At De-Bug’s ACJP, we have worked with countless families on a case by case basis on how they can construct a mitigation packet — a collection of letters, photos, certificates — to be submitted to their public defender to use for charge or sentence reduction. The packets have helped stop life sentences, have removed strike priors, turned felonies into misdemeanors, and over all reduced the amount of incarceration for community members. This week we held our first workshop, walking through the process, requirements, and approaches for families to create effective packets. In the room are mothers who sons were facing significant prison time, families who’s loved ones faced deportation, and others. We are excited to share the workshop to whomever is interested so they too can help bring the power of family story into the courtroom to impact cases. Feel free to email us if interested in a workshop! In the image, on the wall on the right, are pictures of families we have done social biography videos for, and a map of where we have trained public defenders on the concept.

In a small group setting at De-Bug, Charisse and Cece leads families through a presentation on creating effective mitigation packets.

Much respect to Gideon’s Promise warrior Anna Kurien of the Fulton County Public Defender’s Office, who after attending a workshop we gave on how public defenders can make social biography videos to reduce sentences, took the plunge and tried one for the sake of her client. Anna is a profoundly committed advocate, and we had great conversations when she would call to get feedback on interviews and production, and she spent weekends getting footage with her client and family. Read her story to see her remarkable results!

Anna Kurien of the Fulton County Public Defender Office made her first social biography video to amazing success.

My 41 year client faced a charge that carried a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison with no possibility of parole. Given my review of the case, I knew that I had to put all my energy towards mitigation and hope for a miracle. After attending the Gideon’s Promise training on social biography videos conducted by Raj from De-Bug’s ACJP, I knew this was a compelling case for mitigation and that a social biography video would humanize  my client to the State.

After hours of attorney-client conversations and meeting with our office social worker, we developed the main points we wanted to communicate through the video. Continue reading →

ACJP organizers Stacey McGruder and Blanca Bosquez at a Yes on Prop 47 event.

In 1999, about this time of the year, I was hanging billboard-size banners off freeway overpasses with a bunch of people I just met that morning. The spray-painted bedsheets read “No on Prop 21!” and “Stop Criminalizing Youth of Color.”

We were part of California’s burgeoning youth movement – mainly twentysomethings who were coming of age at a fork-in-the-road moment for the state in terms of how it viewed, responded to and served its young people.

Proposition 21 was a “tough-on-crime” initiative from a continuum of policies set in the 1980s. Under its language, juveniles could be charged as adults, which would significantly increase prison sentences for a broad array of felonies. Ultimately, it promised to dramatically increase California’s incarceration rates.

California voters passed Proposition 21 (despite massive organizing by young people). It committed California — financially and ethically — to the notion that “lock-them-up politics” was a sound public safety framework to move us forward. Generations of California’s youth have been paying the price ever since.

Our prisons are now so crowded that the U.S. Supreme Court found them in violation of constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment. And the money required to support the exponential growth in California’s incarceration numbers has depleted public resources that could have gone to opportunities and supportive structures for youth through education and social services. Continue reading →