[Note: Friends of Justice is a personal blog. I speak only for myself.]
Dear Friend of Justice,
My organization, the National Center for Reason and Justice, relies entirely on the contributions or private donors to do its work.
If you have donated in the past, you should have received the following letter. If you have not yet donated, please consider becoming a donor. You may send a check to NCRJ, POB 191101, Roxbury MA 02119. Or you may donate via Google of PayPal at our website: http://ncrj.org/donate/
Here is our current letter:
November 11, 2011
Dear Friend,
NCRJ has had an exciting year.
- In San Antonio, Texas, four young lesbians languishing in prison on false convictions of child molestation now have hope of exoneration and freedom. We secured them an excellent pro bono lawyer. We worked with a journalist whose in-depth article brought national attention to their case. We’ve helped strengthen a group of local supporters. And we are broadening media coverage and support in sympathetic communities.
- In upstate New York, an experimental filmmaker nabbed for inadvertently downloading what police called child pornography had emptied his bank account before he found us. Thanks to NCRJ, his defense committee can now raise tax-deductible contributions. And NCRJ is educating artists about the overreaching government surveillance that demolishes the lives of innocent people like this man.
- In New York City, the courts will soon hear the appeal of a daycare teacher, a Guyanese immigrant, browbeaten into confessing to the rape of a four-year-old. NCRJ publicized her story and found her a top-notch attorney.
In these and all our other cases, coercive police tactics, junk science, homophobia, racism, inadequate defense for the poor—or all of the above—feature prominently.
That is why we need your support.
NCRJ is the only organization that helps people falsely accused of crimes against children. No wonder appeals for our help keep streaming in.
But we need to do more, or those appeals won’t abate. We also must work to prevent more injustice, and more tragedies.
Last year NCRJ committed itself to combating the unjust laws and policies that grow out of the same hysteria, public credulity, and political opportunism that feed false accusations. These policies—such as sex offender registries and civil commitment—do not enhance public safety, but fan more hysteria.
The laws are unjust not only to the falsely accused but also to the guilty who have paid their debt to society and are trying to live productive, crime-free lives.
Toward our two goals—helping the falsely accused and moving toward fairer laws—we are building new strategic alliances and strengthening old ones for mutual benefit. This year we will:
- Collaborate with criminal justice advocates—especially Innocence Projects—to synergize resources, media contacts, expertise, and experience. This way we can exonerate people and spread the word about false convictions for sexual abuse or murder in accidental child deaths.
- Reach outside our usual bailiwick. We’re educating and seeking support from gay and lesbian activists, racial justice groups, artists, and academics.
- Make alliances for rational sex laws. These friends include the national Reform Sex Offender Laws (RSOL) network. We’re already visiting their chapters and learning from their personal and legislative experiences.
All this work requires travel, research, and staff and board time: money.
Please help us with a tax-deductible donation of $1,000, $500, $150 — or whatever you can afford. You can use the enclosed self-addressed envelope, or go to ncrj.org and donate by credit card. If you choose the credit-card option, please consider becoming a monthly sustainer via PayPal.
We are grateful for your partnership in progressing towards our biggest goal: to make NCRJ obsolete, and shut our doors.
Sincerely,
Michael R. Snedeker
President of the Board of Directors
Times are hard and being falsely accused is a nightmare. You organization is doing good if it can help some people who were falsely accused.