Unitarian Universalist FaithAction NJ
A UU voice for justice, equity and compassion in NJ
Many UU congregations are hosting vigils to honor the victims of the mass shooting in Las Vegas, to advocate for stricter gun laws and to call into question an ongoing culture of violence in the United States.
Cherry Hill UUs held one earlier this week, and Montclair and Beacon (Summit) UUs will be holding their own vigils tonight and Friday. I hope UULMNJ supporters will turn out and continue to work through our Gun Violence Prevention Task Force to help break this vicious cycle of violence.
Registration is now OPEN for the Oct. 14 Fall Issues Conference–only 3 weeks away!
The Legislative Ministry’s Fall Issues Conference takes place on Saturday Oct. 14 from 12 noon until 6 p.m. Hosted this year by our member congregation, the UU Congregation of Monmouth County in Lincroft www.uucmc.org, the conference features a keynote speaker, issues-related break out groups and a working lunch. The Lincroft congregation is active in antiracism and immigration justice work and we are very pleased to partner together in support of a more just and hopeful New Jersey.
For those new to UULMNJ, the Fall Issues Conference is the premier opportunity for UUs from across the Garden State to learn, discuss, and become involved in the most pressing social justice concerns facing our state. It is the time each year when our six volunteer Task Forces (listed below) decide on their advocacy, education and legislative priorities for the coming year. We work on a collaborative model, so make sure to come help shape the UULMNJ agenda and the outcome of long-term policy and culture change in our home state.
We are very pleased to welcome our 2017 keynote speaker, Johanna Calle. Johanna is Program Director of our partner organization, the NJ Alliance for Immigrant Justice, one of the most effective and vocal immigrant rights groups active in the state today www.njimmigrantjustice.org.
Ms. Calle will be joined by Rita Dentino, Executive Director of the Monmouth County immigrant rights organization, Casa Freehold www.casafreehold.org and a partner with the UU Congregation of Monmouth County. Johanna and Rita will bring us up to date on the increasingly punitive Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detentions and deportations and what we can do to mitigate harm and call out for justice on the public stage. Johanna and Rita expect to be joined by a NJ undocumented resident or family member willing to speak out about current conditions in our state.
Ted Fetter, long time Immigration Reform Task Force chair, will give an update on our State Sanctuary Challenge initiative–our 6 month-long effort to involve all 21 UULMNJ member congregations in advocating for sensible and human immigration reform locally, and against the mass criminalization of undocumented people.
Additional speakers during the break-out groups include Lena Smith from Food and Water Watch, Dr. Dione Johnson, CEO of JARC: Juvenile and Adult Re-Entry Connections, and Andrea Long, long-time reproductive rights activist and clinic escort.
As if that were not enough, there will be six break out groups during the working lunch to cover the issues we advocate for in Trenton and our member congregations: Environmental, Criminal, Reproductive, Economic and Immigrant Justice and Gun Violence Prevention.
Come also for the official launch of the NEW NAME, mission and vision statements, and special presentation of the logo and website design. Thanks to a generous donation, we are retooling to better serve justice-making, congregational liveliness, and “soul growth” in 2018 and beyond.
Finally, we sure to add your name and concerns/hopes/dreams to an interactive art installation, “Wall of Anger/Wall of Hope” over the course of the conference.
Questions/concerns? Please email the UULMNJ office at admin@uulmnj.org. We will make every effort to accommodate accessibility/special needs but it is very, very helpful to know in advance, so please do reach out.
Be sure to join us, 12 to 6 p.m. for a day devoted to justice-making and spirit-reviving. See you there!
We will make every effort to accommodate accessibility/special needs but it is very, very helpful to know in advance, so please do reach out.
Be sure to join us, 12 to 6 p.m. for a day devoted to justice-making and spirit-reviving. See you there!
Thanks to Steve Ramshur and the Hudson Civic Action Group for this excellent discussion of the immigration policy–called “287(g)” in government speak–that pays counties to do the work of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency–by providing local jails and detention facilities.
287(g) is a totally voluntary program. Hudson County is now one of only 41 counties in the entire country (out of 3,144) to sign–effectively putting greed for dollars before the necessary boundary between local law enforcement and national immigration policies.
In other words–now Hudson Co. taxpayers are now subsiding the increasingly harsh, arbitrary and wholly unnecessary pursuit of nonviolent, often long-established undocumented people. Throwing many parents and hard-working people who have been here for 5, 10, 20 years into immigrant prisons.
The April 2017 Immigration Justice Task Force (IJTF) resolution supporting Unitarian Universalist opposition to increased ICE deportations/detentions under current Trump Administration executive orders Fair & Welcoming UU Resolution (June 2017)
A certificate program designed to inspire and encourage NJ congregations to organize locally to support the IJTF/UULMNJ resolution with direct actions to witness for immigration justice and reasonable, compassionate policy towards undocumented people in our state Fair and Welcoming UU Challenge (June 2017)
Great summary of our "Refocusing the UU Legislative Ministry's Agenda in the Age of Trump" event on Feb. 26th @UUPrinceton #UULMNJ pic.twitter.com/e02yZacGCY
— UU FaithAction NJ (@UUFaithActionNJ) March 8, 2017
SUMMARY OF
UULMNJ CONFERENCE AT UUCP
FEBRUARY 26, 2017
Overview:
Seventy-eight (78) people signed in and probably more participated without signing in. There were eleven tables of six or seven people and a few people sitting in chairs on the side.
Rev. Rob Gregson, the Director of UULMNJ, provided an inspirational overview of the six (6) UULMNJ Task Forces (in alphabetical order):
1. Criminal Justice Reform
2. Economic Justice
3. Environmental Protection
4. Gun Violence Prevention
5. Immigration Reform
6. Reproductive Justice
He mentioned that UULMNJ also provides direct resources to congregations and our coalition allies in the areas of Local Policing/Black Lives Matter Congregational Toolkits. This project is aimed at education local law enforcement and correctional communities about antiracist, violence-and bias reduction agenda.
He also discussed UULMNJ Legal Advocacy Project (LAP) to move legislation that reflects UU values through NJ Legislature such as the current bills to support confidentiality for women’s reproductive health care workers and clinicians. Another legislative effort from the Environmental task force is efforts to move through the Senate S-1707, the Renewable Energy Transition Act (RETA). RETA would by year 2050, require 80% of all electricity generated in the NJ to be from renewable energy sources: solar, wind, and methane gas from landfills.
Another newer initiative from the Immigration Reform Task Force is Sanctuary Congregations/cities project to educate UUs and allies to respond to harsh regulations on undocumented immigrants in NJ.
Purpose of the Conference:
The purpose of the conference was to solicit UUCP congregants’ ideas on the question: “In the age of Trump, what actions do you most want UULMNJ Task Forces to be prepared to take?” Clara S. Haignere helped direct this effort. Each of the participants was instructed to write down their ideas in response to this question on a 4X6 card without discussing it with others. Then each small group made a master list from their table’s ideas and selected the one action they designated as was most important and wrote that action area on one of the three white boards.
It may come as a shock to some that New Jersey has the highest rate of racial disparity in the nation when it comes to sentencing and incarceration. The Sentencing Project, a national research and advocacy organization, found that African Americans are incarcerated at five times the rate of whites. In New Jersey the ratio is even higher: 12 to 1. In fact, in New Jersey in 2014, one in 31 of all African American adult males was in prison. New Jersey has the highest black/white disparity in its prisons among the states, even though we have reduced our overall prison population in general over the last several years. African Americans make up approximately 13% of the state’s population — yet they compromise over 61% of the state’s prison population.
We ask for your help to address this glaring and unfair racial disparity in New Jersey’s criminal justice system. Bipartisan legislation recently passed the NJ Senate and will soon be considered in the Assembly. The legislation – Senate Bill 677/Assembly Bill 3677 – authorizes racial impact statements for proposed criminal justice policies. This approach would be similar to environmental and fiscal impact statements, assisting legislators to detect unforeseen policy ramifications before they happen.
How You Can Help
Step 1: Call and Email Members of the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee
· Chairman Daniel Benson (phone: 609-631-0198 email: AsmBenson@njleg.org)
· Vice Chairman Joe Danielsen (phone: 609-847-3500 email: AsmDanielsen@njleg.org)
· Honorable Arthur Barclay (phone: 609-847-3500 email: AsmBarclay@njleg.org)
· Honorable Michael Patrick Carroll (phone: 609-847-3400 email: AsmCarroll@njleg.org)
· Honorable Annette Chaparro (phone: 609- 847-3500 email: AswChaparro@njleg.org)
· Honorable Erik Peterson (phone: 609-847-3400 email: AsmPeterson@njleg.org)
· Honorable Nancy J. Pinkin (phone: 609-847-3500 email: AswPinkin@njleg.org)
· Honorable David P. Rible (phone: 609-847-3400 email: AsmRible@njleg.org)
· Honorable Shavonda E. Sumter (phone: 609-847-3500) email: AswSumter@njleg.org)
Use the following sample script: “As a New Jersey resident, I ask you to cosponsor Assembly Bill 3677, which authorizes racial impact statements for certain bills and regulations that affect sentencing. The measure helps address fairness in the New Jersey criminal justice system.”
Other talking points:
Step 2: CLICK HERE TO SIGN ON AS A SUPPORTER IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY
Step 3: Spread the Word
Thanks for all you’ve done already and for all you continue to do to make New Jersey fairer!
In faith and abiding hope,
Rev. Rob Gregson, Executive Director
Demonstrators are calling on the city administration to refuse to enforce President Trump’s executive order on immigration
Rev. Karen Johnston from the East Brunswick congregation was also interviewed at our post behind the Standing on the Side of Love banner.
S1880/A1419 passed both houses of the NJ legislature on June 27. The vote was 57-21 in the Assembly and 35-2 in the Senate. This bill passed both houses in January of this year (S1771/A4576) with votes of 47-22 with 1 abstention in the Assembly and 36-0 in the Senate but was pocket vetoed by the Governor. The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reported favorably with amendments on June 6, 2016. The legislation caps interstate and intrastate rates at 11 cents per minute and international calls at 25 cents, and bans commissions, or kickbacks, on calls currently at 50% to 70% in some New Jersey jails. Commissions drive up costs for families with loved ones in jail or prison.
In October, 2015 the FCC voted to drastically lower prison phone rates. Under these rules, a 15-minute prison phone call that used to cost up to $17 will be just $1.65. (View the fact sheet) Some families with loved ones incarcerated at a distance spend $20,000 on phone bills during a prison sentence. A recent study found that more than one in three families with a member in prison go into debt due to the cost of phone calls and visits. For children who know their incarcerated parents only through phone calls the new rates will be life-altering. Studies have shown that regular phone communication drastically reduces a prisoner’s risk of recidivism.
The substitute prohibits a State department, county, or private correctional facility from accepting or receiving a commission or any other payment from the telephone service provider based upon an amount the provider billed for telephone calls made by inmates in the correctional facility. The substitute also requires the Department of Corrections (DOC), the counties, and private correctional facilities to make available a prepaid or collect call system, or a combination of the two, for telephone services. Under a prepaid or “debit” system, funds may be deposited into an inmate account in order to pay for telephone calls, as long as the department, county, or private correctional facility is not required to provide for or administer that prepaid system. The provider of the inmate telephone service, as an additional means of payment, is to permit the recipient of inmate collect calls to establish an account with that provider in order to deposit funds for advance payment of those collect calls.
Now we need Governor Christie to sign the bill. Please write or call the governor’s office, (609)292 6000, today and urge him to sign S1880/A1419.
Laurice Grae-Hauck is the Outreach Coordinator of the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of NJ.
The presidential election season is in full swing, and we at the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of NJ want to give congregations the tools they need to ensure that our 5th UU principle, “the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large” is ready come November!
Planned Parenthood Action Fund of NJ and the League of Women Voters are teaming up to bring UU leaders an opportunity to learn how to run voter registration drives at their congregations this Fall. This training will discuss NJ voter laws, materials, and how to conduct voter registration drives that fall within 501c3 guidelines and are non-partisan. Voting is one of the most important ways to access the political process and our elected officials make important decisions that can impact our future. Ensure your congregation’s members’ voices are heard and they are represented this election by learning how to organize a voter registration drive at your congregation.
Why learn to organize a voter registration drive at your congregation?
Join us at the Unitarian Society in East Brunswick on Thursday, September 8 at 7:00 p.m. for this free workshop and put our faith into action!
