Inside Newsletter - January - 2023

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

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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.

2022 State Policy Priorities We’re thrilled to announce that California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed our 2022 CA policy priorities into law!

SB 731 (Durazo): Sealing Old Convictions: This bill seeks to sunset criminal convictions and proposes expanding record sealing to all sentences following completion of terms of incarceration, post-release supervision, and an additional period of time - provided the person has completed their sentence without any new felony convictions and has no new charges pending.

AB 2417 - Youth Bill of Rights (Ting): Will give youth in county juvenile facilities a “Youth Bill of Rights” to replace the one that will no longer exist when the State of California closes the Division of Juvenile Justice.

AB 1924 (Gipson): This bill seeks to reduce barriers to employment for those who have completed supervision by streamlining the process of obtaining a certificate of rehabilitation.

AB 2629 (Santiago): This bill creates a presumption that a juvenile adjudication should be dismissed unless there is evidence that the dismissal of the petition would endanger public safety.

AB 160 (Budget Committee) – Public Safety Trailer Bill: In 2020, ARC helped pass AB 2147 (Reyes), which provided expungement opportunities to those who served in fire camps while incarcerated. AB 160 expands the eligibility pool of AB 2147 to include those who also served in institutional firehouses.

Two of our bills were vetoed by Governor Newsom.

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The Healthy Start Act, AB 2717, was vetoed due to cost concerns. AB 2717 would have expanded the Community Prisoner Mother Program by broadening eligibility and increasing the services offered. AB 2717 would have added a visiting day for new and expecting mothers inside CDCR so they can begin to grow lifelong relationships with their children. This bill was inspired by Norma Cumpian’s story of motherhood inside the walls and other formerly incarcerated mothers at ARC.

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Additionally, SB 1371, a bill to raise wages and justly compensate incarcerated workers, was also vetoed because of long-term costs. We look forward to the day when people working on the inside no longer rely on family to meet their basic needs and can save money for reentry costs, while paying off their restitution.

We are resolved to bringing back these efforts in the future as we continue to bring hope to our members and larger communities. Stay tuned for our 2023 policy priorities.

If you have any questions or policy ideas, please continue to call and write to us. You may send mail to the LA or Sacramento offices. Make sure to write: C/O ARC Policy.

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ride home The Anti-Recidivism Coalition’s Ride Home Program provides immediate and essential reentry support to individuals being released from carceral settings. The program offers transportation primarily to individuals that have limited or no support with their transition back into society. This includes the first meal and a shopping trip for items that will help individuals in their transition – along with a warm welcome from our drivers. It is this initial contact that sets the transition in motion in a positive way, hoping that these individuals access services available to them wherever they are living. All transportation services provided are at no cost to program participants.

All applicants must meet all the following criteria: 1) Must have spent a lengthy sentence, 5+ years and/or have served a life term or elderly.

2) Disciplinary free for 2+ years.

3) Limited or no support in the community.

4) Interview with program coordinator.

5) Reentry Plan.

6) Apply within 90 days of release.

7) Must fill out ARC’s Ride Home Program Application.

If the candidates do not fit the criteria mentioned above, they will not qualify for the program.

After submission of the application, it will be reviewed by ARC’s Ride Home Program Coordinator. Applicants must contact ARC office / Ride Home Coordinator (office number below) to verify if they have been selected for further consideration. Approved candidates will be interviewed by Ride Home Program coordinator via phone call.

If you think you qualify and feel you can benefit from the program, please fill out the application below, and mail the completed application to: The Anti-Recidivism Coalition Attn: Ride Home Program Coordinator 1320 E. 7th St. Suite 260 Los Angeles, CA 90021 Please take your time, be thorough and answer each. Note for Non-Binary and Women, there are no criteria or parameters to apply. For Men, the criteria are on is listed above.

first time voter Because of Prop 17, all formerly incarcerated Californians are now eligible to vote, including those on state parole supervision. We celebrate our members who voted in the 2022 election

hard for me to have the right to vote. If I fail to vote, I am saying that Dr. King’s and others’ efforts were in vain. In addition to that, having my voting rights restored to me has given me a sense of power in that my vote counts.

In filling out my ballot, I faced a challenge: I did not know most of the candidates. I was not going to just vote for the way someone else may have wanted me to. I decided to research each candidate online and make an intelligent decision. Dropping that ballot in the box was the most amazing feeling in the world!”

ARC member and Life Coach David Barclay shares what it was like to vote for the first time.

“To vote for the first time was very exciting and liberating.

I actually feel like part of democracy. Voting is important because individuals like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought 3

My Purpose

by Freddie Cisneros Dear ARC family and future ARC members waiting to be released, My name is Freddy Cisneros. I recently won acceptance into the Capital Executive Fellowship Program in Sacramento! The Capital Fellows Program is a nationally recognized public policy fellowship that offers a unique experience in policy-making and development in the executive branch of government.

The Capital Fellows are placed at some of the highest levels of California state government. My feet still haven’t touched the ground.

I grew up poor and in an often-violent Mexican household within a workingclass immigrant community. My violent dad deserted us when I was 7, telling me I was “the man of the family now” as he left. I never saw him again. After, I had a normal childhood, did well in school, and was responsible. Life was good even in my adult years until 2009, when my grandmother and my best friend passed away within a week. I was devastated. I began to self-medicate to numb the pain of their loss. Three awful years later, in 2011, I was arrested and sentenced to 15 years for a violent crime.

I started thinking I would die in prison since it was an environment where violence and evil prevailed. The first five years were rough. But one day, I heard about college sign-ups, and I decided to take college courses to break up the monotony of cell living. These were only correspondence courses and were boring. Things didn’t look up for me until I dropped down to a level two prison where there were many more opportunities to advance in my collegiate career. I matriculated in three different colleges at C.R.C. (California Rehabilitation Center). Two were via correspondence, and the third was at Norco College. They had come to C.R.C. to teach classes towards ADT AA degrees and had real live instructors!

I managed to earn multiple AA degrees from various colleges. However, academically I was stuck I had reached my zenith. There was no pathway toward a BA degree. But in 2020, Pitzer College offered an opportunity to earn a BA through their Inside-Out curriculum, where outside students and professors come inside the prison to learn and teach alongside those on the inside. Pitzer’s curriculum was accelerated, and it involved very intense work. They taught us about mindfulness, fatherhood, feminism, patriarchy as a hegemony, organizations, life planning, the carceral system, and its impact on our lives. In 2021, I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in organizational studies from Pitzer College while still inside.

I became the first formerly incarcerated individual in the United States to graduate based on an InsideOut curriculum!

I was Pitzer’s first-ever Alumnus that had never set foot on its beautiful campus until after graduating!

In September 2021, I was paroled and became a member of ARC. They blessed me with an opportunity to stay and live at their Lorena Housing. They are beautiful apartments providing a safe and stable place to live while I navigate the many challenges to my reentry. Currently, I work at the Claremont College Honnold Library, where I work as a user services assistant. This organization took a chance and hired me despite my criminal background; they are also vital to my continued success. I provide a public service and continue to help students with their studies. This past semester I was a teacher’s assistant for two psychology professors and was also nominated as a Fulbright Semi-Finalist. I have never given up. Even though I lost my immediate family while in prison, God has placed several people in my path who have mentored me and helped me along my journey.

I want to let each of you know that although the journey to redemption is tough, do not give up no matter how weary you get. The next bend in the road could just lead you to your desired purpose in life!

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our community in action

We had an amazing day visiting the men in Valley State Prison (VSP). For this event, we partnered with Sol Guy and Quiet so the men inside could view a documentary called The Death of My Two Fathers, a film about pain, reconciliation, and healing.

ARC Sacramento Career Readiness has been fun and very successful. Members are gaining employment left and right!

ARC Women’s Department gathers in the office to write and develop our very own play. The play will be about women reentering society. Stay tuned!

ARC staff gather outside the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to support juvenile justice reform.

Every other month our Member Events Coordinator takes a group of ARC members to visit the Honorable Judge Ron Kaye who is seated in the Los Angeles County Superior Courthouse. Judge Kaye also sits on the Board of Directors at ARC.

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Hope and Redemption Team Updates ARC’s Hope And Redemption Team (HART) is preparing to serve in 33 California state prisons. Currently, there are 25 members of HART and we are still hiring! Every team member is formerly incarcerated. The majority are former lifers, which means they survived a life sentence in prison and are now home giving back to their communities.

We captured a few of them in action, in training, preparing to facilitate groups such as Youth Mentoring, Criminals and Gang Members Anonymous and Board Preparation.

The goal is to help those inside with transformative, rehabilitative experiences that will prepare them for freedom. We believe people with lived experience have the most impact on individuals who are where they once were.

Meet David Amaya, Hope & Redemption Team Program Manager!

“I came to ARC five years ago when I started as a Life Coach. Recently, I was promoted to Program Manager! I believe in ARC’s mission, advocating for all those who have been system impacted. ARC has given me a purpose and for the first time in my life I have an actual career - a job I love doing!

After spending 25 years in prison, my transition was far from perfect or easy. I chose to parole far from home in order to have the best opportunity to succeed in society.

I felt like I was in a new world and alone. I re-established healthy relationships with my family and connected with my formerly incarcerated community. I also had to figure out how to navigate life and overcome unexpected challenges, including the loss of my marriage, my mother and my grandmother. People often turn to me for support, and I think many would be surprised that I am still learning and working toward positive change, which is a continuing process.

For those who have come home and not had family assistance or if you are struggling, know that you are not alone, and you have the support of the ARC community.”

Meet David Morales, Hope and Redemption Life Coach!

What inspires me is seeking to empower and help our participants, who in many cases feel powerless. Thinking that they cannot do anything to help themselves, or have not yet learned to believe in themselves is the basis of what drives me to do this work. It is my desire to help people whether they are incarcerated or free citizens to realize their worth, to believe in themselves, and to learn to “fight” in constructive ways for their lives, well-being, family, and their communities both in free and incarcerated communities.

If two life sentences, and twenty-six years incarcerated did not keep me behind those walls for the rest of my life, then whatever is hurting you at the moment, setting you back, or seems like a road block, I can attest that if you work hard and never give up/in, that you will make it through.

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inside voices We are featuring writing, art, and inspiration from people who are currently incarcerated. We are proud to lift up the words and creativity of people who are currently incarcerated. To submit, please see the guidelines below.

“Talent and Torment” by Raul Higgins

call for art ARC is putting together a ZINE of art from inside. This art can include anything: a small sketch, medium size collage, poetry, large painting, or anything else you think of. This will be distributed at the ARC LA office, at craft/art fairs, and other community events. We will charge a small fee for the Zine and redistribute the funds back to the artists (you!!) who make it into the Zine. This will be done by the way of a stipend, so if your art is chosen to be included in the Zine, and we will only pick 15 artists, you will be issued a $50 stipend. The goal of this Zine is to not only share your beautiful art, but to work towards narrative change around incarceration and share a holistic view of people that are incarcerated, as artists and people. We also hope to bridge communities through this and bring more incarcerated people and work into art fairs and get more communities of people passionate about and involved in the work to support re-entry and end mass incarceration.

If you would like to be apart of this, please mail us 1. Your art! We would love anything you got.

2. A bio with a little bit about yourself. This can include your name, where you are from, your passions, and anything else you’d like to share. You do not need to include anything about your incarceration status, but you can if you would like to. This information will be shared in the Zine, so only share what you are comfortable with being printed!

3. This signed waiver (Attached at the end of the newsletter, to be torn out and sent back to us signed) Mailing Address is 1320 E. 7th St. Suite 260 Los Angeles, CA 90021 213 955 5885 Looking forward to seeing everyone’s beautiful, amazing art and connecting with you all!!

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Anti-Recidivism Coalition 1320 E. 7th Street Suite 260 Los Angeles, CA 90021

Founded in 2013, the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC) works to end mass incarceration in California. To ensure our communities are safe, healthy, and whole, ARC empowers formerly and currently incarcerated people to thrive by providing a support network, comprehensive reentry services, and opportunities to advocate for policy change. Through our grassroots policy advocacy, we are dedicated to transforming the criminal justice system so that it is more just and equitable for all people.

Masthead Executive Director: Sam Lewis Associate Director of Inside Programs: Jacob Brevard Deputy Director: Bikila Ochoa

Our supportive services – which include case management, trauma-informed counseling, housing, education, employment training, and mentorship – ensure that those returning home are given the best chance to be healthy, whole members of their communities. Our programs, correspondence, and legislative work on behalf of currently incarcerated people create hope and a pathway to freedom for many who never thought freedom possible.

Inside Newsletter Editor-in-Chief: Nicholas Reiner Deputy Editor: Josh Pynoos Design Editor: John Dich Women’s Update Editor: Norma Cumpian Operations: Derrick Miles

Write to the Anti-Recidivism Coalition Los Angeles: Anti-Recidivism Coalition, 1320 E. 7th Street Suite 260, Los Angeles, CA 90021 Sacramento: Anti-Recidivism Coalition, 2830 G Street, Suite 210, Sacramento, CA 95816 During this pandemic, we want to hear from you, and know what life is like, so we can help amplify your voices and the current state of life inside prison. Please write to us and tell us what needs to be done to keep you healthy and safe.

Please write to us at ATTN: #COVID-19 Submission, 1320 E. 7th Street, Suite 260, Los Angeles, CA 90021 If you write ARC a letter, please include some general information that will assist us in determining how to best serve you, and that will aid ARC with their advocacy efforts. Please answer the following questions: • • •

Are you serving a determinate sentence, serving a life sentence, or a life without the possibility of parole sentence?

Are you returning home due to SB 394, SB260, SB261, AB 1308, SB 1391, SB 1437, AB 965 or Prop. 57?

Have you had a suitability hearing? If so, how many have you had?

Also please keep ARC updated if you happen to transfer out of your current institution. This will ensure you continue to receive the ARC quarterly newsletter.

Submit to our Newsletter!

We want you to contribute to our next newsletter and submissions are now open! Tell us what inspires you, what your goals are, what gives you hope, or anything you would like to share with our community! Feel free to also write your commentary on public life or what’s happening in the world at large.

Please write to us at ATTN: Newsletter Submission, 1320 E. 7th Street, Suite 260, Los Angeles, CA 90021. Write the name you would like to be published under.

Submissions may also be posted on the ARC website. Please note that your submission is not guaranteed publication. We look forward to reading your work!

Support Letters for Board Please be aware that it takes at least a month for us to have a support letter ready for the board. Help us help you and write to us within 3 months of your board date. We want you home!!

Thank you, ARC Staff

Learn How You and Your Family Can Get Involved The bills that ARC and other community-based groups throughout California are supporting this year are significant in that they help provide many of you with chances to return to your families, remove barriers to your employment once you return home, and ensure that young people never enter the juvenile / criminal justice systems. California legislators need to know that these bills are extremely important to their constituents. One of the ways that you can help these bills become reality is to encourage your families to contact their representatives and voice their support. They can find out who their representatives are by using the following website: findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov.

Once they find out who their representatives are, they simply have to contact them and voice their support. Your family members, loved ones and friends can contact their representatives through phone calls and social media, as well. Please encourage your friends and loved ones today!

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ARC Stories from Inside – Publishing Agreement This Publishing Agreement (“Agreement”) is entered into on this ____ day of ________, 20___ by and between Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC) (“Publisher”) and the individual artist, author, writer, illustrator named below (“Artist”) for the purpose of publication of art (“Work”) to be included in ARC’s Artwork from Inside, which includes, but is not limited to, publication on the ARC website, ARC social media channels, ARC’s inside newsletter, and ARC’s e-mail newsletter.

In consideration of the mutual promises set forth in this Agreement, Publisher and Artist hereby agree as follows: Artist warrants and represents that: 1. Artist is the legal owner of or has all right in and to the Work, which is free of any copyrighted material or other artistic work not owned by Artist.

2. The Work is original to the Artist.

3. The Work has not been published elsewhere, accepted for publication elsewhere, and is not pending acceptance or being considered for publication elsewhere.

4. The Work does not violate or infringe on any copyright or other personal property rights or any third parties.

5. The Work is authorized to be used in ARC’s Artwork from Inside and other channels listed above.

The undersigned agree to the terms of this Agreement.

Artist Name of Artist (print): _______________________ Title of Work: _____________________________ Signature: ________________________________ Address: _____________________________________ Publisher Name of Representative (print): ________________________________ Signature: ________________________________

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