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Reimagining the carceral state is needed. Last Thursday’s event was a chance to have two expert Black women attorneys speak to that. It was an honor partnering with the Santa Cruz County Office of the Public Defender, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the National Association of Public Defense. Our conversation with Keeda J. Haynes and Lori James-Townes was powerful, inspiring, and important. I've written about Keeda previously, and when I say how much it lifted my spirit to meet her and let her know that I know her, see her, and can't expound enough on how important her work is. I highly recommend reading her memoir—Bending the Arc: My Journey from Prison to Politics.
This community needed to hear what she had to say. This country does too, frankly. Full stop. The same goes for Lori. Lori is the Executive Director of the National Association of Public Defense, and she is a woman who understands the need for restorative rather than punitive justice. She is trained in social work and speaks to the changes that can be made to the criminal legal system that would work toward making this country closer to the promise the founders touted in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. A special thank you goes to Heather Rogers, Public Defender of Santa Cruz County, and Jonathan Cruz, Chief Deputy Public Defender. Their vision and desire to look at our criminal legal system with actual care about the individual when challenging the state and resolving the myriad of issues people deal within it. To them and their office, I give my sincere gratitude; we at Santa Cruz Black look forward to continuing building a relationship and having future community-focused events. In community, Chris SCB
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