Lots of Good Things

 https://naacpdekalb.org/president-hardy-to-receive-trailblazers-award/

Kudos to Teresa Hardy of the Dekalb NAACP for her work on getting signature bonds (no $) for misdemeanors. Wow.

NAACP has a justice reform committee- Hooray! I'm attending today and will update you.

You can sign up for updates/event info from our amazing DA's office here 

So now I need to get to the know the Solicitor General. In Ga DA handles felonies, and Solicitor General handles misdemeanors. In most states, DA handles both.

Learning

 Here is a fascinating tour of the jail: 

I'd love to see another tour focused on justification for why we need to tear this one down and build a new jail. Everyone seems to agree that this building is un-fixable -  too many millions have already been spent trying to fix it.  So let's get a move on and go ahead and get that going.  

This video makes it sound like all inmantes are being given appropriate educational options, but this is not true.  Young people in detention for months, even years sometimes, need appropriate educational services.

I've reached out to the Sherriff, DA, and Police and asked them to publish at least bi-monthly email newsletters describing positive refom accomplishments, reform goals, and ways the community can engage.

I'm reaching out to all of our commissioners and all who ran for sherriff to see what ideas they have to increase communication and collaboration toward Dekalb justice reform, especially physical and social conditions at the jail and getting people moved out of jail who don't need to be sitting there while awaiting trial. 

And how do we get trial dates to move along more quickly? And get more public defenders/lower caseloads? Are any counties doing thsee things well without crazy tax hikes? Dekalb has a bunch of new property tax money coming in now to "play with." Let's use it for thesee critical issues.

I loved this DA panel video - our amazing DA Sherry Boston is on the panel 

And this recent Dekalb NAACP video with Sherry Boston is also excellent.

Come out to the Decatur square 4-8pm on June 19th for the Juneteenth celebration. Festivals are back! Hooray.

Dekalb Justice Action Coallition - maybe?

 Hey guys,

            For several years I've been driving by the Dekalb County jail, learning abou tthe conditions there, and have become increasingly concerned about how many inmates are stuck there for months, even years sometimes, awaiting trial.  I know there are many individuals and groups including the Sherriff's Office, DA, and Board of Commissioners who are concerned about these things. 

            It seems that we use some help all communicating with one anouther about what reforms/improvements have already been made and how we can work together to make things better. I realize many of you have been working on these and related justice reform issues for rmany years here in Dekalb, and I'm not here to step into the spotlight or try to save the day.

            Of cousre, we willl disagree on how things should be done and what the priorities should  be. I'm no expert on any of this, and at this point, I'm here mostly to learn and facilitate civil discourse between concerned citizens, community groups, non-profits, and elected officials.

            I hope that over time, out of existing and growing conversations, a diverse lead team will come together to collaborate on specific initiatives where we share common ground.

            I'm not personally invested in the name - DJAC - Dekalbe Justice Action Coallition.  As someone just putting myself out there to start conversations and share information, I'm also not confident that I'm the right person to lead such a network. I'd much rather just be coming alongside an existing network.

     I'm simply tired of waiting for and looking for a central communication hub/action incubation community focused on broad justice reform in Dekalb County and more specifically improving jail conditions and lowering the number of people languishing in jail for months/years unnecessarily.

    I invite you to sign up for the DJAC email list here and to email me with any ideas/suggestions of what efforts/needs/progress should be highlighted in future blog posts/newsletters. Hopefully, we can have some Zoom networking and brainstorming sessions soon.

    I have asked both the sherriff's office (she called me!) and DA's office (still trying to get a meeting) to produce quarterly newsletters updating us on reform progress and goals as well as opportunities to engage with them. I appreciate how most (or all?) of our county commissioners and municipalities produce regular email newsletters to keep us updated as constituents. Wouldn't it be great to have the same from the DA and the sherriff?

Sincerely,

Mary Hoyt

marychoyt@yahoo.com

770-265-1597