Last November 2020, the Board of Supervisors unanimously decided to stop the construction of a new jail and explore alternatives to incarceration. They also promised to hold a robust community process that would include the experiences of those incarcerated, their families, and the larger community. The overwhelming response has been to keep on the track of identifying community-based alternatives that emphasize wellness and keep our communities safe. Yet the County Administr

As a physician who has practiced in urgent care for 15 years at Santa Clara Valley Medical, Dr. Zeiger has seen trauma, pain, and the immediate needs of the community. He describes incarceration as a public health threat, and gave the following speech at the Nov.12th SURJ press conference in front of the jail, calling for care not cages.

The following speech by Cynthia Longs was delivered at the SURJ press conference held in front of the Santa Clara County Main Jail on November 12th, 2021. The community call was to county elected officials to not build a new jail.

Santa Clara County's jail population is the lowest it's ever been. But also for the first time, there are more people on system supervision than in the jail. Pretrial justice doesn't have to be an either jail or supervision dichotomy - it can be neither. It can be freedom.

In the fall of 2018, Cecilia Morales joined our Participatory Defense meetings to advocate for her two sons. In April of 2020, right when COVID restrictions were put in place inside the court system, her older son Eladio was denied parole. The experience left Eladio depressed and made him question his future. Fortunately, through his support inside and outside of prison, Eladio was able to use this negative moment and turn into something powerful.

Zah has served 36 years of a Life Without the Possibility of Parole sentence. From his decades of experience he makes the political, moral, and undeniable argument to end extreme sentences.

Our families and folks across California worked hard to close the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). Now as Santa Clara County begins to plan for this major shift, the care of our youth must be led by formerly incarcerated youth who can tell us what they needed but didn’t get in DJJ.

Ymilul Bates is a Bay Area teacher and the mother of a young man being adjudicated in Contra Costa. She reflects on her work with the young children in her classroom and her commitment to continue to support them and her own son as they learn from mistakes, resolve conflict and repair harm.

San Jose recently appointed a new police chief in the wake of the largest demonstrations against systemic racism in the history of the city and a groundswell of support to defund police. Here, families who have lost loved ones to police in Santa Clara County lay out a set of demands for the first 100 days of the chief's appointment, calling for a new vision of safety.

Joey has been fighting for his brother Hugo's freedom for nearly a decade. Hugo was sentenced to 105 years to life after he was wrongfully prosecuted by the DA using racist gang allegations. This week Joey testified at a state hearing to share Hugo’s story for why the Racial Justice Act should be retroactive and racism, like Hugo experienced, should not exist in the courtroom.

Families and advocates produced the following report compiling survey responses along with testimonial accounts from those inside and their families on the outside for a quantitatively informed statement on the conditions inside the jails during the COVID pandemic.

From behind the walls of Folsom State Prison, Ifoma Modibo Kambon reaches out to challenge us all to discover our strengths, purpose, and remember that through difficulties we are never alone.

This letter to the County Board of Supervisors chronicles the last two months of those detained in Santa Clara County jails during and after COVID outbreaks in the facilities - leading to a 9 day detainee hunger strike to demand basic human rights.

The following text is of an evocation De-Bug was asked to give about "safety for all" to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors January 12th, 2021 meeting.

In December 2020, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors unanimously decided to move away from incarceration and shut down the construction of the new jail. This win didn’t come easy -- it took years of struggle led by individuals inside and their loved ones outside who organized and came together to insist on a vision of freedom that our entire community can believe in. These photos document that struggle - and as an act of reimagining, we hung these photos on the fence

Read the Peace Dancer's December message. Khalilah Ramirez is a performance artist and author whose personal mission is to spread joy, love and peace with her dance.

Santa Clara County Community Celebrates Historic Move to Stop the Construction of a Jail, and Embark on a Community Process to Explore Alternatives to the Incarceration!

While incarcerated pretrial six years ago, Joseph Vejar led a hunger strike from Main Jail South to protest inhumane treatment. Today, years later, he reflects what it means to him that the community stopped the construction of a new jail.

The following piece originally appeared in the Mercury News.

On the California ballot this November 2020 is Proposition 16, which will bring back affirmative action in public employment, education, and contracting decisions. The aftermath of Prop 209 that was passed in 1996 resulted in a significant drop in Black and Latino youth in California’s public universities. Here in Santa Clara County, many of our young people are at the forefront of leading the fight for racial and gender equality through Prop 16. On September 26, the NAACP Yo