OUR PRIORITY ISSUES

We are focused on issues of inequality within local, state operated criminal justice systems of the southwest United States, including Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Nevada. The criminal justice system starts with the enactment of laws. Those laws are interpreted and enforced by law enforcement agents, prosecutors and the courts.  Criminal justice systems can promote rehabiliation and exhibit empathy or, as is more often the case, can be harsh and retributive.  Poverty, mental illness and homelessness feed the prison system. Racial bias is embedded throughout the system. People and communities of color are torn apart and destroyed by the means and methods of both the enactment and unequal enforcement of laws.

"Quality of life" policing and the bastardization of the "Broken Windows" theory of policing have significantly contributed to mass incarceration, particularly of people of color.  Quality of life policing is code for removing unsightly persons from the streets.  Unsightliness is defined by the persons in power, the vast majority of whom are middle class and white. In many communities "quality of life" policing is a tool for inherent and systemic racism.

As former criminal defense attorneys, we have been witness to, and often involuntary participants in, the processing of defendants through this unfair, unequal system of law.  As a non profit, we are dedicated to ending racism, reducing incarceration rates, ensuring that the mentally ill are treated rather than jailed and ending the cycle of poverty caused by the monetization of the criminal justice system.