KEY PRINCIPLES
1. Family and community strength can reduce incarceration.
2. Families as organizers and agents of change, not just service recipients.
3. Building a movement of directly impacted people to hold courts accountable.
STRUCTURE
Weekly gatherings of families with loved ones facing charge.
Facilitated by those who've navigated their own cases successfully
Focus on empowerment and transforming participants' sense of agency
OUR APPROACH
Not a legal clinic, but a community organizing initiative
Emphasizes participatory defense strategies
Partners with public defenders to improve case outcomes
Explores systemic issues in the court system
OUTCOMES
Acquittals, dismissed/reduced charges
Sentences changed to rehabilitation programs
Life sentences reconsidered
BROADER IMPACT
Challenges mass incarceration by improving public defense
Expands the pool of effective advocates beyond those familiar with the justice system
Creates 'family justice hubs' in various community touch points
Reshapes the narrative around who can participate in court advocacy
CAM represents a paradigm shift in addressing criminal justice issues, emphasizing community power, lived experience, and systemic change through direct involvement in court processes
C.A.M. organizes regular meetings for families whose loved ones are facing criminal charges. These gatherings provide a space for support, information sharing, and collective action planning. Rather than treating participants as service recipients, C.A.M. empowers families and community members to become organizers and agents of change in the court system. C.A.M. teaches community members how to actively participate in the defense process.
Our meetings are facilitated by individuals who have successfully navigated their own cases, providing relatable guidance and support, while encouraging community members to attend court hearings, showing judges and prosecutors that defendants have community support.
We rely on social bios, using video and letters to humanize defendants, giving courts a fuller picture of their lives and community connections.
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