GCC December Action for Children
Tuesday, December 6, 2022, 7:00 PM
Your St. Paul’s G.C.C. Core Team needs your support by attending our Criminal Justice Action on Tuesday, December 6, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. either in person or via Zoom. The Action, a public hearing to create awareness of a serious issue in our juvenile justice system, discretionary youth bindover, will be live at Olivet Institutional Baptist Church, 8712 Quincy Ave in Cleveland, 44106. Meet your fellow parishioners at Olivet or car pool from St. Paul’s. We will meet at 6:15 in the Coventry parking lot and masks are mandatory. Everyone attending must pre-register using the button below.
St. Paul’s is a founding member of Greater Cleveland Congregations (GCC), a non-partisan coalition of faith communities and partner organizations in Cuyahoga County, working together to build power for social justice. Since 2011, GCC has been a catalyst for positive change in the city of Cleveland and across Cuyahoga County, focusing on issues around health equity, education, criminal justice, voter suppression, gun violence, and housing.
Our criminal justice team has been researching the issue of youth (juvenile) bindover for over a year. In Ohio, a county prosecutor can recommend that a juvenile court judge transfer a youth’s case directly to adult court to be tried, and if the youth is convicted, to be sentenced to adult prison. In adult prison, a young person’s physical and emotional well-being are in constant jeopardy. They are deprived of all the rehabilitative services offered by the juvenile justice system. Not surprisingly, the highest recidivism rates have been found in youth transferred to the adult court system, much higher than children who commit similar offenses but are kept in juvenile court.
We have pledged to bring at least 40 parishioners from St. Paul’s and we need your help to meet our quota! Please register prior to the event whether you plan to attend via Zoom or in person and indicate that your organization is St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.