The Criminal Injustice Reform Network (CIRN) is a far-left advocacy organization based in Virginia that is ostensibly tied to the Black Lives Matter movement. The organization operates an annual “Day of Advocacy” and promotes events and panels highlighting a variety of Virginia-based and national activists. The organization also purportedly operates voter mobilization campaigns.

The organization’s website provides little detail on the specific activity of the group but lists many of the organizers of the group by titles including “duchess,” “grand duchess,” “queen” and “lord.” The organization is also listed as a partner organization of the Center for Common Ground, a left-of-center political advocacy group that has conducted voter mobilization campaigns largely centered around increasing Democratic voter turnout in southern-state elections. ^{1 2}

Background

The Criminal Injustice Reform Network was founded in 2019 and granted tax-exempt status in 2020. The organization gives little information about its organizational structure or operations but does note that it hosts an annual “Day of Advocacy” and that it has hosted panels with a variety of activists on racial issues. ³

The organization does not indicate sources of funding for the organization but does advertise annual sponsorship opportunities that can be purchased to support the organization ranging from $1,500 to $5,000 annually. ⁴

Activities

The Criminal Injustice Reform Network’s website provides little detail on the specific activity of the group and while much of the website for the organization mentions the group’s annual “Day of Advocacy,” information for the event was only available on the website for 2019. ⁵

Panelists whom the organization has hosted include Virginia Commonwealth University sociology professor Travis Williams, who created a far-left environmentalism-centered event called “Radicalized Ecologies”; Chioma Adaku-Griffin, who founded an organization called Philanthropy Partners and Traffik Stops; and Virginia Environmental Justice Collaborative coordinator Queen Zakia Shabazz. ⁶

One profile of the organization states that the group provides “legal advocacy to clients navigating the criminal injustice system” and that the organization also employs a “policy analyst” to encourage the repeal of existing portions of the criminal code in Virginia. The group also operates a program called the “No More Bars Voting Initiative” that seeks to increase voter turnout among eligible incarcerated individuals. ⁷

People

The president of the Criminal Injustice Reform Network is BeKura Smith, who is described on the group’s website as a “Fearless Freedom Fighter Naga Warrior Empress.” The organization’s website lists many of the organizers of the group by titles including “duchess,” “grand duchess,” “queen” and “lord.” Listed board members of the organization represent groups including From Prison to Promise, House of Dreams Re-Entry Consultants, and Nolef Turns Inc. ⁸

Center for Common Ground

The Criminal Injustice Reform Network is a partner organization of the Center for Common Ground, a left-of-center political advocacy group that has conducted voter mobilization campaigns largely centered around increasing Democratic voter turnout in elections in Georgia and other competitive southern states with the intent of mobilizing Black voters. Partners of the Center for Common Ground also include left-of-center and far-left groups such as Black Voters Matter, the People’s Agenda, and Democracy Labs. ⁹

1. “About.” Center for Common Ground. Accessed March 4, 2023. https://www.centerforcommonground.org/about
2. “Meet C.I.R.N.” Criminal Injustice Reform Network. Accessed March 4, 2023. https://cirnva.wixsite.com/website/meet-c-i-r-n
3. “About.” Criminal Injustice Reform Network. Accessed March 4, 2023. https://cirnva.wixsite.com/website/about
4. “Support Our Work.” Criminal Injustice Reform Network. Accessed March 4, 2023. https://cirnva.wixsite.com/website/support-our-work
5. “About.” Criminal Injustice Reform Network. Accessed March 4, 2023. https://cirnva.wixsite.com/website/about
6. “Gallery of our Panelist.” Criminal Injustice Reform Network. Accessed March 4, 2023. https://cirnva.wixsite.com/website/gallery-of-our-panelist
7. “Criminal Injustice Reform Network.” Volunteer Match. Accessed March 4, 2023. https://www.volunteermatch.org/search/org1198111.jsp
8. “Meet C.I.R.N.” Criminal Injustice Reform Network. Accessed March 4, 2023. https://cirnva.wixsite.com/website/meet-c-i-r-n
9. “About.” Center for Common Ground. Accessed March 4, 2023. https://www.centerforcommonground.org/about