and allies across the state who are seeking some insight about what’s actually happening. Many of the questions we were getting kept touching on similar themes, so we’ve put together this op-ed that seeks to explain some of the dynamics playing out in Albany right now. We hope this helps make sense of what is a very complex situation.
Check out our new op-ed, Making Sense of Bail Reform in Albany.
Connecticut: A Community Conversation on Health, Equity, and Justice
Community Organizer, Kenyatta Thompson, presenting on Katal’s work at Capital Community College.
Today our Community Organizer, Kenyatta Thompson, had the opportunity to speak to students at Capital Community College (CCC). She and our new Community Organizer, Dajuan Wiggins, spoke on how our team fuses Community Organizing and Harm Reduction to build the leadership of community members. They opened their presentation with the Incarcerated Communities Exercise — explaining how whole communities are impacted by incarceration– followed by a conversation about the many ways in which the criminal justice system affects other systems. They closed with a lively discussion on how to organize our communities and disorganize our opposition.
Dajuan Wiggins speaking to students at Capital Community College during our presentation today.
We thank Capital Community College for this amazing opportunity to connect with our community’s future leaders and organizers, and we look forward to future meetings with the Social Justice Club and Black Student Union!
To get involved in our work in Connecticut, contact Kenyatta Thompson at kthompson@katalcenter.org or 860.937.6094.
