Inside Newsletter - January - 2023

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Issue #14 /Jan 2023

INSIDE NEWSLETTER

a letter from our Executive Director Sam Lewis

Greetings to our incarcerated community members,

In This Issue 1 Letter from Sam Lewis, ARC’s Executive Director

As I sit here in Washington D.C., penning this letter to you, I am mindful of how far we have come and yet that there remains a great deal of work to be done. When I was paroled home 11 years ago, milestones, Rehabilitative Achievement Credits (RACs), and the use of 1170(d) did not exist. College programs were rare and not in most institutions. Lifers being found suitable for parole and being released were rare. People sentenced to Life Without the Possibility of Parole, having their sentences commuted, and being released did not exist. Now in 2023, rehabilitative programming within institutions continues to grow, and people who historically were never being released are now returning home. We need more college programs to allow more incarcerated people to pursue education beyond their Associate degree. We need more job training to earn a living wage upon release. We need access to one-on-one therapy to address the trauma many incarcerated people have experienced before and during incarceration. Yes, all of this and more is needed to truly transform this system to one that, while holding people accountable, does so with compassion, empathy, hope, and the goal of redemption and freedom. Please know that we, ARC, other organizations, and many allies are working tirelessly to make this all a reality.

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2022 State Policy Priorities

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Ride Home First Time Voter

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My Purpose by Freddie Cisneros

5

Our Community in Action

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Hope and Redemption Team Update

We need you to continue to enroll and participate in rehabilitative programming, college, and positive activities. Each of you is a part of this transformation. More and more people are beginning to see and understand that change is possible. That redemption should be achievable..People are seeing college graduations and group graduations. People are seeing so many of us returning home and making our communities better. Please continue to push forward positively, always keeping your loved ones and your freedom at the forefront of your mind.

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Inside Voices Call for Art

Lastly, I’d like to give some advice. Please do not waste your money hiring an attorney to fill out commutation applications. You do not need an attorney to do this. First, get the form, and once you see it, you will see that you can fill it out.

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Stay Connected

I pledge to continue fighting for a truly equitable criminal legal system based on accountability, compassion, empathy, hope, redemption, and freedom. The Marathon Continues.

Sincerely, Sam Lewis, Executive Director SAM LEWIS is the Executive Director of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC). A former life prisoner, Sam understands the various obstacles the prison and reentry populations face. In 2017, Sam created the Hope and Redemption Team (HART), a group of nine former California life prisoners who go back into California state prisons to provide hope, demonstrate that redemption is achievable, and to prepareparticipants for successful reentry into our communities.


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