Samuel Harrell

Justice for Samuel Harrell

On April 21, 2015, correctional officers at our local prison beat to death Samuel Harrell.  Three years later, those same officers are not only free from criminal prosecution but are still on the job.

Please join Beacon Prison Action as we mourn Sam's death, call for accountability for this heinous crime, and organize toward systemic reform:

Three-Year Vigil Saturday, April 21st 6pm Polhill Park, Beacon (corner of Main St & 9D near Bank Square Cafe) Please come early to sign a letter to Cuomo.

White people as outraged?

A Starbucks arrest shows black Americans are robbed of their power

Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez

Men arrested for ‘loitering’ had no choice but to keep their heads down, out of fear for their lives. For black people, it’s a familiar situation

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/19/starbucks-arrest-black-men-race-us

Faith and Ee-Entry April 12

Thursday, April 12

6:00-9:00 p.m.

Catharine Street Community Center 

(69 Catharine Street, Poughkeepsie) 

(This event is being sponsored by

Dutchess County Interfaith Council, Inc. and

Dutchess County African American Clergy Association.) 

The Intersecton of Faith and Re-Entry:

The Role of Faith Communies in Helping

Formerly Incarcerated Through Faith-Based Initiatives

Inequities of mass incarceration are true in Dutchess too

Inequities of mass incarceration are true in Dutchess too

Geri Willmott, Valley Views
Published 1:29 p.m. ET April 4, 2018

More and more concerned citizens in this county and beyond believe our criminal justice practices need to align more closely with our constitutional rights. Recently in Poughkeepsie, Just Leadership USA (JLUSA) and #FREEnewyork co-sponsored a town hall along with our End the New Jim Crow Action Network (ENJAN) and the Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Poughkeepsie. The event featured formerly incarcerated men and women who highlighted the inequities of mass incarceration for: Blacks, Latinos, women, the poor, the mentally ill, and addicts.

Picked up in a neighborhood sweep when she was a 20-year-old mother, Rasonia Squire explained through her tears why she gave up her right to a trial, and pled guilty to a felony, although innocent. “I had to get back to my daughter,” she repeated emotionally. Besides, ”I knew my family could not afford a lawyer,” she noted. Along with others on the panel, she revealed the shame of being arrested and having to tell her mother.

Full article:

https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/opinion/valley-views/2018/04/04/inequities-mass-incarceration-true-dutchess-too/466160002/