Following is a message from Karl Brower, President of PW NAACP:
Dear PW NAACP Members and Friends,
The focus for the April General Membership meeting was Criminal Justice. Our discussion included ideas to establish our Criminal Justice Committee to better pursue the Public Safety and Criminal Justice game changer.
There are several efforts the unit should pursue in this regard. First, we need to build relationships with the PWC Bar Association, local law enforcement, and partner organizations (such as Virginia Organizing and Virginia Alliance Against Mass Incarceration) that are working on Criminal Justice advocacy.
Second, we should build on the momentum from the Ban the Box Initiative passed by the PWC Board of Supervisors. This means evaluating the effectiveness of this initiative on county employment of prior felons, expanding the scope of the initiative, and making impacted communities more aware of the new opportunities for employment.
Third, we need to take advantage of the restoration of rights for prior felons by Governor McAuliffe. This means using the rolls of returning citizens and getting them to register to vote. In Prince William County there are 10,400 citizens that have returned from our prisons without voting rights. They still pay taxes, but until the executive order was signed by Governor McAuliffe, they did not have the right to register to vote. This has changed and we need to take advantage of it.
Please review this White House Economic Impact of Criminal Justice Forum. I’ts about 1.5 hours long, but it is very informative. I am not sure that I have gotten more out of 1.5 hours of information (ever!).
After watching this information, we should have at least 20 people who are ready to step up and support the Criminal Justice Committee, so that we can pursue the Public Safety and Criminal Justice game changer. If you are not doing anything to support the PW NAACP activities, this is an excellent opportunity- that will impact individual lives, communities, and the entire county. Please do not ignore this call to service.
Karl F Brower
President, PW NAACP
Empowered through Unity