Upcoming and Recent Events
Learn about CELWOP’s recent work and join us for advocacy or community events in support of our mission.
Legislative Advocacy for Decarceration and Human Rights, Webinar on March 12, 7:00-8:30pm. Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts will lead a quick introduction to the Massachusetts legislature, how bills get passed, and key points in the legislative timeline that advocates should keep an eye on. Information and registration available here.
Legislative Advocacy Skills, Strategies, and Solidarity: Building Collective Power to Change the Law, Boston University School of Law, 765 Commonwealth Avenue, Classroom 103, First Floor, March 29, 2025, 10:30 am - 12:30 pm. This event will bring together Boston-area legal and community organizations to share the legislative advocacy skills and strategies that they have employed in their efforts to promote greater healing, dignity, and freedom in Massachusetts. The panel will be followed by a Q&A session. Information and registration available here.
Selected Past Events
Restoring Hope: A Path Towards Healing and Accountability, BU Law, 765 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 211, June 22, 2024, 3:00 - 6:00 PM. Discuss ways to address harm caused by violence and incarceration and explore paths forward that focus on healing and accountability rather than punishment and banishment. More information here.
It Finally Happened! Massachusetts bans life without parole for adults under 21 in a landmark decision! The following related quotes are from the Daily Free Press, The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University, 01/26/2024.
“I think this ruling is going to help those who have struggled early on in life be able to get a fresh start, and not have to be a victim to the circumstances that they’re born into.” — Tegan Retzer, Vice President of BU Prison Outreach Initiative
Lobby Day to End Live without Parole and Extreme Sentencing, November 8, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. Meet at the Hall of Flags, MA State House, 24 Beacon St., Boston, MA.
Where There Is People There is Power, September 20, 2024, from 12pm-2pm at the State House, 24 Beacon Street, Boston, MA. This event is sponsored by the Campaign to End Life without Parole (CELWOP) and We Are Joint Venture in collaboration with The Harriet Tubman Project and Mass Second Look.
On July 27, 2024, on behalf of the Campaign to End Life without Parole (CELWOP) and The F8 Foundation, Cynthia Goldberg, Community Organizer for CELWOP, testified before the MA Judiciary Committee in support of bills S.1045 An Act to Reduce Mass Incarceration and H.3962 An Act Regarding Joint Venture.
Learn and Build on Saturday, April 8, 2024. (Find details and meeting location here.) This meeting is sponsored by We Are Joint Venture and described as follows. “We will use this time to discuss pressing issues within the community and judicial system. Legislators, law makers, community residents, judges and lawyers will attend, as well as collaborative organizations and guest speakers. Our goal is to have informative conversations surrounding topics such as Raise the Age, Joint Venture, and Life without Parole. We will not only identify and discuss the issues, but also collectively brainstorm and build solutions. To evolve, some history has to be forgotten, and some history has to be enlightened… Every voice counts.” For more information see We Are Joint Venture’s Facebook page.
Rally to end Life Without Parole, September 20, 2023, Massachusetts State House
Welcome Home William, September 13, 2022, 6:00-7:30 pm. Brockton Interfaith Community at Christ Congregational Church, 1350 Pleasant St., Brockton, MA
The Power of Education, Inside and Out, lead by Eugene Ivey, Shakir Abdullah, and Joseph Irizarry, Tufts University, Seeptember 22, 2021.
