Justice Forum Features Top Virginia Officials

Senior state officials will respond to recommendations made by the Governor’s Commission on Parole Review at a public forum, MAKING JUSTICE WORK, on February 20, 2016 at the ADAMS Center, 46903 Sugarland Road, Sterling, VA.

A panel of top state officials including Sen. David Marsden and Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Brian Moran will discuss if and how those recommendations are being implemented.  A third panelist, civic activist Lillie Branch-Kennedy, who, through R.I.H.D., Inc., provides direct services to prisoners and their families.

Panelists will discuss mass incarceration, solitary confinement, racially biased imprisonment for drug use, juvenile justice issues and other topics that have headlined print and other media for months.  Questions welcome.

Both the senator and secretary have had long careers in social justice.;  Sen. Marsden started his career in juvenile justice and established the county’s first shelter home for youth with severe family problems.  State Secretary Moran has been a prosecutor for various crimes and has a long-held passion for social justice.

Activist Branch-Kennedy is quoted as saying, “I’m not a doctor.  I’m not a lawyer, but I do have common sense.  And I know it’s time for common sense to inform our criminal justice system.”

A second forum is scheduled for March 5, 2016.

The forum is sponsored by nine area faith communities:  All Dulles Area Muslim Society, Herndon Friends Meeting, Martin Luther King, Jr. Christian Church, Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation, Restoration United Methodist Church, Social Justice Committee of Christ the Servant Lutheran Church, St. John Neumann Catholic Church, United Christian Parish of Reston, and Unitarian Universalist Church in Reston.