African American Coalition Committee’s (AACC) Top Ten List of :
Initiatives We Seek To
Address Through Collective Efforts
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1. PUSH FOR INCARCERATED FELONS’ IN MASSACHUSETTS REGAINING THEIR RIGHT TO VOTE.
2. ABOLISHING LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE.
3. CREATING & SUPPORTING POLICIES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO REUNITING INCARCERATED PEOPLE WITH THEIR FAMILY & THE COMMUNITY.
4. REMOVING DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS FROM THE SUPERVISION OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND REESTABLISHING IT UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF HUMAN SERVICES.
5. HELPING JUVENILE LIFERS IN MEDIUM SECURITY PRISONS GET A MEANINGFUL OPPORTUNITY TO ACCESS MINIMUM SECURITY FACILITIES FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS’ CLASSIFICATION BOARDS— AN OBVIOUS NECESSITY FOR THEIR RELEASE.
6. URGING ATTORNEY GENERAL TO INVESTIGATE WHY AFRICAN-AMERICANS & HISPANICS, WHO ARE A PROTECTED CLASS, ENDED UP BEING DISPROPORTIONATELY REPRESENTED IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.
7. ESTABLISH A COMMISSION TO STUDY HOW STRUCTURAL RACISM EXACERBATES MINORITY CONTACT WITH THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.
8. REINSTATING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FURLOUGHS.
9. IMPLEMENTATION OF RANK CHOICE VOTING ACROSS MASSACHUSETTS.
10. PREEMPTIVE PAROLE & OVERALL PAROLE BOARD REFORM.
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a. The AACC was established in 1972. The AACC is a prison based group fighting to reform our criminal legal system. The AACC is fully operated by the men incarcerated at MCI Norfolk.
b. Will send via mail the AACC’s written position paper on incarcerated felons voting upon request.
c. See Deal v. Commissioner. The complainant Timothy Deal is located at MCI Norfolk and is an AACC Board Member.
d. The African American Coalition Committee, #StuckOnReplay, and Emancipation Initiative are inspired to create a coalition to compel the Attorney General to designate her Division of Civil Rights and Liberties to investigate the clear racial animus directed towards members of a protected class (African-American & Hispanic-American citizens) and their disproportionate contact with the Massachusetts court system. We will also push them to determine whether our adverse disparity in contact is the causal effect of deliberate intent. It will also be their responsibility to identify which state actor(s) are liable under a 42 U.S.C.A. 1983 claim for being deliberately indifferent to our rights under the State and Federal Constitution.
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*African Americans and Hispanic Americans have been deemed a Protected Class (along with women) since the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This status was established to ensure that those who have been discriminated against are protected from future injury.
*If the State or a State actor (Institution) has been found to intently discriminate upon a protected class then they can be held liable under 42 U.S.C.S. 1983, which simply gives those impacted the opportunity to sue the party liable.
*Blacks and Latinos have some of the highest disproportionate rates in the country when it comes to their contact with the court system, in context to that of white citizens. In 1994 a Commission to study Racial and Ethnic Bias In The Courts was put together by the Supreme Judicial Court in Massachusetts. After a lengthy investigation a report was issued which declared “that discriminatory behavior, based on racial bias or stereotype, exist throughout the courts”. They subsequently offered recommendations to curb the stark findings.
*Twenty years after the report was published incarceration rates in Massachusetts was 7.5 times higher for Black residents than white residents and 4.3 times higher for Hispanic residents than white residents (the highest in the country) according to MassINC. The facts plainly indicate that things have gotten incredibly worse.
*Under M.G.L.21§11A, the Attorney General could designate her A.G.A., who serves as the Director of the Division of Civil Rights and Liberties to Investigate how a protected class (Blacks and Latinos) now collectively make up a majority of those incarcerated in Massachusetts when they make up slightly under 20% of it’s residential population. We will ask them to determine whether there was a discriminatory intent behind our adverse impact with the court, and if so to identify the state actor(s) who are liable under a 1983 Claim.
e. Will send via mail the AACC’s written position piece on furloughs upon request.
f. See http://www.voterchoicema.org
Posted by Corey “Al-Ameen” Patterson
#AACC #prisonerspress #change #votingrights #prisonersrights #incarcerated #parole #juvenilelifer
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