Justice Reflections 5.11.22

Family Separation

Last year, Minnesota ended the practice of separating mothers from their newborns in prison. Family separation is deeply baked into systems all over the country. The fact that a life-altering, deeply traumatizing event is repeated for children all over the country without much consideration, and that the Minnesota law is seen as a breakthrough, tells you something about how dehumanizing these systems are. Even more horrible, two thirds of mothers giving birth in prison in MN are Native American, incarcerated on short terms for low-level offenses including probation violations. 

The direct lineage of these practices that go back to family separation during slavery and early land settlement (forcing children into Native American boarding schools) suggest to me that there is dry tinder here - I think there’s potential for a large, public outcry against these practices. We did see that moment when Americans were apoplectic about family separation at the border, but it died back down. I think it’s worth investing in infrastructure to harness that public attention when it does arise. Two great organizations working a lot on this are the National Council and the Movement for Family Power, both led by highly strategic women of color who are trained in some pretty exciting cutting-edge movement organizing tactics. They are currently raising money for a campaign to address a terrible federal law that requires termination of parental rights in connection with incarceration.

Just Transition

I recently reread Keri Blakinger’s heavily-reported story examining the false hope that prison construction offers to rural economic development. She highlights the story of Tecumseh, Nebraska where the heavily marketed and breathlessly promised economic boom following the construction of a prison in Nebraska never materialized. This story may be helpful to advocates pushing back on jail fights in rural areas, though we also have to contend with the reality that in many areas, jails and prisons really do prop up the local economy, and closure will not be politically possible without finding alternatives for those workers. 

A helpful concept for navigating this is the “Just Transition” framework from the environmental movement, that’s now being applied more widely (including in immigration; see this report from Detention Watch Network). Here’s a definition from Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, a grassroots organizing group in Kentucky that focuses on rural areas: “The term Just Transition describes an all-in, inclusive, and place-based process to build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative one.” I am eager to see more thinking about just transition in the criminal justice field, and was happy to hear that one of our grantees is working to bring a fellow onboard to focus on it. It’s interesting as part of a political strategy to close rural facilities, but also in the larger sense as a challenge to think more broadly than political fights around policy. Restorative justice, a regenerative economy, restoration of the environment, reparations -- these themes resonate strongly with each other, and point to a larger strategy that unites criminal justice with land, housing, climate, worker, and racial justice.