For Immediate Release

Faith in Texas and partners are calling on the Dallas County Felony and Misdemeanor Criminal Judges, and Sheriff Marian Brown to act now to protect all of us –– our incarcerated loved ones, and those who work in courts, jails, and prisons, as well as our entire community.

Read the full letters below and add your signature to the petition here.

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Addressed to:

Hon. Tammy Kemp (view pdf)

Hon. Lisa Green (view pdf)

Sheriff Marian Brown (view pdf)

 

As formerly incarcerated people ourselves, and those who are leading grassroots work with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated populations, we are reaching out to you with great concern for our incarcerated loved ones.

In Texas, we are just weeks into an unprecedented pandemic of COVID-19. Earlier today, the first positive case of infection in the county jail was reported. We must act decisively and responsibly to protect all of us — our incarcerated loved ones, and those who work in courts, jails, and prisons, as well as our entire community. We know that you share this concern.

To stem the spread of this deadly virus, it is imperative that we drastically reduce the number of people in jail and limit new admissions to exceptional circumstances. ​We are asking you, Hon. Tammy Kemp, and your colleagues to do the following: immediately release anyone who is being held pretrial, all people held on probation and parole technical violation detainers or sentences, and to immediately release all people serving a sentence who are within six months of their release date.

Please see the attached letter from supporting organizations with whom we are working in solidarity for this urgent effort. We look forward to working with you to protect our incarcerated loved ones who are especially vulnerable to a COVID-19 outbreak. Thank you.