Last week, Jeff Sessions published an op-ed in the Washington Post, that calls for a new wave of the war on drugs and tough sentencing: “Being soft on sentencing means more violent crime. It’s time to get tough again.”
The RISE Act is more important than ever!
The RISE Act will repeal costly and ineffective sentencing enhancements, reflecting the Legislature’s and voters’ consensus that we must divest from mass incarceration in order to invest in vitally needed public services.
We are thrilled by all the support coming forward for this vital sentencing reform and now is the time to keep the pressure on! To date, 140 organizations have supported the RISE act (see the complete list here).
Will you help us reach our goal of 200 letters of support before our next hearing!
Here are a few additional things you can do to support RISE:
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The RISE Act in Asm. Public Safety – We are scheduled for our next hearing on Tuesday, June 27th at 9:00am in room 126. If you or someone from your organization will be in Sacramento, we’d love for you to drop by the hearing to give a “me too” for the bill. Let Lizzie know if you can make it (lbuchen@acluca.org). Sen. Mitchell and Sen. Lara will have several of their #EquityandJustice bills in front of the committee that same morning.
We are also looking for support targeting Asm. Gonzalez-Fletcher (San Diego), Asm. Rubio (Los Angeles) and Asm. Santiago (Los Angeles) prior to this hearing. Calls from members of the district, visits, tweets (@LorenaSGonzalez, @BlancaERubio and @SantiagoAD53) are all appreciated.
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Please encourage allied organizations to support the RISE Act! Support letters are due by Thursday, June 22nd by noon: Here is the sample letter of support that can be cut and pasted onto organizational letterhead.
Please also encourage our brothers and sisters who are currently incarcerated to let their voices be heard. Here is the sample letter of support from people in prison.
Thank you for your support helping to move this policy forward. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
The RISE act is cosponsored by ACLU of California, California Public Defenders Association, Californians United for a Responsible Budget, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), Drug Policy Alliance, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, the Friends Committee on Legislation California, and Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
