Ask A Lawyer

Hi Folks!

I’m Aaron El Sabrout, Black & Pink’s new Advocacy Manager. As part of our new Inside Member Advocacy program, I’m super excited to announce our new “Ask A Lawyer” column. Similar to the “Ask Mx. Zephy” column, I’ll be picking a couple of your questions for each newsletter to respond to publicly, so that we can all learn about the law and our constitutional rights together. I am a licensed attorney, and while I can’t represent you, if you have any advocacy questions, please write to:

ATTN: Advocacy Request 6223 Maple St. #4600 Omaha, NE 68104

We’ll do our best to respond to all advocacy requests, and we’ll choose a couple to highlight in this column to help educate everyone about the law.

For this first column, I’m not going to be responding to any advocacy requests. Instead I want to highlight an advocacy

opportunity for folks currently or formerly incarcerated in Nebraska.

The Nebraska legislature is currently considering a Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) 2021-2023 budget request to build a new 1,500 bed prison between Omaha and Lincoln, NE. This would cost at least $230 million. This budget will not help address overcrowding or understaffing in existing Nebraska prisons and jails, and the new facility will require even more hires and operational budgets to run.

Black & Pink believes in prison abolition. We believe that no new prisons should be built, ever. Instead, we believe that we should focus all of the state’s money and efforts toward getting folks out of cages, stopping them from being put in cages, and making sure they have everything they need to succeed in life. This means free university tuition, community-based alternatives to incarceration, medicare and mental health care for all, and all of the other necessities for a good life. We believe that as currently and formerly incarcerated folks in Nebraska, you have a unique opportunity to comment on what the priorities of the state should be in terms of DOCS services. Do you think a new prison would help Nebraskans? Do you think there are other things Nebraskans need more? What other ways could the state spend that money that would prevent incarceration, rather than just imprisoning more people?

If you want the Nebraska Legislature to hear your opinion on this matter, write to:

Sen. John Stinner, Chair Nebraska Legislature Appropriations Committee Room 1004 P.O. Box 94604 Lincoln, NE 68509 (402) 471-2802