Jack Morris

Addiction and RecoveryAccess to EducationHousingLong SentencingPolice MisconductRacial JusticeSecond Look SentencingViolence InterruptionVoting Rights RestorationYouth JusticeRestorative JusticeExoneration and InnocenceWomen and IncarcerationArt Music and WritingMental Health

Apr 3

Written By Gary Ricke

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Jack Morris is the program director at St. John's Community Health in Los Angeles, here he works with justice-impacted communities and those exiting incarceration by providing re-entry services based on the social determinants of health.

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About Jack

Jack began as a community health worker and housing navigator at St Johns and was recently promoted to his present position. Jack serves on the advisory committee of California Families Against Solitary Confinement. Through Jack's advocacy and personal experience, he is a trusted resource and subject matter expert and is an advisory council member of National Religious Campaign Against Torture U.S. Prison Programs. He has served and continues to serve on various committees throughout Los Angeles County, such as Anti-Racism, Diversity, and Inclusion and Care First and Community Investment. Jack is a member of the Anti- Recidivism Coalition (ARC) and a 2019 Initiate Justice Fellow. He is a current core member of the California Mandela Campaign, which advocates for legislation to end the use of solitary confinement. Jack Morris served 40 years in prison, more than 35 of which were spent in solitary confinement, including inside Pelican Bay State Prison where he participated in the 2011 and 2013 hunger strikes. Released in September 2017, he has been contributing to the community through his work with re-entry populations. He is a published author of two books, an artist and an advocate for social justice. Jack Morris was born and raised in Norwalk, CA, (District 4) where he lives with his wife, Dolores.

Other Speakers

Dolores Canales

California
Dolores Canales is an activist, organizer, and the Director of Community Outreach for The Bail Project.

Jack Morris

California
Jack Morris is the program director at St. John's Community Health in Los Angeles, here he works with justice-impacted communities and those exiting incarceration by providing re-entry services based on the social determinants of health.

Kemba Smith Pradia

Virginia
Kemba Smith Pradia, once sentenced to 24.5 years in prison for drug-related offenses, became a prominent advocate for criminal justice reform after receiving clemency from President Clinton, and now works as a public speaker, author, and consultant while continuing her activism through various organizations and her own foundation.

Donna Hylton

New York
Donna Hylton is an activist and author who advocates for women and girls affected by intersectional trauma, focusing on issues such as domestic violence, police brutality, and incarceration, while also contributing to significant legislation like the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act and leading her own nonprofit, A Little Piece of Light, to empower survivors and promote healing through education and community support.

Jessie Mabrey

Georgia
Jessie D. Mabrey is Certified Peer Specialist and dedicated advocate for justice-impacted people and children with incarcerated parents, leveraging over 15 years of experience to connect people in reentry to resources, support, and programming. She is driven by her belief that "where you’ve been is not who you are."

Xavier McElrath-Bey

Illinois
Xavier McElrath-Bey, Executive Director of the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth and Co-Founder of the Incarcerated Children's Advocacy Network, champions the human rights of incarcerated children by advocating for the abolition of life without parole and other extreme sentences for youth. Drawing from his own experience of being charged as an adult for murder at 13 and serving 13 years in prison before becoming a dedicated advocate for at-risk youth, Xavier boldly professes to the world that "no child is born bad."

Waleisah Wilson

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Waleisah Wilson is a passionate criminal justice reform activist and organizer who founded NewLife Second Chance Outreach, Inc. after her release from prison in 2011 to provide essential employment and entrepreneurship services and workshops for individuals with criminal convictions, while advocating for disability justice, voting rights, bail reform, faith community inclusion, an end to solitary confinement, fines & fees, mass incarceration and prison labor in Georgia, and the removal of barriers to reentry.

Vivian Anderson

South Carolina
Vivian is an advocate, healer, and the Founder & Executive Director of EveryBlackGirl, Inc., a grassroots, community-based advocacy and service organization focused on prevention, intervention and creation for a world where every Black girl thrives.

Tyra Patterson

Ohio
Tyra Patterson, an artist and activist serving as the Community Outreach Strategist at the Ohio Justice & Policy Center, utilizes her lived experience to educate legal professionals, advocate for policy reform—such as the ban on life sentences without parole for children in Ohio—and integrate art into the narrative of justice-impacted individuals.

Tabatha Trammell

Georgia
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Shannon Ross

Wisconsin
Shannon Ross, the Executive Director of The Community, founded the organization while serving a 17-year prison sentence to address the criminal legal system's impact through greater information sharing, self-empowerment, and narrative change. Since his release in 2020, he has expanded his advocacy as a graduate student, podcast host, and entrepreneur focused on supporting system-impacted individuals.

Paine the Poet

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Norris Henderson

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Nelson Morris

Illinois
Nelson Morris, a Project Associate at Restore Justice, dedicates his efforts to community outreach and fundraising while mentoring youth and teaching advocacy courses, all after spending 29 years in prison for a crime committed at 17, from which he was granted a new sentence following the Supreme Court’s Miller decision.

Michelle Cirocco

Arizona
Michelle Cirocco, Chief Social Responsibility Officer for Televerde and Executive Director of the Televerde Foundation, has been recognized as one of the World-Changing Women in Conscious Business and is committed to using her leadership to advocate for second chances while actively volunteering in her community.

Malika Kidd

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Kerry Myers

Louisiana
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John Pace

Pennsylvania
After serving 31 years of a life sentence given at age 17, John was resentenced and paroled, and since his release, he has dedicated himself to supporting other former juvenile lifers in their reentry journeys and young people who find themselves involved in the criminal justice system, earning recognition for his advocacy work and serving as Senior Reentry Coordinator at the Youth Sentencing & Reentry Project in Philadelphia.

Herman Lindsey

Florida
Herman, the 135th person exonerated from death row in the U.S. and the 23rd from Florida, views his wrongful conviction as a lesson that fuels his advocacy for criminal justice reform, trauma awareness, and the abolition of the death penalty, as he now works with at-risk youth and speaks internationally on these crucial issues.

Halim Flowers

Washington D.C.
Artist Halim A. Flowers turned his experience sentenced to life at the age of 16 into 11 published works through his company SATO Communications. He was released in 2019 and has since earned prestigious fellowships and representation for his visual art.

Niya Kenny

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George Morton

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George Anthony Morton is an Atlanta-based award-winning and internationally recognized artist, specializing in classical painting and drawing inspired by Classical-Realist tradition.

Fernando Bermudez

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Eddie Ellis Jr.

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Eddie B. Ellis Jr., a reentry advocate and consultant, founded One by 1, Inc. and leverages his experience as a formerly incarcerated person to build safer communities through training, mentorship, and support for reintegration, while also serving as the Co-Director of Outreach & Member Services at the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth.

Andrew Hundley

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Amanda Freed

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Twyana Davis

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Lucas Guilkey

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Maine~New Film~The Strike

Gary Ricke http://GaryRicke.com

Jack Morris

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