Big Tent Meetings

JANF hosts fellow advocates from across the political spectrum to discuss current and new federal legislative opportunities and priorities, today’s political and media environment, proactive messaging, and what’s next for bipartisan criminal justice reform in Washington and beyond. Our current bi-annual “Big Tent” meetings began in 2015 as a monthly convening amongst local and national justice reform groups.
 

Today, we welcome more than 40 dedicated criminal justice reform organizations to hear from congressional champions, discuss bills that could gain movement in Congress, and strategize on ways to work together in this effort. Recent Big Tent meetings include:

  • CJ policy experts gathered to discuss recent success on Prison Oversight advancement and the narrative landscape heading into a busy media cycle.

  • Wrapping up 2023, the December Big Tent Meeting kicked off with a conversation with a pair of senior congressional staff championing priority legislation on Capitol Hill, followed by a discussion of the CARES Act home confinement CRA resolution and the Federal Prison Oversight Act.

  • In the first meeting of the year, several themes emerged as opportunities for movement in 2023: reentry, the EQUAL Act, and probation and oversight bills, and the landscape in the states. Groups in attendance shared specific priorities and how they viewed opportunities in the coming year.

State Policymaker Convenings

Each year, JANF brings together a group of existing and aspiring policy champions, each with a unique perspective on criminal justice reform, to share knowledge, experience and hope for the future. Over a few days behind closed doors, attendees engage enthusiastically in interactive learning opportunities and invigorating conversation, forging new relationships and fostering professional friendships across party lines, demographic divides, and great geographical distances in order to share a passion for data-driven justice and public safety. Policymaker convenings have included:

  • Hosted in the Cherry Creek neighborhood of Denver, JANF staff, selected legislative champions, and policy experts led discussions with over 40 lawmakers from across the country on approaches to combat crime and increase rehabilitative opportunities, efforts to expand and improve access to record sealing, policies that address fines and fees, ways to expand workforce participation an economic growth, and more. The group then gathered for a private tour and dinner at the Denver Art Museum and wrapped up the three-day event with a tour of The Other Side Academy residential reentry and vocational training center.

  • Held in beautiful Scottsdale, Arizona, the JANF state team gathered close to 50 legislators and second chance advocates and partners, for a three-day, closed-door convening to initiate open and honest conversations on some of our carefully selected issue areas. This ranged from state specific accomplishments, guidance on messaging and perceptions, through crime rates and data. The group then went on a private tour of Chase Field stadium followed by dinner in the Diamondback Clubhouse, where we continued conversations on second chance hiring with national employers.

  • Our first-ever convening of JANF state legislators was hosted in the historic Hermitage Hotel in downtown Nashville, TN. The event brought together legislators who successfully implemented criminal justice reforms in their home states, as well as those who sought to support these policies in the future to learn from each other’s experiences, share strategies, best practices, and more. Legislators discussed successful passed occupational licensing reforms, sentencing reforms, reforms to community supervision and pretrial practices, and asset forfeiture reforms to protect the property rights of their constituents, along with messaging tactics and national poll data. The group went on a private tour and dinner at the popular Nelson’s Green Briar Distillery and ended with a tour of the Nashville Correctional Development Center, led by the Nashville-Davidson County Sheriff.