I LOOK forward to the day when the headline reads “Massachusetts community aims to block 3-strikes bill’’ (“Black leaders aiming to halt 3-strikes bill,’’ Page A1, Jan. 23).
Yes, the black community is organizing to prevent the state from making our sentencing laws more rigidly harsh and inflexible. But this is an issue that affects every resident in the Commonwealth. It’s not “tough on crime.’’ It’s tough on Massachusetts.
This is budget season, and social services are on the chopping block again. Every new dollar we pour into keeping people locked up in already overcrowded prisons is a dollar taken away from children, the elderly, and the needy. And it’s money taken away from real public safety measures such as infinitely less costly comprehensive re-entry services.
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As black church leaders reach out to people of faith in the suburbs, I hope their suburban counterparts respond with righteous passion and activism. Whether you’re a religious person, a budget hawk, or simply someone who believes in fair, individualized treatment under the law, we should all join in opposing the proposed three-strikes bill pending at the State House.
Massachusetts - our entire community - can do better.
Gavi Wolfe
Legislative counsel
ACLU of Massachusetts
Boston