{"id":8403,"date":"2022-10-26T11:30:32","date_gmt":"2022-10-26T15:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/officeofcommunityengagedlearning\/?page_id=8403"},"modified":"2026-04-07T11:33:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T15:33:02","slug":"prison-abolition","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/officeofcommunityengagedlearning\/community-engaged-learning-opportunities\/prison-abolition\/","title":{"rendered":"Prison Abolition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prison Abolition<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n
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End the New Jim Crow Action Network (ENJAN)<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

https:\/\/endthenewjimcrow.blogspot.com\/<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Volunteer-run,\u00a0City of Poughkeepsie<\/p>\n

Action Areas: <\/b>Prison Abolition, Racial Justice<\/p>\n

About:\u00a0<\/b>End the New Jim Crow Action Network (ENJAN, pronounced \u201cengine\u201d) advocates locally and statewide to end mass incarceration, including both unjust imprisonment and the larger web of laws, rules, policies, and customs that control people labeled as criminals outside of prison walls. Because people of color are unfairly and disproportionately targeted by all levels of the criminal justice system, we focus on opposing practices driven by institutional racism to build a powerful movement (or \u201cENJAN\u201d) for change. One of our focuses is court watch in which we train students to attend city or county court to observe and report on what is happening \u201c\u201din the name of the people.<\/p>\n

Position Descriptions:\u00a0<\/b>Students can be either ENJAN interns or Court Watchers.<\/p>\n

1) The ENJAN intern<\/strong> is responsible for attending bi-monthly meetings, taking and distributing meeting notes, completing research for current projects, assisting with events and outreach efforts (including attending city council, criminal justice council, and county legislature meetings), helping to liaise with other local groups and organizations, and supporting ongoing operations and projects. Current projects include police reform in the City of Poughkeepsie, election forums on criminal justice issues, and the school-to-prison pipeline. Must be available to attend meetings on Wednesday evenings.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

2) Court Watchers<\/strong> are responsible for supporting the court watch project. Duties include preparing forms for court watching, attending court and recording data, attending weekly meetings to process what is happening in light of readings on criminal legal issues, and for writing or editing court watcher blog posts for the website, and contributing to social media (including Instagram0. In addition, court watch interns may also be asked to conduct outside research on matters related to the courts, criminal justice, etc. Must have availability to attend court at least one day per week. Poughkeepsie city and county courts are typically in session from 9 am to 12 noon, M-F.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Desired Skills:\u00a0<\/b>Bilingual Spanish-English, Copywriting, Fact-checking, Research skills, Social media management, Data collection\/analysis<\/p>\n

Hours:\u00a0<\/b>4hrs\/week or 8 hrs\/week<\/p>\n

Are you interested in getting involved with E.N.J.A.N.? Visit here for your next steps.<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

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Citizen Action of New York – hybrid position<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

https:\/\/citizenactionny.org<\/span><\/p>\n

Non-profit, 20+ staff members + members\/volunteers<\/span><\/p>\n

Address: <\/b>Poughkeepsie<\/span><\/p>\n

Action Areas: <\/b>Education Policy and Equity, Environmental Justice and Food Security, Housing Insecurity\/Justice, Prison Abolition, Public Health, Racial Justice, Reproductive Rights, Voting Rights<\/span><\/p>\n

About: <\/b>Citizen Action of New York is a grassroots membership organization taking on big issues that are at the center of transforming society by:<\/span><\/p>\n

– Ensuring our children have a quality public education no matter their zip code<\/span><\/p>\n

– Ending our current system of mass incarceration and establishing a new system of justice<\/span><\/p>\n

– Holding government accountable to all citizens<\/span><\/p>\n

– Fighting for guaranteed quality, affordable health care<\/span><\/p>\n

– Taking big money out of politics by creating a fair elections system<\/span><\/p>\n

– Aiming to dismantle the historic racist system by promoting racial justice<\/span><\/p>\n

– Striving for a more progressive tax system to begin to end the runaway inequality in our state<\/span><\/p>\n

– Addressing the climate crisis and transitioning to a renewable energy economy<\/span><\/p>\n

– We look for opportunities to accomplish big changes \u2013 not small, incremental reforms. We work to elect progressive candidates to office who are committed to these issues. Our power comes from the grassroots: people coming together to push the edge of the possible. – Every new member helps bring New York and America closer to a society that works for all of us!<\/span><\/p>\n

We envision a world where every person\u2019s basic needs are met. It\u2019s a world filled with love and respect for its people and the planet. It\u2019s a world where democracy reigns and each person is able to reach their fullest potential.<\/span><\/p>\n

Position Description: <\/b>Student will contribute to our organization by assisting with:<\/span><\/p>\n

1) Community outreach through phonebanking, community canvassing, tabling, and social media engagement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2) Recording, tracking, and submitting weekly data reports to help illustrate & analyze our work in the community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3) Assisting development of community profiles, policy fact sheets, and other resources\u00a0 to help inform our local advocacy efforts<\/span><\/p>\n

Desired Skills:<\/b> Communications – emails, phone calls, in person outreach, Fact-checking, Public speaking\/presenting, Research skills, Social media management, Data collection\/analysis<\/span><\/p>\n

Are you interested in getting involved with Citizen Action? Visit here for your next steps.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Prisoners\u2019 Brain Trust – remote work<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

https:\/\/www.prisonersbraintrust.org\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Non-profit,15-20 team members<\/span><\/p>\n

Address: <\/b>Statewide with main orgainzing mid-hudson valley<\/span><\/p>\n

Action Areas: <\/b>Prison Abolition<\/span><\/p>\n

About: <\/b>The Prisoners’ Brain Trust (“”PBT’) embodies people directly impacted by the prison industrial complex’s many harms. Our members are a combination of queer\/trans,cis-hetero, Black, Brown Indigenous People of Color, and white anti-racist\/anti-authoritarian partners.Each member brings their full carceral and personal experiences into our work to dissect how policies impact and intersect our lives and communities. Prisoners’ Brain Trust addresses toxicity associated with the patriarchal structure; provides gender & sexuality training, political education, and leadership development; hones public speaking\/debate skills; and offers moral\/emotional support through the community.<\/span><\/p>\n

PBT has Three Internship positions open: Political Artvism Intern, Digital Design Intern, and Social Media Intern<\/b><\/p>\n

Political Artvism Intern:<\/b><\/p>\n