A few months ago, a journalist and old college friend of mine asked if he could interview me for a profile in the monthly lifestyle magazine, PHOENIX. I was reluctant, at first, dreading the idea of rehashing the criminal behavior that sent me to prison more than 11 […]
Reporters from local and national media often reach out to AFSC-Arizona for comments on trends and legislation related to our criminal punishment system. But they also ask us to connect them with people who are formerly incarcerated or system-involved. We’re always willing to help, so long as journalists […]
It’s been almost two months since Elaine Herzberg died. I didn’t know her, but I think about her often. Elaine was struck and killed by an autonomous Uber near Tempe Town Lake in March. According to her Facebook page, she graduated from Apache Junction High School and lived […]
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 […]
I met Reframing Justice Program Coordinator Dr. Grace Gámez to talk about volunteering for AFSC Arizona the week before the May 2017 conference on Blurring the Boundaries: Trauma and Healing Justice that she and her colleagues organized. I was drawn to the focus on challenging a legally sanctioned […]
While I was incarcerated at Marana State Prison, another inmate gave me a poem she wrote called “What No One Wants to Hear”. *It’s a pretty heavy poem- it captures a lot of the emotion of being incarcerated- anger, sadness, isolation, and inhumanity. I had been in and […]