For many years AFSC-Arizona has been working to reform sentencing and prison laws in Arizona. Now, we are excited to announce that we are partnering with the national group, Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM).
FAMM is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization located in Washington, DC that has advocated for sentencing reform in state legislatures across the country and in Congress for more than 25 years. FAMM has worked with lawmakers to reform or end mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent and low-level crimes in a number of states, including Iowa, Florida, Michigan, and New Jersey.
- Photo Credit: Kat Grigg via Flickr
To do this work, FAMM tells the stories of people who are incarcerated and their families to help legislators understand how mandatory minimum sentences are unjust and hurt families and communities. Your stories can help us and FAMM convince Arizona legislators to change mandatory minimum sentencing laws.
The process is simple. FAMM first asks for information about a person’s crime and sentence, then researches the person’s criminal history and sentencing. If the person’s sentence is particularly unjust and their story is particularly sympathetic, FAMM works with the incarcerated individual and family to write their story, which is then shared on FAMM’s website, with lawmakers, and, if requested, with reporters and the media.
FAMM is looking for the stories of people in prison in Arizona who:
- Have been convicted of nonviolent drug crimes, and
- Have no record of arrests or convictions for violent crimes, and
- Are serving a mandatory minimum sentence in an Arizona prison.
If you or someone you know meets these criteria, please click here to fill out the form, and mail it to:
FAMM, Attn: Arizona,
1100 H St. NW, Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20005
or attach it in an email to afscarizona@afsc.org.
Thank you for helping FAMM and AFSC-AZ tell your stories so that we can change lawmakers’ minds – and change Arizona laws!