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Southern Coalition for Social Justice

Southern Coalition for Social Justice

Partnering with communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities in the south to defend and advance their political, social and economic rights through the combination of legal advocacy, research, organizing and communications.

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Search Southern Coalition for Social Justice

criminal justice reform

April 23, 2015

SCSJ's Daryl Atkinson discusses "On the Run" on HuffPost Live

Senior Attorney Daryl Atkinson joined host Marc Lamont Hill and University of Wisconsin Sociologist Alice Goffman in a HuffPost Live discussion of Goffman’s book, “On the Run.” Much of “On the Run” focuses on the book’s main subjects, black men in their 20s living in a Philadelphia neighborhood who find ways to evade, dodge and […]

Category iconCriminal Justice,  Recent News Tag iconAlice Goffman,  Ban the Box,  criminal justice reform,  Daryl Atkinson,  fair chance,  HuffPost Live,  Marc Lamont Hill,  On the Run

April 3, 2015

Words matter: the importance of humanizing criminal justice vocabulary

Inmate. Prisoner. Other. Discussed. What to call incarcerated people: Your feedback By BLAIR HICKMAN We received more than 200 responses to our callout asking the best way to refer to people behind bars. Of the options we offered, 38 percent preferred “incarcerated person,” 23 percent liked “prisoner” and nearly 10 percent supported use of the […]

Category iconCriminal Justice,  Recent News Tag iconcriminal justice reform,  Daryl Atkinson,  The Marshall Project

March 25, 2015

"Ban the Box" campaign gains momentum in Washington

This story was written by Josh Gerstein and appeared on politico.com on March 25, 2015   Obama urged to ease hiring of ex-prisoners A group of criminal justice reformers, including some who served prison time, are headed to the White House Wednesday to press President Barack Obama to do more to help those who’ve been convicted […]

Category iconCriminal Justice,  Recent News Tag icon#BanTheBox,  #FairChance,  Ban the Box,  criminal justice reform,  criminal records,  Daryl Atkinson,  Executive Order,  Fair Chance Hiring

March 9, 2015

Selma march feels like 'hope and justice magnified'

Susan Burton of A New Way of Life in Los Angeles and Daryl Atkinson of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice finally got their turn to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge — twice. Burton’s dispatch: There are just thousands and thousands and thousands of people, as far as the eye can see, people lined up […]

Category iconCriminal Justice,  Recent News,  Voting Rights Tag iconCriminal Justice,  criminal justice reform,  Selma March,  Susan Burton

February 17, 2015

Eliminating the Second-Class Status of People With Criminal Records

Daryl Atkinson ’07 is a man on a mission to ensure that equal justice under the law is realized for those with a criminal past. His mission is simple: restore the civil rights and human rights of people with criminal records. This may appear to be a mighty feat as America has the highest rate […]

Category iconUncategorized Tag iconArtika Tyner,  criminal justice reform,  criminal records,  Daryl Atkinson,  University of St. Thomas

October 10, 2014

TalkPoverty LIVE focuses on Durham's "Ban the Box" success

SCSJ Staff Attorney Daryl Atkinson discussed critical policy issues relating to poverty in America with fellow expert panelists on Thursday’s TalkPoverty LIVE! webcast. Joining him were: Jared Bernstein: Senior Fellow at the  Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and former Chief Economist and Economic Adviser to Vice President Biden Jodie Levin-Epstein: Deputy Director of  the Center for Law […]

Category iconCriminal Justice,  Recent News Tag iconBan the Box,  criminal justice reform,  Daryl Atkinson,  Durham,  poverty,  Poverty in America,  TalkPovertyLIVE

August 15, 2014

Position Filled: Employment Opportunity Legal Corps Staff Attorney

Positions Have Been Filled as of September 22, 2014 Employment Opportunity Legal Corps Staff Attorney (2 positions available) The Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) has an immediate opening for two licensed attorneys to work in our Clean Slate Program. These positions are available through generous funding from Equal Justice Works and AmeriCorps for their Employment […]

Category iconCriminal Justice,  Recent News Tag iconAmeriCorps,  Clean Slate,  criminal justice reform,  Employment Opportunity Legal Corps,  Equal Justice Works,  re-entry

May 5, 2014

Give Local America lets you help SCSJ TWICE as much!

You support social justice issues like voting rights, criminal justice reform, environmental justice, and human rights – and you’re not alone! We do too. Right now there’s something you can do about it. From now until May 16, your social justice dollars go twice as far! We know you care about social justice. When you […]

Category iconCriminal Justice,  Recent News,  Voting Rights Tag iconcriminal justice reform,  donations doubled,  Give Local America,  marijuana possession,  matching grant,  Voter ID,  voting rights

May 1, 2014

Clean Slate Success in Durham

What is Clean Slate work and why is it important? Involvement in the criminal justice system has negative side effects beyond a court case and possible conviction.  Arrests and convictions trigger an additional set of punishments known as collateral consequences. These consequences operate outside of the criminal justice context even after an individual has served […]

Category iconCommunity Organizing,  Criminal Justice,  Recent News,  Uncategorized Tag iconClean Slate,  criminal justice reform,  Daryl Atkinson,  DERC

April 15, 2014

Raise The Age: the importance of keeping children out of adult jail

On the heels of End Mass Incarceration (EMI) Week comes reenergized attention to the Raise the Age Movement in North Carolina. As explained in my recent blog post entitled, “Mass Incarceration of Juveniles: Does Putting Children in Jail Solve Anything?” North Carolina automatically charges all 16 and 17 year-olds as adults, irrespective of the crime. […]

Category iconCriminal Justice Tag iconcriminal justice reform,  HB 725,  juvenile justice,  NC Child,  NCChild.org,  Oprah Keyes,  Raise the Age,  Troan Intern

February 28, 2014

Gender-Neutrality is a Myth: The Impact of Collateral Consequences on Women

Since Nixon’s formal declaration of ‘drugs‘ as Public Enemy #1 in 1971, women have been the fastest growing U.S prison population. The number of women behind bars has skyrocketed more than 600% since Nixon’s formal declaration. While Nixon introduced harsh sentencing laws, he is the only president in U.S history to have dedicated more funding […]

Category iconCriminal Justice,  Recent News Tag iconCollateral Consequences,  crimianl justice,  criminal justice reform,  gender-neutrality,  sentencing,  Troan,  War on Drugs,  women

February 7, 2014

What's your passion?

In the coming weeks, SCSJ will introduce you to our Spring semester interns. Their internships are sponsored by a generous gift from the Troan Family Foundation. With diverse backgrounds and academic interests, we know that you’ll enjoy getting to know them. This first post is by Oprah Keyes, a Macro Social Work (MSW) student at […]

Category iconCriminal Justice,  Uncategorized Tag iconBlog Entry,  Criminal Justice,  criminal justice reform,  intern,  Macro Social Work,  Troan,  Uncategorized

January 13, 2014

Michelle Alexander: Why Police Lie Under Oath

Why Police Lie Under Oath (via http://amicuscuria.com) By Michelle Alexander THOUSANDS of people plead guilty to crimes every year in the United States because they know that the odds of a jury’s believing their word over a police officer’s are slim to none. As a juror, whom are you likely to believe…

Category iconCriminal Justice,  Recent News Tag iconcriminal justice reform,  jury,  Mass Incarceration,  michelle alexander,  New Jim Crow,  Police,  Racial Profiling

December 6, 2013

Honoring Nelson Mandela

Honoring Nelson Mandela by Peter Wagner, December 5, 2013  (This is a repost from the Prison Policy Initiative) Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) was a South African freedom fighter and one of the longest held political prisoners in the world. He led the fight to abolish Apartheid and was elected President in the first multi-racial election in […]

Category iconCriminal Justice,  Human Rights,  Recent News Tag iconCriminal Justice,  criminal justice reform,  inmate,  jail,  Mass Incarceration,  Nelson Mandela,  prison

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Despite failed attempts to silence our voices, the will of the people prevailed. Young people & people of color voted in record numbers and chose a new path forward. Our votes counted. Our voices were heard. And #OurFutureIsBright. Now, we come together to build a better future. pic.twitter.com/7nff…

About 58 minutes ago

In this @CrisisOfCrime #podcast episode, SCSJ's JSR Counsel & Community Organizer, Marcus Pollard & Sala Abdallah, talk about the Your First 48 Toolkit, which guides formerly incarcerated individuals on a journey of successful reentry. Listen on @Spotify: spoti.fi/3pcbCQI

Yesterday

"Voting rights groups are worried gerrymandering in a new round of redistricting could threaten voters of color, especially Black voters, following an election cycle that was highlighted by heightened minority voter turnout." bit.ly/3oZVCkW @thehill #gerrymandering

Yesterday

"We must never struggle with falsehood, hate and malice." youtube.com/watch?v=…

Yesterday

Historian says he sees similarities between today's social justice movement and the 1960s abcnews4.com/news/lo…

Yesterday

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