The Mobile Justice Tour (MJT) in Virginia is embarking on their 3rd fifteen-city tour calling for the overhaul of Virginia’s Justice System, restoring civil and voting rights and for state-wide fair-hiring application policies for persons with a criminal record.
Fueled by ordinary citizens, college students, and church groups across the state requesting The “Mobile Justice Tour” to visit and re-visit communities with awareness/updates focusing on three key justice-related issues: helping as many of the 400,000 lifetime disenfranchised citizens with felony convictions to restore their civil and voting rights, advocating under the umbrella of state-wide and state level “Ban the Box” to remove questions about an applicant’s criminal background from initial employment forms, and bringing awareness to the need for sentencing reform and end mass incarceration in Virginia.
“Previous “Mobile Justice Tour “ were so successful, inspiring everyday Virginians to reach out to us and proactively invite us to bring the tour and our information and resources to their communities,” said Lillie Branch-Kennedy, RIHD Founder and Executive Director, who is also the tour founder and co-moderator.
At each stop of the tour, members of the coalition will discuss and share the following information with the public:
Proposed legislation and activities to help end mass incarceration in Virginia :
Virginia’s discriminatory sentencing practices and sentencing disparity that is resulting in mass incarceration of African Americans, people of color, and the poor
Restoring justice to Virginians sentenced to prison from the year 1995 through 2000 under a system of jury trial that the Virginia Supreme Court described as unfair in the case of Fishback v. Commonwealth.
“Ban-the-Box” Campaign to promote passage of laws statewide that will remove inquiries into the criminal background of a job applicant from the initial employment application and defer the inquiries until the interview process.
Support for a robust prison reentry program that will ensure adequate rehabilitation of offenders who are scheduled to return to our communities.
Restoration of civil and voting rights for Virginians with felony conviction records (Members of the coalition will provide on-site direct assistance to those citizens who wish to restore their rights.)
Join Resource Information Help for the Disadvantaged, Inc. (RIHD) and its partners,) Prisoners and Families for Equal Rights and Justice (PAFERJ), Bridging the Gap and local moderators when we stop in your city, county or town.
Listed below is the 3rd MJT Tour Schedule for September, October, November and December. Please share with others.
TOUR SCHEDULE:
SEPTEMBER:
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
3pm -7pm
First Baptist Church
632 West Main Street
Charlottesville, VA 22903
OCTOBER:
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
4pm – 7pm
Pathways
1200 West Washington Street
Petersburg, VA 23803
Thursday, October 16, 2014
2pm-4pm
MLK, Jr. Public Library
2315 Memorial Avenue
Lynchburg, VA 24501
Saturday, October 25, 2014
3:30pm SHARP
Knights Inn
312 West Stuart Drive
Galax, VA 24333
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
5pm -8pm
Main Library
4207 Victory Boulevard
Hampton, VA 23669
Tuesday, October 30, 2014
6pm-8pm
Trinity Family Life Center
3601 Dill Road
Richmond, VA 23222
NOVEMBER:
Thursday, November 6, 2014
5pm-8-pm
Reston Regional Library
11925 Bowman Towne Drive
Reston, VA 20190
Thursday, November 13, 2014
3pm-6pm
Williamson Road Library
3837 Williamson Road, NW
Roanoke, VA 24012
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
6pm -8pm
Wesley Memorial United Methodist
1720 Mechanicsville Turnpike
Richmond, VA 23223
Thursday, November 20, 2014
2pm-4pm
Ellen Coolridge Burke Library
4701 Seminary Road
Alexandria, VA 22304
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
3pm-6pm
Main Street Library
174 South Main Street
Harrisonburg, VA 22801
DECEMBER:
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
2:30pm to 5pm
Meyera E. Oberndoft Central Library
4100 Virginia Beach Boulevard
Virginia Beach, VA 23452
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Crewe Town Library
5pm to 8pm
400 Tyler Street
Crewe, VA 23930
Thursday, December 11, 2014
4:30pm – 7pm
Rappahannock Library
1201 Caroline Street
Fredericksburg, VA
Contact Brenda Jefferson-McLaurin at (804) 426-4426;
Email: BrendajRIHD@gmail.com