Category: Education

New Jerseyans Need The Reproductive Freedom Act

by Charles Loflin Leave a comment

Thrive NJ, a coalition of advocates across the state, calls on lawmakers to pass the Reproductive Freedom Act (S3030/A4848). It has been one year since Governor Murphy declared in his 2020 State of the State address that New Jersey must protect the ”fundamental and constitutional right to full reproductive freedom.” We call upon our leaders in the State Senate and Assembly to join the Governor and take a stand against these injustices by advancing the Reproductive Freedom Act. The first step is hearing the bill in committee, which they must do in a timely manner.

Rev. Rob Gregson is quoted in a press release from Thrive NJ:

“We at UU FaithAction NJ are proud to stand in a long line of religious individuals and groups who across generations and faiths support initiatives like the Reproductive Freedom Act. We call for the RFA to be debated and then passed into law swiftly in New Jersey, ensuring that the fundamental right to decide for oneself and one’s family the most intimate and delicate decisions about health, dignity and one’s own body remain the prerogative of each New Jerseyan–not shackled by a philosophy foreign to one’s own conscience.”

You can read the full text of the press release here.

We call on our representatives to recognize the urgency of need, and commit to enacting the Reproductive Freedom Act expediently.

RHM 10/23/20 Rev. Rob in the News

by Rev. Rob Gregson Leave a comment

On the criminal justice front, Rob has been involved in continuing discussions on the structure of the Restorative Justice in NJ group. Restorative Justice in NJ came out of the Criminal Justice Task Force’s “Common Read” of Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration and a Road to Reparations by Danielle Sered.  A multi-faith, multi-organizational effort led by CJTF member and UU Tricia Idrobo, the group hopes to develop a database of NJ programs and practitioners, schools, youth diversion, etc.

On Reproductive Justice, Rev. Rob was invited to attend Gov. Murphy’s press conference launch of the Reproductive Freedom Act, an attempt to codify as well as update outdated legislation to include trans rights, etc.  Rob was a signatory to the NJ Interfaith Council letter endorsing reproductive health care services.

UU FaithAction NJ Annual Meeting Rescheduled!

by UU FA Office Leave a comment

Please Note!  As of today, March 27th, this meeting has been rescheduled to Sat. June 6th, place and time TBD.  We will NOT be holding either an in-person or virtual annual meeting on April 25th.  Please inform others in your congregations and social justice circles.  Thank you!

This event has been rescheduled!

Fall Issues Conference 2019 – Agenda

Agenda

8:30 – 9:45 Cong. Liaisons Breakfast     Breakfast and conversation with Board members

9:30 – 10:00   Registration

10:00 – 10:10   Welcome & Worship     Rev. Andrée Mol, Central Unitarian Church

10:10 – 10:15   Remembering Luis Merlo     CUC members

10:15 – 10:30   Welcome & Update     Tim Catts, Board President & Rev. Rob Gregson, Exec. Director

10:30 – 10:35   Another Way to Serve     Carolyn Baldacchini, Chair, Nominating Committee

10:35 – 10:45   Helping Justice Thrive     Marty Rothfelder, Chair, and Rev. Jennifer Kelleher, Eco Gala 2020 Committee

10:45 – 12:15   Keynote Panel w/Q & A.    Prof. Sara Wakefield, Tia Ryans, Andrea McChristian

12:15 – 1:30   Lunch   “Lunch with A Leader” in the Sanctuary

1:30 – 1:40   Task Force Introductions    Tom Moran, Chair, Task Force Committee

1:40 – 3:15   Task Force Break-out Groups & Voting on Issues

Gun Violence Prevention –  Kathy Allen

Criminal Justice Reform –  Susan MacDonnell and Anne Houle

Environmental Justice –  Nancy Griffeth and Ray Nichols

Immigration Justice  – Clara Haignere and Peggy Hayden

Reproductive Justice  – Carol Loscalzo

3:15 Break

3:30 Closing

Issues 2019 – Gun Violence Prevention

GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION TASK FORCE

Join us to see possible ways your congregation can spread the word about the issue of gun violence.

I. Create our network – We will introduce ourselves and form friendships that can sustain us as we work on this (largely American) problem.  We will try a breathing meditation suggested by the new Lutheran Minister of Gun Violence Prevention, Deanna Hollas, to help us get through this often-emotional and difficult work. 

II.  Handouts and Display

A. See some of the orange origami cranes made by Beacon Summit congregants during June coffee hours to honor New Jersey gun victims (1/1/19 to 6/30/19) whose names are recorded on each crane.  Nearly 90 cranes were made.

B. Handouts provided by Carinne Murphy, from Central Unitarian Church during their observance of Gun Violence Awareness weekend, June 2-4, 2019.

C. Literature from Unitarian Church in Cherry Hill’s symposium on Suicide Prevention.

III.  Educational – We will watch AIMING FOR SAFETY, a 7-minute film that presents six possible solutions to gun violence, a film by George Faison available on YouTube. George is a gun-owning hunter and a UU congregant at Beacon, whose message should appeal to both sides of this issue. We will discuss ways to disseminate this film. 

IV. Legislative – In New Jersey, we are lucky to have a governor and attorney general who support the issue of preventing gun violence.  We will review and talk about the many bills that Gov. Murphy has signed into law, bills that make New Jersey one of the most safe states in the country.

A.  One still-pending bill was co-written by UU Faith Action: the SAFE STORAGE BILL, A 3696 / S2204. We will try to Skype with Jeannine Coyne, former head of this Task Force, who was instrumental, along with Rob Gregson, in drafting this bill. Jeannine cannot join us in person.

B. ERPO, Extreme Risk Protection Order, went into effect 9/1/19. We will go through a training on 1) how to interpret ERPO and – more important – 2) how to initiate it.   We will also discuss avenues to set up training sessions in your own towns or areas.

Legislative Priorities 2019/2020

page1image4903184

Legislative Priorities 2019/2020

CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM
  1. Restore right-to-vote to those on parole, probation, and those still incarcerated
  2. Dignity for Primary Caretakers Act, for incarcerated women
  3. Reform parole system to include ways for certain offenders to earn their way to earlier parole

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
  1. Mandatory emissions reductions in EJ communities, including transition to electric buses and alternate fuel trucks
  2. Reduce single use plastic bags
  3. Maintain adequate water infrastructure – no lead in NJ water

GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION
  1. Continue to support Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO)
  2. Work with NJ legislators to strengthen proposed Safe Storage of Guns bill

IMMIGRATION JUSTICE
  1. Drivers licenses for undocumented. We expect this to be considered and presumably enacted in the 2019 lame-duck legislative session.
  2. Increased funding for legal defense for detainees in NJ facilities. This is connected with the budget process. As part of the NJ Universal Representation Coalition for the past two years, we will continue to advocate for the amount required to ensure all detainees without means have access to legal rep.

REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE
  1. Access to reproductive healthcare, including abortion care, by working with coalitions who are introducing legislation in NJ
  2. Strengthen maternal health and reduce maternal mortality including supporting the Maternal Mortality Review Committee
  3. Dignity for incarcerated Primary Caregivers Act, a bundle of bills that incorporates allowances for incarcerated parents to spend time with their children, bans the use of shackles for pregnant women and provide appropriate mental health and substance abuse care
  4. Work alongside a newly formed coalition working to pass/bundle bills related to preventing & supporting sexual assault survivors including reporting and investigating sexual assault inside NJ prisons

Issues 2019 – Immigration Task Force Report

Immigration Justice Task Force

The Immigration Justice Task Force has had the benefit of two summer interns, who helped us be ready to launch two and possibly three action projects for volunteers to provide direct help to undocumented persons.  Much of the groundwork has been done.  The action projects are 1) temporary housing for persons released from detention, 2) accompaniment for persons who need to report regularly to ICE and/or attend court hearings, and possibly 3) provide transportation assistance to persons traveling from the southern border to temporary stays with family.
On the housing effort, First Friends of NJ and NY has established a very good program, and they have been able to hold one training session so far for UU volunteers.  We expect that First Friends will agree to several more training sessions.  On accompaniment, we have identified two organizations and possibly a third with which to work, channeling UU volunteers to them for training and assignment to specific opportunities for service.  One training opportunity has occurred, and we are developing others.  On transportation assistance, we have so far not found an organization in place in New Jersey offering help, and we will decide (based on the level of interest) whether we think that FaithAction itself can sustain the program.
Many details still need to be worked out, but we look forward to an opportunity for volunteers who are able to get involved with specific cases and provide direct service to those who need it.