Raj Jayadev: Community-powered criminal justice reform
રાજ જયદેવ: સમુદાય સંચાલિત ફોજદારી ન્યાય સુધારણા
Raj Jayadev is the cofounder and coordinator of Silicon Valley De-Bug, a community organizing, media and advocacy organization based in San Jose, California. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
of our community center.
to police violence.
of community organizing
arresting practices,
to feel strong and supported
got arrested, what can we do?"
that we saw on the streets
to make change.
in collective action,
and this is true nationally --
who is doing heroic work,
aiming for high conviction rates,
into every stage of the process.
a criminal charge in this country
their fabled day in court
in television shows and in movies.
of mass incarceration in America --
the largest jailer in the world.
currently incarcerated in this country.
will see the inside of a prison cell
on this trajectory.
of community organizing.
"participatory defense."
for families and communities
the outcome of those cases
of power in the courts.
are facing criminal charges
an isolating and lonely experience.
of their loved ones on a board,
to tangibly and tactfully
to find out inconsistencies;
by the defense attorney;
that the person standing before them
well-being and success.
literally lifesaving.
with a gang-related murder
and his detention,
contradictions in the case,
dangerous assumptions by the detectives.
when they raided his home
to a gang lifestyle.
was from his son's Little League team
was on the other side of town
that they attended.
of hard work from the family,
to get the charge dismissed.
have been living all along.
to flex the knowledge of the community
of sentencing hearings.
the sentencing hearing,
just got sent to prison,
of their loved one
as more than just a case file.
social biography packets,
of photos and certificates and letters
and hardships and accomplishments,
were working so well in the courts,
into social biography videos.
of people in their homes,
and at their workplace,
in the backdrop of their lives.
the walls of the court temporarily.
and into the community,
the fuller context of someone's life
that came out of our camp
to a low-level drug charge.
drug possession charge.
prison sentence
schemes in California.
at the park across the street.
they're going to take my girls."
of what's like being a father."
of making breakfast for his daughters
and doing homework.
who used it at the sentencing hearing.
a five-year prison sentence,
that five-year prison sentence
with his daughters.
a father in their life.
that he was actually seeking.
that when families come to the meetings,
of their loved ones on the board.
get to know, week in, week out,
and praying for and hoping for.
or a charge dropped,
a name on the board,
but it is a spiritual experience.
and they're crying.
that are just starting that journey
that there's a finish line,
to bring their loved one home,
all over the country now
network of over 20 cities.
to the national network
weekly participatory defense meeting
from California to Philadelphia
to inspire them to know what's possible,
in Santa Clara County, California,
about what's possible
across the country.
one metric that we invented.
still say at weekly meetings.
comes in a meeting for the first time is:
your loved one time served.
to quantify time of incarceration.
living the life they should be living.
would represent five years of time saved.
participatory defense hubs,
in the meetings and at court
videos and packets,
from incarceration.
instead of prison.
cycles of suffering.
in my home state of California,
in the California prison system,
are saving their states
I haven't done the numbers,
that could be reallocated
of protecting their people
they're building a new field,
justice is understood in this country.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Raj Jayadev - Community organizerRaj Jayadev is the cofounder and coordinator of Silicon Valley De-Bug, a community organizing, media and advocacy organization based in San Jose, California.
Why you should listen
Through De-Bug's criminal justice community organizing program, the Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project, "participatory defense" was created -- a methodology for families whose loved ones are facing the criminal court system to impact the outcome of the case and transform the landscape of power in the courts through policy initiatives. After eight years of implementing the practice in San Jose, Raj Jayadev and the De-Bug team have gone on to train community organizations across the country to become participatory defense hubs. There is now a National Participatory Defense Network that De-Bug coordinates, which represents hubs from more than 30 cities. Jayadev’s community organizing and writings have been featured in the New York Times, The Atlantic, BBC, TIME Magazine and media outlets across the country. In 2018, he was selected as a MacArthur Fellow.
Raj Jayadev | Speaker | TED.com