Justice Matters KS

An interfaith coalition of congregations coming together to actualize their vision of a more just and fair Douglas County.

[Justice Matters KS @JusticeForKS]

Vote YES on Proposition 1 this November to invest in much-needed behavioral health services in Douglas County. Funding mental health is now listed independently on the ballot, so you can vote YES without having to also invest in a jail expansion!
https://t.co/kyQlA5BX5y

[Justice Matters KS @JusticeForKS]

Why would they reject a free study? Could they be afraid of the truth: jail expansions are failed experiments of a bygone era.

[Justice Matters KS @JusticeForKS]

A shocking number of people in jails are there simply because they are poor. Do we really want to build more cells just to punish the poor? Reform, not expansion

[Justice Matters KS @JusticeForKS]

Hidden motives? 😡

[Justice Matters KS @JusticeForKS]

Douglas County failed to get voters' approval on a jail expansion in May 2018. Now they're saying they don't need voters' approval. What?!

[Justice Matters KS @JusticeForKS]

A powerful conclusion from a recent report by @daniellerudes.

[Justice Matters KS @JusticeForKS]

@douglascountyks rejected a robust study of jail alternatives that would make our streets safer and cost less. Then they blamed Justice Matters for hiring researchers to do the analysis anyway. Trying to ensure voters better options couldn't be any more difficult.

[Justice Matters KS @JusticeForKS]

If you build it, you will fill it. And what you see is what you'll get. Do we really want add jail cells without first understanding why we have so many people of color locked up?

[Justice Matters KS @JusticeForKS]

Period.

[Justice Matters KS @JusticeForKS]

The Sheriff's office stopped releasing annual reports re: the jail when officials began pushing for expansion. Check it out. Every year, a full report like clockwork dating back to '11. Then 2016 rolls around and reports come to an end. https://t.co/UbMdvT4w0v

[Justice Matters KS @JusticeForKS]

Now that the pandemic has proven that safe reforms are possible and officials have misled us, it’s up to citizens to exercise their democratic rights to reverse the course of mass incarceration.

[Justice Matters KS @JusticeForKS]

We need to talk about how COVID19 is exposing the lies that contributed to mass incarceration in Douglas County, KS and across our country.

[Justice Matters KS @JusticeForKS]

We're an Interfaith group using democracy to block the expansion of a jail we don’t need.

[Justice Matters KS @JusticeForKS]

The "overcrowding" of the Douglas County jail costs us about $1M / yr to house inmates in other counties’ jails...a fraction of the $7M / yr this expansion will cost us. And with recent emergency reforms, it seems like we’re not overcrowded anymore? Something doesn’t add up...