July 16, 2017
CONTACT: Kenza Hadj-Moussa, 612-386-9556, kenza@takeactionminnesota.org
NEWS RELEASE
Minneapolis—Over the weekend, hundreds of District Attorneys traveled to Minneapolis for their annual summit. This morning, black organizers and activists from around the country are wrapping up three days of counter-action in Minneapolis. The Black Freedom Cohort’s message to the nation’s prosecutors is based on safety and liberation.
“We are a country that values equality, but life and liberty are not promised equally. If you are poor and black or brown in America, the chances that you will be arrested, charged and sentenced for even minor non-violent offenses are disproportionately higher,” said Justin Terrell, Justice 4 All Program Manager at TakeAction Minnesota.
The National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) plays a critical role in creating laws and enforcing policies that perpetuate mass incarceration in black communities. Last year, the NDAA endorsed the controversial Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
“Prosecutors can be our allies by transforming their practices,” Terrell expressed. “Mass incarceration has torn our families apart for too long. The struggle for police accountability and criminal justice reform must start with a shift in prosecutors’ policies.”
Local prosecutors have a sweeping role in the criminal justice system. They determine who is charged with a crime, what the charges are, who is imprisoned or paroled, and the length of sentence. They also have the power to determine whether to charge police officers for crimes like murder.
As part of the decarceration movement, leaders are calling on the NDAA to adopt five key reforms.
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, president-elect of the NDAA, agreed to meet with leaders about the proposed reforms. In his letter to organizers, he noted that some of the reforms are currently being considered by the NDAA’s National Best Practices Committee.
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TakeAction Minnesota is a statewide, multi-racial people’s organization. We advance democracy and equity through organizing, political action, and policy campaigns.
