Sep 24, 2018
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
M.A.D.E.
Transitions