Criminal justice reform issues to be addressed by lawyers, advocates, and formerly incarcerated in Cobb County, Ga.

Taken from slideshow at 50th Anniversary of Black Panther Party

A "Criminal Justice Reform" initiative will be re-introduced in Cobb County, Ga., April 4, from 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m., at Zion Baptist Church, 160 Lemon Street in Marietta. The event will raise solutions to ongoing problems regarding the Criminal Justice System in Cobb County and around the nation.

Topics brought to the table will include ending the school to prison pipeline, mass incarceration, and providing legal counsel for poor people.

The event is being sponsored by Zion Baptist Church, the SCLC, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Gideon's Promise, and the People's Agenda.

According to Nancy A. Heitzeg, professor of Critical Studies of Race/Ethnicity at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota, students of color are being tracked and face zero tolerance policies in schools which result in them becoming a part of the criminal justice system, looking out from behind bars. 

"The school to prison pipeline has emerged in the larger context of media hysteria over youth violence and the mass incarceration that characterize both the juvenile and adult legal system."

According to the Gideon's Promise website, America's prison population has increased from 217,000 to 2.3 million over a 50 year period.

"Although 1963 was a pivotal year for civil and human rights, our jails and prisons are still populated with people who are not receiving quality representation due to financial, structural and cultural changes needed in the criminal justice system. Many people in the system are overwhelmingly poor and disproportionately minorities."(http://www.gideonspromise.org/about/)

"Public defenders are necessary if we are to realize equal justice in America. We are the voice for the voiceless." --- Gideon's Promise

For more information on the event, contact Dr. H. Benjamin Williams at 770-876-2070 or go to www.sclccobb.org.