Dear Supporter,
This November will mark the one-year anniversary of the passage of Proposition 47, which reduced some low-level felonies, like drug possession and petty theft, to misdemanors. Thousands of people have been released from prison and jail as a result of the initiative, and even more have changed their records. 
There is a growing threat that the savings might be directed back into incarceration and programs led by law enforcement, instead of community-based services.
The agency overseeing the funds, the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC), is currently handing out billions of dollars in jail construction funding up and down the state. We need to make sure they don’t add fuel to this jail-building frenzy by boosting the budgets of law enforcmenet with Prop 47 savings — money the voters intended for communities.
The BSCC has scheduled its first of seven regional meetings on investing Proposition 47 savings for Wednseday, October 28, in Oakland. Come out and demand they invest in community care, not cops and cages!
4-6 pm: Concert, Rally, Clean Slate Services at the Lake Merritt Amphitheater
6-8 pm: Mobilization to Public Hearing on Prop 47 at the Alameda County Administration Building (1221 Oak Street, Oakland).
Childcare and snacks will be provided. We are proud to support these efforts with an amazing list of endorsing organizations: Bay Area Black Worker Center, BOCA, Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB), Causa Justa – Just Cause, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ), East Bay Community Law Center, East Oakland Building Healthy Communities, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Oakland Community Organizations, Oakland Rising, People United for a Better Life in Oakland (PUEBLO), Urban Peace Movement.
Please RSVP and share the event on Facebook.
See you there!
Marlene Sanchez
Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice
A Member of Californians United for a Responsible Budget
P.S. Check out CURB’s Decarceration Report Card to learn about new jails rising up all over California, at enormous social and financial costs. We need to make sure the state doesn’t fuel the jail-building fire by pouring more money into law enforcement!
