In partnership with the Wilson County NAACP, and CAPE, the Carolina Justice Policy Center is thrilled to announce they are one of sixteen organizations chosen to receive a Vera Institute for Justice “In Our Backyards” grant to combat mass incarceration in Wilson County, North Carolina.
About Our New Work in Wilson County
Wilson County, NC incarcerates too many Black, Latino, and poor residents simply because they cannot afford to post bail. This impacts the community as a whole, particularly children of jailed parents who suffer family separation, housing displacement, mental health challenges, stigma, and shame. Together with the NAACP of Wilson County and the Community Alliance for Public Education (CAPE), we will mobilize community groups, social services organizations, educators, parents, and others to advance bail reform and the use of “cite and release.” We will share data and research in community meetings, round-table events with law enforcement leaders and civil servants, and in a large forum.
About In Our Backyards
While major cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago have begun to reduce their use of prison and jail, small cities and rural counties across the country are deepening their reliance on mass incarceration. To spark and sustain reform beyond the biggest cities, In Our Backyards supports community-based and statewide organizations committed to reducing incarceration rates and resisting unnecessary jail expansion in small and rural communities.
We are grateful to the Vera Institute for supporting us in this important work. To help us fight mass incarceration in Wilson County, please consider making a tax-deductible gift today.