The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia (ACLU of Georgia) is excited to introduce its 2012 Legislative Team and announce this legislative session's "By the People Lobby Days"

This year's Legislative Agenda will focus on issues directly affecting the civil liberties of all Georgians, including legislation that will impact personal privacy, equal access to education, the death penalty, disability rights, immigrants' rights, religious liberty and reproductive freedom.

Meet the Team

The 2012 ACLU of Georgia Legislative Team is ready to help Georgians take on these issues.The staff and volunteers of the ACLU of Georgia that make up our 2012 Legislative Team are truly extraordinary.

This year's team is led by Chara Jackson, the Legal Director of the ACLU of Georgia since 2008.

The rest of the team is comprised of ACLU of Georgia staff members and long-time supporters. Azadeh Shahshahani is the Director of the ACLU of Georgia's National Security/Immigrants' Rights Project and a renowned expert in the field of human rights, immigrants' rights and racial profiling. Chad Brock is our chief lobbyist with extensive experience working on state and national campaigns. Marlyn Tillman is our new School to Prison Pipeline Project Director with a background in education advocacy on local, state and federal levels. Jenny Rose is a paralegal and the team's Reproductive Justice lobbyist. Jeff Willard is a long-time social activist and was the winner of the ACLU of Georgia's 2010 Owen Winters Volunteer Award.

These dedicated men and women are working to make sure that this year's legislative session will protect the rights and freedoms of all Georgians.

"By the People Lobby Days"

Building on nine successful years of lobby days, the ACLU of Georgia is again teaming up with other coalition partners to help Georgians meet and talk with their legislators. Each Tuesday during  the legislative session, the "By the People Lobby Days" will offer hands-on training. Training includes tips on how to talk to legislators, learning about the hot issues and why Georgians should care, and guidance on how to help promote and oppose legislation. The program also includes a walking tour of the Capitol's lobbying area and assistance in meeting senators and representatives.

Every Georgian needs to be involved if we are to ensure that our state lives up to the highest ideals of our Constitution. That's why the ACLU of Georgia is offering this important grassroots program -- we want all Georgians to have the opportunity to make their voices heard.

Legislators value informed and thoughtful input from their constituents and often say that communication from one person in their community reflects the views of 500 other community members.

Working Together

Join the ACLU of Georgia's 2012 Legislative Team in their efforts and get involved to make sure that your voice is heard during this year's legislative session. There are many ways to get involved. One of the most effective ways to make a difference is to attend the weekly "By the People Lobby Days" . If you can't be there in person, you can sign up to receive action alerts and e-mail your representatives when important legislation is pending. There is always an opportunity for you to be involved by meeting with legislators, testifying at hearings, writing letters or making calls to the elected officials that represent you. We welcome new coalition partners to join us as well.

http://www.acluga.org/legislative.html to sign up to receive action alerts and to get more specific information, including details about "By the People Lobby Days," meeting locations, driving directions and the upcoming legislative calendar.

One person can make a difference - and your voice is needed now more than ever.

FEBRUARY BY THE PEOPLE LOBBY DAYS

February 7th- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgendered Lobby Day

February 14th - Education Lobby Day

February 21st- Reproductive Justice Lobby Day

February 28th - Immigrants' Rights Lobby Day 

ACLU of Georgia "By the People" Education Lobby Day

Atlanta- On January 28th a considerable amount of Georgians entered the Horizon Sanctuary of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church prepared to discuss Georgia's death penalty for the abolition summit A Call to Action: Uniting to End Georgia's Death Penalty. As participants entered the sanctuary, they were greeted by the sponsoring organizations with information on the current status of Georgia's death penalty, signature campaigns and a captivating photo exhibit of protestors on Troy Davis' final day.

The summit, sponsored by Ebenezer Baptist Church, Amnesty International and Georgians for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, included a panel and a host of workshops intended to educate and mobilize participants. The panel featured persons who have had experiences fighting against death penalty or dealing with its effects. The panel consisted of Eboni Joy of FTP Atlanta, Tamika Middleton of Kindred Southern Healing Justice Collective, Dr. Abdullahi An-Na'im of Emory Law School, and Reverend Dr. Raphael Warnock of Ebenezer Baptist Church.

Moderator, Cassandra Henderson of Ebenezer, focused questions intended to allow panelists to give their personal stories about their involvement in death penalty reform as well as their opinions surrounding the need for reform. Dr. An-Na'im, a native of Sudan, shared his story of fleeing from Sudan because of the death penalty. Ms. Joy chronicled her introduction to human rights and her involvement with the Troy Davis case.

Panelists were also asked to relate their thoughts on the intersection of the death penalty with culture, spirituality and the arts. They gave insights into their own opinions as too why the injustice of the death penalty affects more than just the families but society at large. Professor An-Na'im highlighted the importance of using the commonalities of culture, spirituality and the arts as vehicles of persuasion to convince the supporters of the death penalty of its harmful affects to society at large.

Ms. Henderson then directed her attention to the audience, giving attendees a chance to address the panel with their own questions. One member of the audience informed participants, both onlookers and panelists alike, that HR 3051, a bill proposing to abolish the death penalty on a federal level, has been introduced to Congress and pleaded them to vote with this in mind in November. Others called attention to the large numbers of minority men not only on death row but also in the general population.

HR 3051, titled Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2011, proposes to repeal death penalty provisions for a wide range of homicide-related offenses under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the federal criminal code, the Controlled Substances Act, and other statutes. Further more the bill moves to forbid the sentencing of death or execution for any violation of federal law after the enactment of the Act. Additionally, the bill changes death penalty convictions prior to the enactment of the Act to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Fueled by the outrage of Troy Davis' execution, death penalty reform has taken center stage. People around the world including high-ranking government officials, politicians and diplomats made concerted efforts to stop Davis' execution.

Reform on capital punishment has been placed on 2012 state legislative agendas nationwide. Voting for a death penalty abolition bill in Connecticut and Maryland is likely for this legislative session. Both HB 2323 in Kansas and LB 276 in Nebraska propose to repeal the death penalty.Ohio and Pennsylvania have taken measures to initiate an in-depth study of the death penalty. Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber has issued a moratorium on the death penalty for the remainder of his term. In 2011, Illinois abolished capital punishment and plans to use funds saved by helping family of victims and aiding law enforcement are underway.

Change is brewing here in our own state but desperately need the support of constituents to produce viable results.In September, five Georgia state senators proposed SB 342, an act to amend the Official Code of Georgia Annotated. The bill proposes to repeal the imposition of the death penalty a long with a host of other proposals intended to strip capital cases from our legislative books.

I find it utterly ludicrous that as a society we have resorted to killing people in order to show people that killing people is wrong. The idea in itself, written or spoken, is illogical. How do we instill a moral code within our society by breaching the code ourselves? How does society benefit from the mass incarceration of certain communities and the government-sanctioned death of inmates? It doesn't. As Gandhi famously said, "an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind."

After being reinstated by Gregg v. Georgia in 1976, capital punishment remains legal in 34 states. Georgia has executed over 50 people since the reinstatement-four of them in 2011. Nationally, 42% of death row inmates are black and 44% of them white. According to the 2010 Census, blacks comprised 12.3% of the U.S. population, whereas, 75.1% of the population identified as white. "Over 75% of the murder victims in cases resulting in an execution were white, even though nationally only 50% of murder victims generally are white."[1]

A sentence of capital punishment carries no value. It is not only barbaric but it is also expensive. The execution itself is not the source of the funds aimed toward capital punishment. It is the appellate process that carries the greatest weight when discussing the cost of the death penalty. California reportedly estimates a savings of $90 million dollars per year if it were to abolish the death penalty.[2] The bureaucratic game associated with appealing, motion filing and hearings run up legal fees for the state, a cost we cannot afford in the current economic climate.

In the wake of the economic collapse, Georgia laid off around 900 correctional officers in the last two years[3]. Yet, we have found a way to pay for exorbitant fees associated with capital punishment and the onus is on the taxpayer to provide the funds for this practice.

SR

Rashelle James is currently a sophomore at Dartmouth College. Although she has not declared a major, she has a strong interest in Afro-Latino studies and social inequality. She is currently an intern here at the ACLU of Georgia.

Prison Issues Roundtable Event Summit: January 22nd

By Shane Patrick Cunningham

In the wake of Governor Nathan Deal's Criminal Justice Reform Council investigating skyrocketing incarceration rates in Georgia over the last 20 years, the Prison Issues Summit at the Atlanta Friends Meeting in Decatur on January 22nd brought together Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams (D), reintegration issues expert and Second Chance lead case manager Jerome Maultsby, and Director of Chaplaincy Services for the Georgia Department of Corrections Danny Horne. The three-person panel outlined their respective views and projects for combating both rising incarceration rates and stubborn problems with recidivism in Georgia.

Rep. Abrams spoke first on the political issues surrounding prison reform. She focused first on initiatives and bills considered in the legislature starting last week that would create special courts for many in the criminal justice system who would be better served by treatment outside of it-particularly those with problems with addiction or their mental health. Further, new accountability measures would fight recent trends towards the outsourcing of prison administration to private companies, who took in $35 million. She warned, however, that Georgia currently suffers what she called a "structural deficit"; especially in difficult economic times, funding any new programs becomes much more difficult. As such, she said, it is fundamentally important for citizens to engage with legislators; she encouraged calling the offices of influential lawmakers, writing letters and emails, and paying personal visits to the Capitol. These are the activities that get bills passed, especially in an election year, she said.

Horne talked about his work within the corrections system as head of the Chaplaincy department. Building on themes laid out by Abrams, Horne took a more personalized approach, focusing on the importance of programs that work with individuals towards the rehabilitation often necessary after stints in the prison system, especially for prisoners who have served long sentences. He framed his discussion of the issue in religious terms, talking about using spirituality as a way to help with the personal rehabilitation of prisoners as they make the difficult transition back into society. Forum members chimed in on the subject as well, discussing social perceptions of ex-convicts as they apply for housing, jobs, and try to re-integrate themselves. Much of the work in this area falls outside the political arena, and thus can be much more difficult to combat with legislation or court action.

Maultsby discussed his work as the lead case manager for Second Chance, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing recidivism by helping connect newly-freed prisoners with the resources they need to ease their reintegration with society. The program counseled former inmates, helping addicts and those with mental health issues get the help they needed, along with reentry programs for employment and housing, often notably difficult arenas for these former inmates.

The question-and-answer session afterwards produced a lively discussion on alternative treatments for addiction, the Not-In-My-Back-Yard phenomenon as it pertains to felons, particularly violent criminals and sex offenders, fighting the death penalty, and various other programs and initiatives designed to reduce recidivism, improve sometimes problematic conditions within the prisons themselves, and check the rise of the private prison system. Horne in particular expressed incredulity that felons were precluded from voting.

In answering one of the last questions before the end of the session, Abrams waxed passionate. "People talk about these prison sentences, and they throw around 30, 40 years like they're days. What we forget," she said, "is that we're talking about human life here."

On Tuesday, Jan. 31st, more than 25 people from across Georgia (including Gainesville, Dalton, and Norcross) came together for the first By The People Immigrants' Rights Lobby Day this session. 

The event was co-sponsored by more than 50 human rights, immigrants' rights, workers' rights, women's rights, and faith groups.  After the morning training and conversation, in which participants were joined by Representative Pedro Marin, everyone headed to the Capitol to lobby against House Bill 59, also known as "destroying the dreams" bill which was to be heard before the House Higher Education Committee in the afternoon.  If passed, this bill would ban undocumented students regardless of their academic qualifications from attending all 35 public universities and colleges as well as 26 in the Technical College System. 

The ACLU of Georgia and our coalition partners oppose the bill because it is fundamentally unjust, economically shortsighted, and unnecessary.  By The People participants had a busy morning talking to members of the House Higher Education Committee as well as other representatives about why they opposed the bill.  Many stayed and delivered powerful testimony at the afternoon hearing packed with students, educators, and other conscious Georgians opposed to HB 59.  The bill was thankfully suspended; but the struggle to defeat this and other unjust measures continues. 

We hope you can join us at the next By The People Immigrants' Rights Lobby Day, February 28th, 9 a.m.

Photos from Immigrants' Rights Lobby Day