Dear Starr King Church Justice Activists,

Our Church affiliate, the Interfaith Coalition for Justice in our Jails (ICJJ), is leading a coalition of social justice groups within the Care First Community Coalition calling for Care Not Deaths to end preventable deaths at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin.

Please join us in a vigil & protest with the Care First, Jails Last coalition on April 1, at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin (5325 Broder Blvd), starting at 1:00 pm.

In just the first two months of this year four people incarcerated at Santa Rita Jail lost their lives: Stephen Lofton on January 17;  Charles Johnson on February 4; Elizabeth Laurel on February 13; and Candice “Cody” Van Buren on February 28. Cody Van Buren’s death is at least the 66th in Santa Rita Jail since 2014, according to KTVU. Santa Rita has a higher in-custody death rate than Los Angeles County.

Since the passage of the Care First, Jails Last Resolution by the Board of Supervisors in 2021, we’ve been building power to end the County’s reliance on the criminal legal system that continues to incarcerate residents with mental health and substance use disorder. Santa Rita Jail is the largest mental health facility in the County. One should not have to go to jail to receive mental health care. We call for reinvestment of money spent incarcerating the mentally ill into upstream, community-based, life-affirming continuum of care.

Join with other communities of faith and local social justice groups on Saturday, April 1st in front of the jail.

-Thanks, Bob Britton