“Having worked in government, you have to realize there’s two pots of money: There’s the people money. There’s the power money.” —DeAnna Hoskins explains #federalfunding Watch the full video: https://jlusa.org/2026/05/04/deanna-hoskins-speaks-on-reentry-issues-at-the-city-club-in-cleveland/

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers recently restored the commutations process in the state after how many years? ○ 2 years ○ 5 years ○ 15 years ○ 25 years Take the quiz: jlusa.org/quiz #Quiz #Wisconsin #Commutations #Clemency #Pardons

As we reflect on Fair Chances in Action Month this past April, we extend our deepest gratitude to the Jacob & Valeria Langeloth Foundation for their support as an Advocate for Change Sponsor. #FairChances

#WEBDuBois: #RebelWithACause premiered on #PBS. The new documentary is from award-winning director Rita Coburn, featuring narration by Viola Davis & readings by Common, Courtney B. Vance & Jeffrey Wright. Watch: https://jlusa.org/2026/05/22/what-to-watch-w-e-b-du-bois-rebel-with-a-cause-documentary

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers recently restored the commutations process in the state after how many years? ○ 2 years ○ 5 years ○ 15 years ○ 25 years Take the quiz: jlusa.org/quiz #Quiz #Wisconsin #Commutations #Clemency #Pardons

JLUSA President/CEO DeAnna Hoskins explains how what the federal government is doing right now to tie funding dollars to cuts to #SNAPbenefits is similar to the #1994CrimeBill. Watch the full video: https://jlusa.org/2026/05/04/deanna-hoskins-speaks-on-reentry-issues-at-the-city-club-in-cleveland/

“A 40-year-old man died at the #RikersIsland jail complex on Tuesday, officials said. It was the second death at the troubled facility in 24 hours and the fourth in New York City Department of Correction custody this year.” Read free gift article: www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/n... #CLOSErikers

Philip Cooper (Leading with Conviction™ 2022) posted a video this week for May, #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth, to “highlight some of the things that you can do to cope with #anxiety.” Watch video: https://jlusa.org/2026/05/20/change-agent-philip-cooper-on-may-mental-health-awareness-month#MentalHealthAwarenessMonth#anxiety#AVL

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers recently restored the commutations process in the state after how many years? ○ 2 years ○ 5 years ○ 15 years ○ 25 years Take the quiz: jlusa.org/quiz #Quiz #Wisconsin #Commutations #Clemency #Pardons

“A 41-year-old woman died in custody at the Rose M. Singer Center on #RikersIsland Monday morning, becoming at least the third person to die in the city jail system this year.” #CLOSErikers Read more: https://gothamist.com/news/woman-dies-at-rikers-island-jail-the-third-death-in-custody-this-year

“If we utilize our power of our vote and realize that elected officials work for us, and that if you don’t follow the will of the people, you will be fired.” —JustLeadershipUSA President/CEO DeAnna Hoskins #Democracy #VotingRights #VotingPower #MassIncarceration #CriminalJusticeReform

“Hawai’i is poised to become one of the first states in the nation to require a judge to consider a child’s exposure to trauma before charging the youth as an adult.” Read more: https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-juvenile-justice-youth-trauma-adult-charges-f16142c8cb0c1a8eb351194110d4ccfa #Hawaii

“My vote says I’m more than what I once was, I’m actually a citizen of the USA … I’ve been paying taxes, but now I actually can vote and be part of the democratic process. This is really, really big for me.” https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/really-big-louisiana-man-explains-185237524.html

Kyle Giddings (Leading with Conviction™ 2024) said he worried about the message a #commutation for #TinaPeters would send to other incarcerated people seeking #clemency. Read more: https://jlusa.org/2026/05/18/kyle-giddings-speaks-out-on-colorado-governor-issuing-clemency-to-tina-peters/#commutation#TinaPeters#clemency#Colorado

JLUSA President/CEO DeAnna Hoskins: Many barriers for #formerlyincarcerated are not federally mandated. “They’re locally implemented, which means they can be locally changed.” Watch the full video: https://jlusa.org/2026/05/04/deanna-hoskins-speaks-on-reentry-issues-at-the-city-club-in-cleveland/

“The investigations into the deaths of both Nantwi and Brooks have opened the door to change in the prison system.” Read more: https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/news/2026/05/14/marcy-and-mid-state-cos- #CriminalJusticeReform #PrisonReform #RobertBrooks #MessiahNantwi #NewYorkState

“… in a state with one of the highest rates of Black people incarcerated, some who had previously been given hope that they would receive support for a sentence reduction have seen their cases opposed.” #Maryland Read free gift article: https://wapo.st/3P00FUV

Sen. Keturah Herron (Leading with Conviction™ 2019) called on lawmakers to ensure “we’re treating individuals with humanity.” Read more: https://jlusa.org/2026/05/13/sen-keturah-herron-on-bipartisan-push-to-support-immigration-rights-in-kentucky/ #Immigration #ImmigrantRights #Kentucky

“‘Unless you’re perfect, unless life has been really excellent, no one has ever victimized you and you’ve never victimized anyone, our moralistic society isn’t terribly kind,’ Roe-Sepowitz said.” Read more: www.kjzz.org/education/20... #Reentry #IncarceratedMothers

Guest host Kemba Smith (Leading with Conviction™ 2019) talks to Leon Benson and Lara Bazelon, Leon’s attorney, for the Wrongful Conviction podcast. Listen now: https://jlusa.org/2026/05/08/kemba-smith-guest-hosts-the-wrongful-conviction-podcast

“We don’t focus on emotional intelligence. We focus on #reentry as logistical and a checkmark. We don’t focus on transformation.” —JLUSA President & CEO DeAnna Hoskins Watch the full video: https://jlusa.org/2026/05/04/deanna-hoskins-speaks-on-reentry-issues-at-the-city-club-in-cleveland/

“In Dallas, Christopher Roberts, 41, has applied for more than 150 truck-driving jobs … But after disclosing that he is on probation for a drug-related offense, all prospective employers have turned him down.” #EconomicMobility Read free gift article: https://wapo.st/3P5tP4Y

Mark Rice (LwC 2017/LwC+™ 2026) writes, “Investing in the leadership of directly impacted people will be a key component in advancing true liberation and true economic justice in the future.” Read more: https://jlusa.org/2026/05/08/justice-the-next-250-building-collective-power-to-advance-justice

“House Bill 168, authored by Rep. Barbara Freiberg, would allow women to spend the last six months of their sentence out on parole …” Read more: https://www.wafb.com/2026/05/06/louisiana-bill-would-allow-women-serve-final-six-months-sentence-reentry-program/ #Louisiana #Reentry

“The city has agreed to pay nearly $5.2 million to the families of two men who died on Rikers Island of methadone overdoses …” Read more: https://queenseagle.com/all/2026/5/7/city-to-pay-over-5-mil-to-families-whose-loved-ones-overdosed-on-rikers #Rikers #CLOSErikers

JLUSA President/CEO DeAnna Hoskins explains why many #criminaljustice reforms would not be necessary if we actually believe and followed what the #USConstitution already says to do. Watch the full video: jlusa.org/2026/05/04/d... #CriminalJusticeReform #BailReform

Dr. Donna Hylton (Leading with Conviction™ 2015) writes, “#NewYork still pays certain workers pennies an hour—and the system that allows it was designed in the shadow of slavery.” Read more: https://jlusa.org/2026/05/06/donna-hylton-on-legal-slavery-in-the-new-york-prison-system#NewYork #PrisonReform

JustLeadershipUSA President and CEO DeAnna Hoskins explains the difference between #returningcitizens and #justiceimpacted. Watch the full video: https://jlusa.org/2026/05/04/deanna-hoskins-speaks-on-reentry-issues-at-the-city-club-in-cleveland/#returningcitizens#justiceimpacted#WordsMatter #WordsMakeWorlds #CriminalJusticeReform

For years, the field has centered #SecondChanceMonth. This year, JustLeadershipUSA and the @justuscc.org advanced a necessary shift reframing the conversation from whether individuals deserve a #secondchance to whether systems are designed to provide a fair one. Read more: jlusa.org/2026/05/01/c...

“The #SupremeCourt Wednesday weakened a key provision of the landmark #VotingRightsAct … The decision could touch off a scramble by Republicans to redraw minority-majority districts … imperiling the reelection prospects of some Black Democrats.” https://wapo.st/3OBjqhc

“Jennifer Toon [Leading with Conviction™ 2024] described the anticipation of rising temperatures inside prison facilities. ‘When it came around to April or May, you just start getting this dread.’” Read more: jlusa.org/2026/04/24/j... #Texas #PrisonReform #JustUs #ExtremeHeat

“Housing is where everything either holds or falls apart.” —Kara Nelson (Leading with Conviction™ 2016) spoke on the importance of #housing in #reentry last week at the JustUS Coordinating Council’s Second Chance Congressional Convening on Capitol Hill. #SecondChanceMonth #FairChances #JustUS

“The Justice Department said that it was immediately reclassifying #marijuana products that had been approved by the Food & Drug Administration as lower-risk drugs & establishing a new registration process for state #medicalmarijuana licenses.” Read free gift article: https://wapo.st/490Nidy

“The #DEA is planning to soon announce a new administrative hearing, a required step in the process of rescheduling [#marijuana], according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity …” Read free gift article: https://wapo.st/490Nidy

“ #NewYork advocates and lawmakers took over the Million Dollar Staircase in the state Capitol on Monday to call for changes to the state's sentencing laws, including … the #MarvinMayfieldAct.” spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/capital-... #CriminalJusticeReform

“New research led by the University of Houston suggests that #formerlyincarcerated people are more likely to receive #jobsearch assistance if they voluntarily disclose their past while highlighting accomplishments earned during their sentence.” www.eurekalert.org/news-release... #EconomicMobility

Thanks to all of the partner orgs and committees, panel participants, and everyone who attended the JustUS Coordinating Council’s “Second Chance Month Congressional Convening” yesterday on Capitol Hill! #SecondChanceMonth #FairChanceMonth #FairChances

DeAnna Hoskins, President and CEO of JustLeadershipUSA, tells @filtermag.bsky.social, “The fact that #Mandami is prioritizing [#Rikers] in his first 100 days is a really good sign.” Read more: jlusa.org/2026/04/15/d... #CLOSErikers #RikersIsland

“Sit with Ronnie for 56 minutes … and reconsider your perspective. I think that’s what documentaries & #storytelling can do at its best … let people walk in the shoes of someone else.” —Dan Protess, director/producer #InTheir Hands airing on #PBS World 4/15 Learn more: justuscc.org/fairchances#pbs

Fair Chance Month is a time to focus not only on redemption, but on building systems that ensure everyone has equitable access to opportunity. Join us to uplift #FairChances this April: justuscc.org/fairchances

April is known as “Second Chance Month,” but there is a growing movement to embrace what name for this month? ○ First Chance Month ○ Multiple Chance Month ○ Fair Chance Month ○ Just Chance Month Take the quiz: jlusa.org/quiz #Quiz #SecondChanceMonth

“When we are sentenced, our children are sentenced too. They walk into classrooms with a cloud over them. They hear whispers. They Google our names. And the narrative gets written without us.” Read more: www.cvilletomorrow.org/she-spent-18... #Virginia #IncarceratedWomen #ChangingTheNarrative

Cecilia Zavala (Leading with Conviction™ 2023) on teaching people to live in digital world post-incarceration: “Our peers really just felt like they were coming home to an alien world.” https://jlusa.org/2026/04/13/cecilia-zavala-on-teaching-people-how-to-live-in-a-digital-world-after-incarceration

A Michigan man who spent two years “with a bag of waste attached to his body has been awarded more than $307 million in damages over the prison’s handling of his medical care.” https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/formerly-incarcerated-man-awarded-307m-over-prison-s-medical-negligence/ar-AA20wVlr

“ #Maryland lawmakers passed the #YouthChargingReformAct Monday night. The law requires juveniles age 16 or older who are charged with certain gun crimes and first-degree assault to go to #juvenilecourt first …” Read more @fox5dc.bsky.social: www.fox5dc.com/news/marylan...

Are you organizing criminal justice reform-related events during the month of April? List your event on the #FairChances calendar to spread the word! Visit justuscc.org/fairchances#FairChancesto learn how to list your event.

Join the JCC Speaker Series on April 21 for a discussion on how federal decisions about SNAP and Medicaid are being made and how advocacy at the state level can intervene in real time. Register now at justuscc.org/stateadvocacy.

Join the JCC Speaker Series on April 21 for a discussion on how federal decisions about SNAP and Medicaid are being made and how advocacy at the state level can intervene in real time. Register now at justuscc.org/stateadvocacy.

Ronnie Carrasquillo and director/producer Dan Protess talk about the new documentary #InTheirHands airing on @pbs.org stations across the country in April for #SecondChanceMonth / #FairChanceMonth! Listen now: jlusa.org/2026/04/03/r... #JustUsSpeaks #Podcast

“Advocates and lawmakers in #Chicago are pushing for the #RACEAct, a bill that would restore #votingrights to people serving felony sentences in #Illinois prisons.” Read more: https://nationaltoday.com/us/il/chicago/news/2026/03/30/illinois-bill-would-restore-voting-rights-for-incarcerated-felons/