Media Coverage
Davis Vanguard
California Senate Setback for AB 1380 Bill Supporting Incarcerated Firefighters
Co-sponsors of AB 1380 continue to express their disappointment but vowed to keep pushing. Tania Vargas, executive director of Initiate Justice Action, and Mayra Lombera, chief policy officer for the Michelson Center for Public Policy, said AB 1380 was “a transformative bill that would have strengthened public safety through job creation” and that blocking it “squandered a common-sense chance to honor their service and strengthen our fire response.”
Los Angeles Sentinel
Firefighting to Freedom: California Leaders Honor Incarcerated Firefighters, Push for Landmark Reform
California lawmakers, fire officials, and community advocates gathered on the morning of August 22 at Stentorians Inc. in South Los Angeles to uplift the voices of incarcerated firefighters and rally support for the Firefighting to Freedom Bill Package—a sweeping set of seven bills designed to recognize the courage of incarcerated fire crews and open career pathways upon release.
Davis Vanguard
Lawmakers Push for ‘Firefighting to Freedom’ Bill Aiding Incarcerated Firefighters
Local community officials and leaders also joined in support, including Los Angeles City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Cristine Soto DeBerry, executive director of Prosecutors Alliance Action, Mayra Lombera, chief policy officer at the Michelson Center for Public Policy, Brian Fennessy, fire chief of the Orange County Fire Authority and president of the California Fire Chiefs Association, and Taina Angeli Vargas, executive director of Initiate Justice Action.
Davis Vanguard
California Proposes Seven Bills to Aid Incarcerated Firefighters’ Efforts
Supporters outside the legislature also endorsed the package. Mayra Lombera, chief policy officer at the Michelson Center for Public Policy, said the reforms reflect a vision that values sacrifice and rehabilitation. “Sacrifice is respected, experience is valued, and rehabilitation is met with opportunities rather than stigma,” Lombera said. “Opportunities should not be reserved for a few but all who want to step into the work and really achieve great success.”
Sacramento Bee
Can you start life after prison in California with $200? We expect former inmates to try | Opinion
“As California strives to approach policy with empathy — and budgetary discipline — its gate money issue is a skeleton in the closet,” Kenia Miranda Verdugo, MCPP, writes. “Increasing this sum to more closely reflect the true cost of living would be a profound step toward a more equitable, compassionate criminal justice system that works to break the cycle of poverty and incarceration rather than perpetuate it.”
CalMatters
Are California prisons stiffing inmates on $200 release payments? Lawsuit says they are
The advocacy groups Root & Rebound, Initiate Justice, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, All of Us or None and the Michelson Center for Public Policy surveyed over 70 incarcerated people returning home. They found that the corrections department deducted gate money from approximately one in three of them.