Utah Prisoner Advocate Network
UPAN | A nonprofit community advocacy group supporting the families of Utah inmates.
Please join UPAN for our next monthly meeting. We will be a general family meeting to update on a variety of issues and discuss any news about the implementation of HB 348 Criminal Justice Programs and Amendments.
Get to know your Legislator (Bring Your Legislator To UPAN Meeting)
We are asking our UPAN participants to contact their local representatives and senators and invite them to our January 2016 meeting. You can find out who they are by going to: le.utah.gov. E-mail them, call them, and send them a written invitation. This will only be successful if we all do our part to invite them!
If you wish to speak at this meeting, please arrive about 10 – 15 minutes early to sign up on the speakers list. We will begin on time at 6:30 p.m.
Agenda & Objectives:
1. This will put a face to the names we hear about up on the Hill. And they will get to put a face to the constituents they represent.
2. We can give first hand stories about the real people being affected by the laws they are passing.
3. We can let them know what we would like to see happen with new criminal justice reform. This will be accomplished the same way we did when Ron Gordon of the CCJJ came. There will be a list for participants (you) to sign up in order to speak. Each speaker will get up to five minutes to express their views. We would like this to be a positive experience for all involved, so no negativity will be accepted. Our representatives should come away with an appreciation of everything we as families, and our incarcerated loved ones, are going though. We hope to share, ideas that continue to facilitate positive change. We need their help, they need our experience, and we need them to be on the side of truth, fairness, and healing. Free and open to the public.
#Cut50 National Day of Empathy - Presented by League of Allies and UPAN
Britnee Webb of League of Allies, UPAN and others areorganizing an event focusing on creating empathy & humanizing the experience of prisoners and their families. Guest speakers, open forum, more info to come. Please invite anyone interested. We would love to have former inmates & their families present to speak in the forum. Ideally we want state officials, legislators & policymakers present, because this is who we are humanizing the experience for. We want them to see our inmates as more than numbers.
About #DayOfEmpathy
Day of Empathy is a national day of action to generate empathy on a massive scale for millions of Americans impacted by the criminal justice system.
In order to reform our criminal justice system, we must first humanize and empathize with those who are impacted by it.
The Day of Empathy will highlight the needs and share the perspectives of Americans impacted by the current justice system - from survivors of violent crime, those who are addicted or mentally ill, incarcerated individuals working to transform themselves, people with a criminal record desperately seeking a second chance, and all community members impacted by crime, public safety, and violence.
Without empathy, we cannot achieve meaningful policy changes that keep our communities safe, our families whole, and our economy strong.
There are thousands of people - mothers, daughters, children - who have stories to tell.
The Day of Empathy will shine a light on people impacted by the criminal justice system, uplift their voices, and win over hearts and minds towards the idea that transformation is possible.
HOW WE'LL DO THIS
On March 1st, 2017 organizations across the country will be activated for a single day of action to spotlight their local efforts and unite under a unified banner to highlight the strength of the bipartisan criminal justice reform movement.
"Ambassadors of Empathy" will meet with elected officials in State capitols and Governors' offices across the country. They will share their experiences and how they have been impacted by the criminal justice system. Legislators will gain first-hand experience of the human consequences of a criminal justice system that has gotten too big, too unfair, and too brutal.
The Day of Empathy will feature storytelling, digital media, and virtual realitycontent to humanize formerly incarcerated people, survivors of violent crime, and millions of others. By delivering a set of powerful, emotional experiences to lawmakers and fellow Americans, the Day of Empathy will accelerate the bipartisan drive to create more effective, efficient, and humane criminal justice system.
OUR TEAM
We have teamed up with storytellers, media industry insiders, technology leaders and policy experts with direct access to leaders in the U.S. Congress, the White House, criminal justice activists, major news outlets and technology pioneers.
