PISAB's NOLA March 2015 Undoing Racism Regional

The People's Institute for Survival and Beyond is hosting our January Undoing Racism Regional workshop. 

March 25 – 27, 2015

 March Workshop:
Wednesday March 25th 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Thursday March 26th 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Friday March 27th 9:00 am – 2:00 pm.

Workshop Location:
BOFAFT Hall
2801 Banks St. New Orleans, LA 70117

This unique workshop is offered by The People’s Institute, a national, multiracial, anti-racist network dedicated to ending racism and other forms of institutional oppression.  Over the last 35 years, we have provided training, consultation, and leadership development to more than 600,000 people in organizations nationally and internationally. The People’s Institute moves beyond a focus on the symptoms of racism to an understanding of what it is, where it comes from, how it functions, why it persists and how it can be undone.  The workshop’s systemic approach stresses learning from history, developing leadership, maintaining accountability to communities, creating networks, undoing internalized oppression, and understanding the role of organizational gate-keeping in perpetuating racism. 

Registration fee: $270.00 per person, $220.00 per person for groups or families of 3 or more. Student / Intern / Seniors (65+) registration is $170.00 per person.

Scholarships are available. REGISTRATION is REQUIRED before March 9, 2014 TO RESERVE YOUR SPACE. Walk-ins will not be permitted.  Participants must commit to attend the entire workshop.  

Call NOLA Regional Organizing Team at 504-301-9292 / or email

nolaregional@pisab.org with any questions. 

Legislative Forum

Legislative members will be available to answer questions from citizens of St. Tammany Parish on Monday, January 26, at a legislative forum hosted by our Democratic Parish Executive Committee. The meeting will be at 6:45 p.m. at the parish administrative complex on Koop Drive off Louisiana 59 north of Mandeville. More information is at this link: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/01/st_tammanys_democratic_parish.html

Leadership St. Tammany Alumni Foundation: Forum on Mass Incarceration in the Parish

The New Jim Crow Task Force is pleased to support the forum on mass incarceration presented by the Leadership St. Tammany Foundation scheduled for October 7th. This forum represents the second such forum to be held in St. Tammany this year. In January, we facilitated "Safe and Fair Louisiana" with the ACLU, LA Sentencing Commission, and the Pelican Institute. We feel that the tide is changing and that it is very important that you show your support for this issue by attending the October 7th forum. See the details below.

Leadership St. Tammany Alumni Foundation

Presents

Leadership Revisited 2014

Unlocking the Keys to High Incarceration Rates and Their Impact in St. Tammany Parish

Where is the highest incarceration rate in the world? You might guess Russia, Iran, or North Korea. Shockingly, it is right here in Louisiana and specifically St. Tammany Parish. Join fellow alumni, as we explore why our parish has the highest incarceration rate in the world: its costs, human impacts, and possible solutions.

October 7, 2014

Pontchartrain Yacht Club

140 Jackson Street, Mandeville, LA

7:00 am – 8:00 am Registration/Breakfast/Networking

8:00 am – 11:30 am Program

$25 members & current class

$35 non-members/walk-ins $10 extra

Includes full breakfast, provided by Broken Egg Café.

Register by October 6, 2014

Questions: call Michael Sprague

(985) 502-4265 or mdsprague00@bellsouth.net

Please print your tickets and present them at the door!

TO REGISTER, CLICK HERE: 

http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=ojsro8pab&oeidk=a07e9q6un8t801aef92

St. Tammany District Attorney Candidates Scheduled to Debate

District Attorney seats are up for re-election this November across the state of Louisiana.

The first debate between candidates for the St Tammany District Attorney Office is scheduled for Tuesday, August 26, at John Davis Center, 61100 North 12th St., Lacombe, at 6 PM. The candidates are Roy Burns, Alan Black, and Brian Trainor.

The District Attorney (Prosecutor) is the most powerful law enforcement official in the criminal justice system, even more than judges or sheriffs. The DA is free to dismiss a case, file more charges against an offender or transfer that case to a Federal Court. There is no oversight that requires him to assure racial or ethnic equality before the law.  He can cause an offender to plead guilty even if innocent by overcharging the offender.

The measure of a DA’s success may be the number of convictions they achieve. In St. Tammany that is 89%, mostly plea bargains not trial by jury. Perhaps this is the Why and the How Louisiana became the “Prison Capital of the World”.

Please plan to attend this candidate debate sponsored by Concerned Citizens of St. Tammany. 

           

Here are some questions that you can ask in addition to your own:

1.     What changes would you make to the structure of the office to help bolster public confidence in the DA’s office?
2.     What is your position regarding special courts (drug and mental health) and diversion programs that are designed to keep people out of jails and prisons?
3.     What is your position regarding the prosecution of individuals found with small amounts of marijuana?
4.     What can your office do to assist the formerly incarcerated to transition back into society?
5.     What changes will you make regarding your office’s policy on plea bargains, if any?
6.     Can you assure an ongoing review of charges across racial and ethnic groups to assure all segments of the community are treated equally?

7.     Do you feel that offenders understand the lifetime disadvantages (barriers to employment, housing, voting, licensing, access to education, food stamps, etc.) involved if they “plead” guilty to a felony?  

--Bonnie Schmidt           

related article:
"3 Announced St. Tammany DA Candidates Raised More than $148,000 in Latest Reporting," Heather Nolan, 06 August, 2014, nola.com.