Extra Learning Opportunities for the 2024 Session
Sponsored by Church of the Holy Spirit (Episcopal) on Vashon Island, Washington
Webinar on Criminal Justice Reform in Washington State
January 4, 2024, 7:00-8:30 pm
Free registration: Email and put “criminal justice webinar” in subject line.
Inspired by commitment to racial justice, the Church of the Holy Spirit on Vashon Island (Episcopal) is sponsoring a webinar on criminal justice reform. Webinar speakers will explain three top-priority bills before the 2024 state legislature to help undo the racial, social, and spiritual harms of Washington state’s criminal justice system. Passage of these reform bills will be incremental steps toward a criminal justice system emphasizing rehabilitation and hope rather than excessive punishment. Webinar speakers are:
- Moderator: Cindy Arends Elsberry, Resentencing Resource Attorney for the Washington Defender Association,
- Traffic Stops: Enoka Herat, ACLU attorney
- Limiting Solitary Confinement: Rachael Seevers, staff attorney for Disability Rights Washington
- Reining in Sentencing Add-On: David Trieweiler, criminal defense lawyer and chair of End Mass Incarceration Project
Offered by the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability:
WCPA will host two meetings for a session preview on its priority bills on Thursday, Jan. 4 at 7 PM and Jan. 6 at 10 AM.
- HB 1445. House Bill 1445 expands and clarifies the Washington Attorney General’s Office authority to investigate and hold accountable police departments and jails for constitutional and state law violations, including litigation subpoena powers. For more information, see this blog post: To change bad police department cultures, we need HB 1445 | ACLU of Washington (aclu-wa.org)
- HB1513, Traffic Safety for All. Traffic Safety for All (House Bill 1513, Senate Bill 5572) deprioritizes traffic stops for non-safety-related reasons to help law enforcement better enforce traffic laws that pose a serious threat to driver safety, such as impaired and distracted driving.
- HB 1579, establishing a state-wide independent prosecutor within the Attorney General’s Office.
There is no need to attend both (but you’re welcome to). The same information will be covered at each meeting. Zoom link for those meetings: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83333287528?pwd=kqhXgudkXiQKSNIiCAA81Oan3zDa5T.1. More information on these bills is available from .
Offered by the Faith Action Network:
Advocacy 101, January 10, 7-8 pm, or January 11, 12-1 pm. This training goes over the basics of legislative advocacy in the context of FAN’s priorities. Not everything will apply to your work with Quaker Voice, but lots will. Registration is required:
- Evening session on January 10: Advocacy 101 – Evening Session | Faith Action Network PowerBase (ourpowerbase.net)
- Lunchtime session on January 11: Advocacy 101 – Lunchtime Session | Faith Action Network PowerBase (ourpowerbase.net)