To California’s Youth and Community Justice Community,
Thank you for all you are doing to qualify the HISTORIC California Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act for the 2016 California ballot!!! This law will eliminate the power of District Attorneys to direct file youth under the age of 18 into adult court; rename “fitness hearings” as “transfer hearings,” and shifts burden of proof for an adult court transfer from youth to Prosecutor. It also increases opportunities for good time credits for many people in prison to bring people home earlier.
As you know, we need nearly 600,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot, and 1,000,000 signatures to be safe – since many signatures we turn in could be disqualified due to problems such as a change in address, a slight difference in a signature from the voter registration form, or problems with the state’s voter registration system that unfairly eliminates voters from the rolls.
We only have a few more days to collect signatures!!! Please help us with the last big outreach effort this weekend. There are a lot of ways to get involved:
1. To help collect signatures on Saturday, April 30 come through to Chuco’s Justice Center on April 30th (tomorrow) at 10AM, 1137 East Redondo Blvd., on the border between South Central LA and Inglewood, one light west of Florence and Crenshaw. If you can’t make it at 10AM, reply to this e-mail or text us at 323-327-1259 so we can connect with you to get you forms.
2. To help collect signatures on Sunday, May 1:
A. Come through to Chuco’s Justice Center on May 1st (Sunday) at 7:30AM, 1137 East Redondo Blvd., on the border between South Central LA and Inglewood, one light west of Florence and Crenshaw to do outreach to South LA churches.
B. Contact us by phone or text (323) 327-1259 to do outreach from 1PM – 4PM at Democratic National Convention Committee (“DNCC”) meetings happening in LA.
C. Pick up forms from us on Saturday morning at 10AM to collect signatures at Sunday’s May 1st March downtown, in your church, mosque or synagogue or in another location of your choosing.
D. There are also signature-gathering events around the state, at houses of worship and other Democratic National Convention Committee (“DNCC”) meetings. Contact GroundWorks (info@safetyandrehabilitation.
3. Get your signed forms in to us by Monday, May 2:
If you already have signature gathering forms, make sure and turn them in to the Youth Justice Coalition at Chuco’s Justice Center by Monday, May 2nd, so we can deliver them to get counted.
This is not a trick to scare you into doing extra work!!! The truth is we need EVERYONE to get additional signatures, and turn in any completed petitions ASAP, to qualify for the ballot.
You can be part of HISTORY – of ending Direct File, of dismantling a BIG PART of Proposition 21, of giving thousands of our family members in prison opportunities to earn good-time credits and come home earlier, of saving the state billions of dollars in court and prison costs that can be better spent on schools, jobs, housing and other resources.
Current projections tell us it’s going to be close. If we fail, it may be by only a few thousand signatures. And that would be tragic. We have the opportunity and ability to get this measure on the ballot. In a state where most ballot measures represent the dreams of billionaires, this year WE COULD HAVE SOMETHING OF OUR OWN TO VOTE FOR – SOMETHING WE DREAMED OF, SOMETHING WE WROTE, AND SOMETHING WE ORGANIZED FOR THAT WOULD ACTUALLY BRING POWER AND FREEDOM BACK TO OUR FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES!!!
