The Alliance for Safety and Justice (ASJ) is an activist organization that promotes left-of-center criminal justice policies. Founded in 2016, the Alliance is a project of the Tides Center, which itself is associated with the Tides Foundation, a major left-of-center grantmaking organization. ^[1][2] The Center provides ASJ with fiscal sponsorship, an arrangement in which an established nonprofit provides a new organization with financial management and administrative services, often while the organization goes through the process of obtaining tax-exempt status from the IRS. ^[3][4]

ASJ partners with Californians for Safety and Justice, a state-level organization also engaged in left-of-center criminal justice policy advocacy. ^[5] ASJ is affiliated with the Alliance for Safety and Justice Action Fund (ASJ Action Fund), its lobbying and campaigning sister organization. ^[6]

Major Initiatives

ASJ operates several projects that promote left-of-center criminal justice policies.

Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice (CSSJ)

ASJ supports Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice (CSSJ), a project which claims to support victims of crime and promote more effective crime prevention policies. The organization claims that incarcerating fewer criminals and increasing funding for social programs will reduce crime. ^[7]

Shared Safety

The ASJ Shared Safety project “aims to re-envision public safety” from a left-of-center perspective, especially in decreasing incarceration rates. The project cites former California Governor Jerry Brown (D) in its “Blueprint for Shared Safety” as a role model for public safety. Brown set a state record for pardoning criminals and removing convictions from their criminal records. ^[8][9]

Time Done

The Time Done campaign aims to soften public perceptions of convicted criminals and remove what ASJ describes as legal obstacles to their participation in society. Through the Time Done program, ASJ has promoted legislation to bar employers from accessing criminal records, seal criminal records after criminals complete their sentences, and repeal regulations that prevent convicted felons from voting. ^[10]

Trauma Recovery Centers (TRCs)

ASJ supports increased funding for trauma recovery centers (TRCs), which are designed to provide support to victims of crime and violence. ASJ advocates for the TRC model and encourages community organizations, universities, and hospitals to open and maintain TRCs in order to provide services including therapy, legal advice, and help with filing police reports to alleged crime victims. ^[11]

Affiliated Groups

Californians for Safety and Justice (CSJ) is an Alliance for Safety and Justice partner. CSJ is also a project of the Tides Center and promotes many of the same initiatives as ASJ, including Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice, Shared Safety, and Time Done. ^[12] The organization also provides instructions for convicted felons to retroactively change their criminal records in accordance with state law. ^[13] In November 2014, California voters approved Proposition 47, which reclassified certain types of felony theft and drug possession as misdemeanors and allowed convicted felons to amend their criminal records accordingly. ^[14]

The ASJ Action Fund engages in lobbying and political campaigns that advance ASJ’s criminal justice policy objectives. ^[15]

Impact

In February 2021, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker (D) signed a bill that made more prisoners eligible for early release. The bill also expanded the state’s victim compensation program to include people on probation or parole. ASJ advocated in support of the bill. ^[16]

In March 2021, the Ohio Senate passed a bill expanding access to the state’s victim compensation program, including a provision that would grant convicted felons access to the program. ASJ advocated for the legislation through the Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice program. ^[17]

Leadership

Lenore Anderson is the founder of both ASJ and CSJ, and she leads both organizations. She also co-authored Proposition 47, the California law that reclassified certain felonies as misdemeanors, and led the campaign to get the initiative passed. ^[18]

Jay Jordan is the vice president of ASJ and the national director of the Time Done campaign. He was also the previous executive director of CSJ. ^[19] When Jordan was 18, he was arrested for auto theft and spent seven years in prison. ^[20]

Aswad Thomas is chief of organizing at ASJ and the national director of CSSJ. Thomas was shot twice during an attempted robbery when he was 26. ^[21]

In February 2021, ASJ co-founder and chief executive officer Robert Rooks transitioned to the role of president emeritus of the ASJ board of directors after becoming CEO of REFORM Alliance, a left-of-center criminal justice organization allied with ASJ. ^[22]

Financials

Alliance for Safety and Justice has received multiple grants from the Open Philanthropy Project Fund (OPPF), a left-of-center, Silicon Valley-based charity. Open Philanthropy gave ASJ a $1.75 million grant to support its launch in 2016, with OPPF president and left-of-center activist Cari Tuna contributing an additional $250,000. ^[23] Open Philanthropy went on to give the Alliance $3 million in 2016, $4 million in 2017, and $10 million in 2019. In total, OPPF has given ASJ more than $18 million. ^{[24] [25] [26]}