“One of the most unique things about criminal justice work in the social justice world is that there is not a broad consensus that criminal justice matters,” said Ana Dougherty, CJAA co-chairperson.
“You are looking at justice for criminals and there is this accepted belief that they got what they deserved and why should we care?”
In order to tell people why they should care about issues that are often out of sight and out of mind, the club is putting on a series of events ranging from discussion panels to art showcases.
“Each day we have a specific event focused on an issue we are trying to bring outside of our club and to the rest of the campus,” Kailey Morgan, the club’s awareness chairperson said.
Monday was a general awareness day, Tuesday was focused on public defenders, Wednesday’s topic was immigration reform and Thursday’s topic is solitary confinement. The week will finish with a day combining art and activism focused on all the topics.
Thursday’s event is a production of the one-women play “Mariposa & the Saint.” Co-written and performed by Julia Steele Allen, a playwright and activist from New York, the play is based on the real life experiences of Mariposa, a friend of Allen who was sentenced to fifteen months in solitary confinement.
“Initially Mariposa and I had been writing letters since about 2008 and when she was given the 15 month SHU, secure housing unit, term she was like ‘Can you send me some of your art, can you just send me stuff to keep me sane,’” Allen said. “We decided to work on a play but initially we had no intentions for it beyond something to engage her mind.”
