ACJP Original Media

“Orange is the New Black” Shares the Real Stories of Our Secret Society

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Having spent 17 years behind the walls, Steeda McGruder, founder of Sisters That Been There, was hesitant to watch a show about women in prison. Once she did see Orange is the New Black, she says the show amazingly “nails it” — the hardships, the relationships, and the internal struggle.

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By Steeda McGruder

I hesitated when friends told me to watch Orange is the New Black. Being that that I’ve spent the last 17 years of my life behind the walls, I figured unless it was different than all the other prison shows that never got it right, I could wait. It wasn’t until a good friend told me, “Yo like foreal, you need to watch this, it hella reminds me of you,” that I actually sat down and watched it.

I automatically understood the show from the women I saw in the introduction. I saw the faces of all the different types of women that go in and out — some have piercings, some have scars from the street life or drug abuse, some are clear eyed and clear faced, some are dirty, some skinny, some bigger. I could immediately relate to the main character, Piper (who is based on Piper Kerman who wrote a book about her incarceration), while thinking of all my trips to the big house — having to turn yourself in and the thoughts about the choices, the wanting to change the past and turn the clock back. Continue reading →

Echoes of ‘60s March: Sixties-Style Civil Disobedience Drives New Era of Activism

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Graphic design by Adrian Avila

By Raj Jayadev

This August marks the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington — that watershed moment of the civil rights era that showed how mass movement could force the nation to address issues of inequality, and change the political direction of the country. Had America not recently experienced some of the most poignant, traumatic, and racially-charged episodes in years, this march anniversary may have only been a nostalgic, obligatory, nod to the past. But a young Trayvon Martin was killed, a steady rise in deportations are breaking apart families, and prisons have become so savagely inhumane, inmates are starving themselves to death. As a result, the most captivating activists of today are not looking at the ‘60s as a history book, they are looking at it as a playbook. Continue reading →

We Stopped the Ban of Letters to Inmates!

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Steeda of Sisters That Been There Showing the Letter Exchanges from inmates.

Steeda of Sisters That Been There Showing the letter exchanges from inmates.

Congratulations to the families and organizations of Santa Clara County! We successfully made our voices heard, and stopped the implementation of a jail policy which would have greatly restricted inmates from receiving letters, photos, and all of the other “lifelines” that connect those on the inside to their loved ones on the outside. The policy — called the Postcard Only Policy — was created originally by Sheriff Arpaio in Arizona, and has been spreading quickly to counties across the nation. We first heard the alarms of the policy being planned here in Santa Clara County after receiving calls from families, and receiving letters of concern from inmates. Our community of civil rights groups, families of the incarcerated, re-entry experts, faith-based communities all came together to express a collective repudiation of the policy (watch the powerful video). Jail administrators were open to meet with us, and we held an powerful gathering where families shared heart-felt testimonies of why letters are so vital for those on both sides of the jail walls. After a Summer of growing concern of the proposed policy, administrators announced at the August Public Safety meeting that they are dropping the policy! For more check out the San Jose Mercury News coverage, and the blog of the victory form our friends at the Prison Policy Institute who are fighting this ban nationally. Our hope is other counties may be inspired by the families of Santa Clara County and will fight back to beat the ban in their counties! (Special thanks to Sisters That Been There, San Jose NAACP, Coalition for Justice and Accountability, De-Bug families, ACJP, and everyone else who helped!)

Time Saved: Ramon Vasquez, 95 years

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Read and listen to the story of Ramon Vasquez, a 33 year old father of 2, who was released from Santa Clara County Jail back in 2008 for a crime he didn’t commit.  His family came weekly to De-Bug meetings to get assistance for his case, and because of their persistence and community support, Ramon is home.

This is part of the “Time Saved” series.  In court systems across the country, the term used to show that someone has done their time of incarceration is called “Time Served.”  At De-Bug, we transform that term, and that time, to “time saved” through family and community organizing to change the outcome of cases.  — Submission Post by Charisse Domingo

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De-Bug Family Members Win $1 Million Civil Suit in Taser Death Case

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For six years, Noreen Salinas has fought for justice for her father Steve Salinas, who was tased to death by a San Jose police officer in 2007. Noreen walked into De-Bug the week of her father’s death asking for support, and she has been De-Bug family ever since, attending regular ACJP meetings. Throughout the years, she has become our moral leader in the effort to shelve Tasers, a lethal weapon that continues to take lives. We marched, rallied, held press conferences, all under the call, “Justice for Steve Salinas.” As of last Friday, after a jury unanimously delivered a verdict in favor of the Salinas family — we have made some of the promise of that chant a reality. As you will read in the Mercury News article, this is the first win of its kind in San Jose. And that a federal jury has found that the Taser was a contributing cause of death also is a major blow against Tasers nationally. Here is Noreen in front of the mural we made of her in the basement of De-Bug, holding the Mercury News article. The title though is misleading. When a city holds officers accountable for excessive force, and a mourning family is given some peace — that city doesn’t loose, it wins. Click the image to go to Mercury News article.
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Zimmerman Verdict Exposes Systemic Racism in Jury Selection

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Former public defender Aram James, and co-founder of ACJP, has seen the inner-workings of the courtroom for decades. The Zimmerman verdict, he writes, is emblematic of systemic issues such as racial bias in jury selection that must be addressed if justice is ever to be achieved for black life like Trayvon Martin.

trayvonshirt_largeOver the last several weeks I have had a chance to see many hours of the Zimmerman trial on television and have paid close attention to many of the instant, self-described, legal scholars and commentators on both sides of the issues raised by this trial.

Spoken and unspoken throughout the trial, and the proceedings leading up to the trial, including the media coverage was a palpable racial tension from the start, going back to 2012 when the Sanford Florida police refused to arrest George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin. And then we found, once the long delayed trial began, that the jury that was selected was made up all most exclusively of white folks. Continue reading →

Supreme Court: Right to Remain Silent Must Now Be Invoked

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Submission by Robin Yeamans

The US Supreme Court recently ruled that in order to assert your right to remain silent, you must speak up and say you invoke the Fifth Amendment. In Salinas v. Texas, Mr. Salinas answered officers’ questions for an hour but became silent when police questioned him about shotgun shells found at the crime scene. At trial the prosecutor used Salinas’ silence to persuade the jury he was guilty, and he was convicted of murder.

Justice Alito stated in the Court’s ruling that the defendant’s “Fifth Amendment claim fails because he did not expressly invoke the privilege against self incrimination in response to the officer’s question.”

Justice Breyer, writing a minority opinion disagreed, pointing out, “But does it really mean that the suspect must use the exact words ‘Fifth Amendment’? How can an individual who is not a lawyer know that these particular words are legally magic?”

A public defender from San Francisco pointed out: “This ruling will hurt our most vulnerable citizens: the mentally ill, those with language barriers, people with little education and those who are under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of their questioning.”

The US Supreme Court, so careful to protect corporations’ supposed rights, are destroying the rights of others, literally ripping up years of precedent.

1377 Years of “Time Saved”: New Way to Quantify How Organizing Impacts Court Cases

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In court systems across the country, the term used to show that someone has done their time of incarceration is called “Time Served.”  At De-Bug, we transform that term, and that time, to “time saved” through family and community organizing to change the outcome of cases. We quantify the amount of “Time Saved” by looking at the maximum exposure of incarceration based on the charges against an individual when they first approach us and subtract the total amount of incarceration time received by that individual after the family has intervened in the case through our organizing model. Sometimes charges get beat completely, some times charges get reduced, sometimes sentences get lowered as a result of the work. Continue reading →

Video Profile: Xavier’s Bright Future

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Xavier España is 19 years old, and though young, says he has already learned important life lessons that have focused him for his future. He is an Evergreen College student, a parishioner of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and works at his uncle’s auto body repair shop. Xavier is currently facing charges through the court system. This video profile was produced to show a fuller picture of Xavier’s life — the people, institutions, and opportunities that are invested in his success. The media was created so those deciding his fate are more informed of who he is, and the community he is apart of that are committed to ensuring he lives up to his remarkable potential.