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On behalf of the 1,600 ARC members throughout the state of California and thousands of our community members still incarcerated in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), we thank outgoing Secretary of Corrections Ralph Diaz for his service and devotion to rehabilitation of incarcerated people. 

The newest edition of our quarterly Inside Newsletter, sent to thousands of individuals inside California prisons and facilities, is now available! You can read it HERE. 

Our community is filled with alternating rage and sadness for the family of George Floyd in the wake of his brazen killing by Minneapolis police. We stand in solidarity and protest with people who are victims of state violence. At ARC, we believe communities and individuals are stronger when they are safe, healthy, and whole. Further, we see clearly how the interlocking systems of white supremacy and criminal justice deem some lives more valuable than others, in the wake of the recent deaths of #AhmaudArbery and #BreonnaTaylor.

The newest edition of our quarterly Inside Newsletter, sent to thousands of individuals inside California prisons and facilities, is now available! You can read it HERE. 

Join Executive Director, Sam Lewis, and other ARC leaders this Friday at 12:00pm PT for our first-ever Virtual Fireside Chat. You’ll hear from speakers who themselves have been incarcerated during a lockdown, who know firsthand what some of our most vulnerable community members are experiencing right now.

Please read the following LA Times story about the record settlement for thousands of women humiliated during strip searches in LA County’s Women’s Jail. Please also see below if you might have been impacted by this settlement. If you were incarcerated at Lynwood (CRDF) and have questions about the class action settlement for strip searches, please reach out to Lindsay Battles, one of the attorneys handling the case. You can send her a friend request and she will add you to a private Facebook group for this case. You can also call (626) 844-7660.

The Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC) has selected Sam Lewis as its next Executive Director. Sam is an ARC member and Director of Inside Programs, a first-of-its kind initiative that he built from scratch. A former life prisoner himself, Sam oversees our Hope & Redemption Team (HART), nine former lifers who go back into California state prisons to provide hope, to demonstrate that redemption is achievable, and to prepare participants for successful reentry into our communities. His work on the HART team exemplifies what’s best about ARC: our desire to reach and walk with those who have been most marginalized by society.

As part of its ongoing Inspire Change platform, the National Football League today announced that eight social justice organizations are receiving grants, as approved by the joint NFL owner-player working group. ARC is one of the organizations receiving a grant. The grants, which total nearly $2 million, are part of a $20 million commitment from the NFL and its teams to social justice organizations during the 2018 calendar year. The $20 million is comprised of grants to social justice organizations from the NFL Foundation, social justice grants approved by the NFL owners-players working group, team and player contributions, and an ongoing financial commitment to the Players Coalition.