To the next five years and beyond
You may have noticed that as part of our five year anniversary celebration, we've been reflecting on the past. Five years is both a milestone and a mere blink in time, but we aren't any less ambitious because of it! Almost daily, the Restoring Justice team recognizes that the work of zealously fighting for our clients is a privilege.
There is little that's straightforward about our work. Humans are complex and live in ways that systems aren't built to recognize and accommodate. For people we are unable to assist, the challenges can be overwhelming without the financial resources or expertise – whether shuffling through a criminal legal system, navigating resources for housing or jumping through bureaucratic hoops to get government records.
Addressing the root causes of mass incarceration requires solutions outside the bounds of the criminal legal system, so we asked the team to dream a little. Typically buried under lists of clients and volunteers to call or court motions, some of the RJ folks shared their vision for the future:
I would like to see the implementation of a jail discharge plan that involves all of the big systems in Harris County including medical, housing and public benefits. If we were able to create a comprehensive discharge plan for every client being released, they would be able to know where they are going to stay, handle their medical needs and sign up for benefits such as food stamps, social security and vital documents.
Instead of spending so much time looking for available resources and jumping thousands of hoops, I see us having a reputation that encourages organizations and agencies to make the process of getting help easier for marginalized communities.
– Alivia Elovich, Director of Social Services
Our clients face systemic injustice in very big ways, but also in very small ones. Often, an incredible result like a case dismissal can feel bittersweet because an added harm – like a pending case getting in the way of providing for oneself and one’s family – can't be erased by the criminal case going away. In the future, I hope to see Restoring Justice preventing injustice and vindicating the rights of our clients at different intersections with the criminal legal system.
I see a civil rights lawyer at Restoring Justice who can help hold law enforcement accountable when they violate our clients' rights and yet face no discipline or legal recourse for it. I see an immigration attorney who fights the deportation of our clients. I see a policy advocate devoted to changing laws and systems at the local, state, and even the national level or making a new system altogether. And I see more social workers, more client advocates, and more staff attorneys to fill gaps in our current indigent defense system in Harris County that creates situations where indigent clients have little choice but to continue with court-appointed counsel with far too many cases.
– Eric Sundin, Staff Attorney
Instead of spending so much time looking for available resources and jumping thousands of hoops, I see us having a reputation that encourages organizations and agencies to make the process of getting help easier for marginalized communities.
If I could remove a barrier and honor our client’s dignity, I would take away the stigmatization that goes along with interacting with the justice system, poverty, and simply being a black person whose life overlaps with both of those things!
– Monique Joseph, Client Advocate