UUFANJ News – Page 8 – Unitarian Universalist FaithAction NJ

What is the 287(g) policy and why is it bad for New Jersey (and the nation?) (RG May 2017)

by Rev. Rob GregsonMay 18, 2017

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.

Here is the link to the Hudson Civic Action article. It’s an easy and good read–highly recommended. http://hudsoncivicaction.org/287g/

Reproductive Justice: Interfaith Letter to Congress

by UU FA OfficeApril 26, 2017

View Interfaith Letter to Congress here: 2017426FaithGroupsforPPFINALLetter

Information provided by Carol Loscalzo, Reproductive Justice Task Force Chair

Additional note from Glenn Northern, Domestic Program Senior Associate, Catholics for Choice:

The final interfaith letter that is being sent to Congress tomorrow morning. The faith community came out in force. Thank you very much. We are proud to stand together with you. More than 60 national, state and local organizations signed onto the letter demonstrating their support for Planned Parenthood. That might be the new reproductive health interfaith letter record!

Catholics for Choice is going to amplify very publicly that faith support as well as our own support for Planned Parenthood and we would encourage others to amplify our joint efforts as well. As part of our amplification we will be using social media. First thing tomorrow morning I will send a toolkit that contains various resource that we are happy to share including our branded material. If folks have capacity to use any of this material or need additional material please be in contact. In the meantime, we would love to have the letter shared with your networks, websites etc. Thanks once again for all the work you do around these important issues.

ACTION ALERT: Ask Gov. Christie to Restrict Solitary in NJ!

by UU FA OfficeNovember 29, 2016

In January, President Obama put major limits on solitary confinement in federal prisons. But New Jersey is still lagging far behind.

The Governor currently has a bill on his desk, the Isolated Confinement Restriction Act, that could change that. The Senate bill, S51, passed by a vote of 23-16 on June 23, 2016. The bill passed the Assembly, A547, on October 20 with a vote of 45-26-1.

This bill, S51/A547, would dramatically limit when New Jersey subjects people to extreme isolation for long periods of time and create a total ban on the practice for vulnerable populations who suffer most from it.

This bill would:

Require facilities to use isolated confinement only as a last resort, when less restrictive treatment would pose too much of a risk;
Prohibit isolation for more than 15 consecutive days or 20 days in a 60-day period;
Ban isolation for members of vulnerable populations, such as people who have mental illnesses, pregnant women, and people with various disabilities;
Require medical clearance and daily evaluations when a prisoner is held in isolation.

Long-term isolated confinement poses extremely harmful effects on any prisoner, but especially members of vulnerable populations, such as people with mental illnesses, pregnant women, people under 21, and people over 55. It can worsen existing mental illnesses and inflict psychological trauma where it didn’t exist before. Alternatives to isolated confinement have proven to be successful, because they don’t come with the socially destructive side effects that result from psychological torture.

Most prisoners will re-enter society once they’ve served their time. Once they emerge, who do we want those people to be? Most likely your answer does not include someone whose time in isolated confinement has left them more psychologically wounded and socially ill-equipped than before they entered prison or jail.

This bill won’t eliminate isolated confinement if it’s deemed necessary. But it will put much-needed protections in place to make sure that its use is humane and rare.

Learn more about solitary confinement in New Jersey

Read our Criminal Justice Task Force’s Solitary Confinement Statement.

Learn more about our Criminal Justice Reform Task Force

Laurice Grae-Hauck is the Outreach Coordinator of the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of NJ.

ACTION ALERT: Senate Vote on S2469 for Independent Prosecutors this Thursday

by UU FA OfficeOctober 18, 2016

s2469

The New Jersey Senate is scheduled to vote on Thursday, October 20th, on S2469, the legislation to require independent prosecutors when there is a killing by police or a death in police custody. We have just the next 24 hours to make our voices heard…. please TAKE ACTION and write to your State Senator urging them to VOTE YES on this important legislation.

Reforms such as the one proposed by S2469 are important steps toward enhancing police accountability and will reduce actual and perceived conflicts of interest when a death occurs at the hands of law enforcement officers.

Such reforms would have the effect of bolstering the legitimacy of law enforcement, fostering more trusting relationships between police officers and community members, and helping prevent excessive use of force.

By removing the perception that local prosecutors are reluctant to investigate the police departments they work with, S2469 allows officers who commit criminal acts to be held accountable and removes an important barrier to fostering trust between officers and residents.

NJ Activists Want More Transparency for Police-Related Shootings

NJ Bill Would Mandate OAG Review of Police-Related Deaths

Sweeney legislation would require state AG to investigate police-involved killings

Laurice Grae-Hauck is the Outreach Coordinator of the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of NJ.

ACTION ALERT: Limit Solitary Confinement By Voting YES This Thursday!

by UU FA OfficeOctober 17, 2016

In January, President Obama put major limits on solitary confinement in federal prisons. But New Jersey is still lagging far behind.

The Assembly will vote on the Isolated Confinement Restriction Act this Thursday The Senate bill, S51, passed by a vote of 23-16 on June 23, 2016.

This bill would:

Require facilities to use isolated confinement only as a last resort, when less restrictive treatment would pose too much of a risk;
Prohibit isolation for more than 15 consecutive days or 20 days in a 60-day period;
Ban isolation for members of vulnerable populations, such as people who have mental illnesses, pregnant women, and people with various disabilities;
Require medical clearance and daily evaluations when a prisoner is held in isolation.

This bill won’t eliminate isolated confinement if it’s deemed necessary. But it will put much-needed protections in place to make sure that its use is humane and rare.

Learn more about solitary confinement in New Jersey

Read our Criminal Justice Task Force’s Solitary Confinement Statement.

Learn more about our Criminal Justice Reform Task Force

“Out of the Box,” a solitary confinement cell replica is being hosted at Morristown Unitarian Fellowship throughout early October. The cell was sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of New Jersey and the Undoing Racism Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair. The cell will be open to the public and Fellowship members at the following days and times for information, viewing, and an opportunity to experience solitary confinement. Your last chance to visit the cell in Morristown is Tuesday, October 18, 5 – 7 pm.

Laurice Grae-Hauck is the Outreach Coordinator of the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of NJ.

ACTION ALERT: Support A547 Limiting Solitary Confinement

by UU FA OfficeSeptember 20, 2016

In January, President Obama put major limits on solitary confinement in federal prisons. But New Jersey is still lagging far behind.

The NJ Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee will hold a hearing on a bill to restrict solitary confinement this Thursday, September 22. The Senate bill, S51, passed by a vote of 23-16 on June 23, 2016.

This bill would:

Require facilities to use isolated confinement only as a last resort, when less restrictive treatment would pose too much of a risk;
Prohibit isolation for more than 15 consecutive days or 20 days in a 60-day period;
Ban isolation for members of vulnerable populations, such as people who have mental illnesses, pregnant women, and people with various disabilities;
Require medical clearance and daily evaluations when a prisoner is held in isolation.

This bill won’t eliminate isolated confinement if it’s deemed necessary. But it will put much-needed protections in place to make sure that its use is humane and rare.

Learn more about solitary confinement in New Jersey

Learn more about our Criminal Justice Reform Task Force

You can step in “the box” and get a glimpse of the solitary experience at the Unitarian Society of Ridgewood on Sunday, September 25 from 9-10aand 11 -1pm. Event details

Laurice Grae-Hauck is the Outreach Coordinator of the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of NJ.

Members of the Boards of UULMNJ and UULMNJ-PPN support Alison Miller for UUA President

by UU FA OfficeSeptember 16, 2016

Members of the Boards of the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of NJ (UULMNJ) and the Unitarian Universalist Ministry of NJ Public Policy Network (UULMNJ-PPN) support Alison Miller for UUA President. Alison’s unique experiences and skills will add much to the governance of the UUA. Alison’s experience as the minister of the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship provides her with an understanding of the day to day issues of UUA ministers, parishioners, and governance of a congregation. Serving as a Board member of the UULMNJ and as the president of the UULMNJ-PPN, Alison has experience in both activism and governance of a social justice organization.

Alison has also shown a clear vision for social justice during her service on the UULMNJ and UULMNJ-PPN Boards. She has been a dynamic spokesperson for the organization and our work and has demonstrated strong team building skills, energy and multifaceted skills at organizational development.

The UULMNJ and UULMNJ-PPN Boards will be sorry to lose Alison’s contributions to our work but look forward to benefiting from her contributions as UUA President.

You can follow Alison’s campaign on Facebook and Twitter. You can also learn more about Rev. Miller in a recent article in UU World.

You can also meet Alison at the UULMNJ 2016 Issues Conference at her home congregation, Morristown Unitarian Fellowship. Learn more or register today!

*Board member Andrea Lerner has abstained from the vote to support Rev. Miller. As UUA staff, Ms. Lerner is not permitted to publicly endorse any cadidate.

ACTION ALERT: Tell Gov. Christie to Support Prison Phone Justice

by UU FA OfficeAugust 31, 2016

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.

Issues Conference with Chris Crass

by UU FA OfficeAugust 7, 2016

Download the registration packet

REGISTRATION DEADLINE IS MONDAY, OCTOBER 10!

Turn your FAITH into ACTION!

Saturday, October 15, 2016 3:00 p.m.

Morristown Unitarian Fellowship, 21 Normandy Heights Rd, Morristown, NJ

Anyone interested in the work of Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of NJ is encouraged to attend. We will identify UULMNJ focus issues for the coming year for each of our task forces: economic justice, reproductive justice, criminal justice reform, immigration reform, environmental justice, and gun violence prevention. You will have an opportunity to meet with justice leaders from other New Jersey Congregations while learning how to mobilize UULMNJ in your home congregation!

This year we welcome a very special guest, Chris Crass, as our keynote speaker. Chris is a longtime organizer, educator, and writer working to build powerful working class-based, feminist, multiracial movements for collective liberation. He gives talks and leads workshops on campuses and with communities and congregations around the U.S. and Canada, to help support grassroots activists efforts. He balances family with his public political work and believes they are deeply interconnected, as both are about working to bring our vision and values into the world. Chris is a Unitarian Universalist and works with faith-based communities to help build up the spiritual Left.

In 2000 he was a co-founder of the Colours of Resistance network, which served as a think tank and clearinghouse of anti-racist feminist analysis and tools for activists in the U.S. and Canada. After Sept. 11th, 2001, he helped to found the Heads Up Collective which brought together a cadre of white anti-racist organizers to build up the multiracial Left in the San Francisco, Bay Area through alliances between the majority white anti-war movement and locally-based economic and racial justice struggles in communities of color. He was also a member of the Against Patriarchy Men’s Group that supported men in developing their feminist analysis and their feminist leadership.

He has written widely about anti-racist and social justice organizing, lessons from women of color feminism, and strategies to build visionary movements. His essays have been translated into half a dozen languages, taught in hundreds of classrooms, and included in over a dozen anthologies including Globalize Liberation: How to Uproot the System and Build a Better World, On the Road to Healing: An Anthology for Men Ending Sexism, and We Have Not Been Moved: Resisting Racism and Militarism in 21st Century America. Towards Collective Liberation: Anti-Racist Organizing, Feminist Praxis, and Movement Building Strategy and his latest book, Towards the “Other America”: Anti-Racist Resources for White People Taking Action for Black Lives Matter, are available on Amazon.

UULMNJ Marching for a Clean Energy Revolution!

by UU FA OfficeJuly 18, 2016

CER March Header

Americans Against Fracking and Pennsylvanians Against Fracking have organized the March for a Clean Energy Revolution. It is being organized by a broad coalition of organizations and grassroots groups from all over the United States, including the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of NJ.

Fracking is impacting community health, water, air, and the climate on which we all depend, and we are calling on both the Democratic and Republican Parties to include a ban on fracking, environmental justice, keeping fossil fuels in the ground, stopping dirty energy, and a quick and just transition to 100% renewable energy in their platforms. There is a major action planned on the eve of the Democratic National Convention because Pennsylvania is one of the states that has been most impacted by the expansion of fracking.

The convention will afford a national spotlight on these important issues and the need for our elected leaders to take action. Also, with the national attention afforded by the convention and the presence of many key elected leaders there, it is a tremendous opportunity to bring the message of the need for bold action to these leaders and the public at large.

The March for a Clean Energy Revolution will be a peaceful action expressing our power through our voices, presence, and creativity. We will demonstrate the strength and commitment of our movement, demand the end to dirty fossil fuels and catapult the need for 100% renewable energy onto the national agenda on the eve of the Democratic National Convention.

In order to create a peaceful, family-friendly, and uniting event, those participating in the march agree that:
1. Violence, either physical or verbal, has no place in this event.
2. We will not vandalize or damage anything during this event.
3. We will maintain a tone of respect and honesty, as well as commit to calming any escalatory situations that arise.
4. We will not carry weapons, illegal drugs, or alcohol during this event.
5. We are all responsible for supporting each other to uphold these agreements.

Please help us in our effort to account for our New Jersey UU contingent by signing up here.

What You Need to Know

For all who are attending, especially for those who are not entirely familiar with the city, it is necessary to know where to be, where to go, and when to move. On this page, you can find a schedule that outlines all of this for you, so that you can be fully involved in the march.

The weekend starts on Saturday, July 23 with the activists’ Summit at the Friends Center, 1501 Cherry Street in Philly. The Summit will run from 9:00AM til 6:30PM, and will feature a mix of educational workshops, organizing skills training, and strategy development sessions. Come prepared to acquire new skills and strategies to take back to your local campaigns and to meet people working on similar efforts in their communities across the country. Check here for updates.

The Interfaith Service starts at 12 noon, in the interior courtyard at City Hall. Contingents will line up on the south side of City Hall – exact location TBD, but there will be plenty of marshals to help folks get organized. UULMNJ meet up to be determined.

March-Details-Map.jpg-1024x780 The March steps off from City Hall at about 12:45 – 1:00. The March will be led by representatives of indigenous communities and other front-line folks who are particularly impacted by fracking and other extreme energy extraction. The exact order of march is still being determined, but as of now the Faith Contingent will be towards the end. This puts some responsibility on us to make sure the March has a big finish!

We’ll march one mile to Independence Hall where we’ll end with a collective action.

If you need mobility assistance, please email accessibility@cleanenergymarch.org for more information.

– In order to maintain everyone’s safety, it is important to be prepared for what the day provides us: weather, exercise, and a time-sensitive schedule.

– Bring your own water bottle! There will be water tanks for filling up, but no bottles.

– Wear weather appropriate clothing. As of Monday morning the Philadelphia forecast for July 24 is a high of 97 and mostly sunny! (Bring sunscreen, a hat, sunglasses, etc.)

– We’ll be walking (marching) a lot, wear comfortable shoes.

– This March will be hours long, bring snacks.

– Feel free to bring a sign or poster to show your support for a Clean Energy Revolution! No metal or wooden poles. If you wish to hold your sign high we recommend rolling poster board into a tube and attaching to your sing with tape.

Other details will be posted here as they become available!

PRINT AT HOME POSTERS & SIGNS

Click on an image below to download a PDF for print