Episode 40 Jennifer Mancuso with Laura Boyd, restorative justice advocate
Enlighten: Uplift & Inspire
English - September 24, 2018 04:30 - 56 minutes - 51.4 MB - ★★★★★ - 45 ratingsPersonal Journals Society & Culture Religion & Spirituality Spirituality conversations deborahadamy enlighten extraordinary inspiration inspire uplift Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
My guest today is Jennifer Mancuso along with Laura Boyd. Jennifer is a restorative justice advocate, community organizer, massage therapist and founder of Rockland Prison Justice Project. Rockland Prison Justice Project is a local grassroots advocacy group, organizing events, panel discussions, restorative justice circles, and workshops to raise awareness about mass incarceration, explore issues in the criminal justice system, by asking who is in prison, why are they there and for how long. Laura Boyd is a criminal defense attorney, specializing in appellate cases, and as a community resident, became an instrumental member of the Rockland Prison Justice Project, helping with the petition for clemency for Judy Clark, the getaway driver in the Brinks Robbery.
Jennifer and Laura share personal stories of what lit a passion in them to help the most vulnerable in our society and why being involved in restorative justice is so crucial. The United States has the highest incarceration rate by far, of any other country in the world, imprisoning 700 people for every 100,000 citizens. 56% of people in prison are people of color, even though people of color make up 32% of our U.S. population! In addition to institutional racism in the prison system, Jennifer and Laura point out the role of poverty, gender (more women have been imprisoned at an alarming rate in the last 40 years) and substance abuse as determining factors in who ends up in prison.
I encourage everyone living in the Rockland County, NY vicinity to attend the next event that Rockland Prison Justice Project is hosting, called “Parole in NY State: False Hope and Death Behind Bars” this Sunday, September 30th from 6:30-8:00pm at Grace Episcopal Church 130 First Ave. Nyack, NY. Please visit their website listed below for details on this event as well as a follow-up event October 28 at the MLK Center in Spring Valley, NY to learn hands-on skills to assist prisoners in preparing a packet to the parole board. I hope this conversation inspires you to get involved, do what you can do to take a stand about mass incarceration.
Links:
www.rocklandprisonjusticeproject.org
www.paroleprepny.org
www.rappcampaign.com
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