rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/petition/release-dante-starks?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-petition-area-release-dante-starks' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> Families for Justice as Healing https://actionnetwork.org/groups/the-national-council https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/petitions/photos/000/216/325/normal/Screen_Shot_2020-11-03_at_10.38.08_AM_(2).jpeg To the Honorable Magistrate Judge Dein- We are submitting this petition as members of the Cambridge community to support our neighbor, Dante Starks, of 49 Magee Street in Cambridge in his Reconsideration for Bail Conditions. We urge you to immediately release Mr. Starks to his home in Cambridge pending his trial. He has been incarcerated in the Plymouth House of Corrections awaiting trial for over two years.. Plymouth has recently been designated a “red community” because of the high number of COVID-19 infections there. Dante is trapped in a super-spreader environment, placing him at extreme risk of catching the virus. Moreover, Dante is needed at home to care for his three children for whom he is the primary caretaker. Dante Starks is not a danger to our community. Like many, he has struggled with substance use. We too have family, friends, or our own experiences dealing with substance use disorders,and we firmly believe that treatment, not incarceration, is the most successful path to recovery. Mr. Starks has been drug-free for over two years and has completed multiple programs and classes offered at Plymouth House of Correction. Upon release, he will continue this work and access the many community programs and services available remotely during his home confinement. We believe people deserve the opportunity to grow, heal, and move on with their lives. We are deeply concerned about the impact Dante’s lengthy pretrial incarceration is having on his family--and most of all his three children. They too are members of our community and have borne the brunt of his prolonged absence as he has been awaiting trial. Mr. Starks is a devoted and loving father who has been the primary caretaker of his children throughout their lives. He does his best through daily phone calls to parent his children and support his mother whose care they are in, but his family is suffering from his absence. Finally, we are in the midst of a deadly global pandemic. Attorney General Barr has directed the BOP to prioritize home confinement to decrease the risk of COVID-19. We urge you to follow this directive. For all of these reasons, we respectfully ask that you release Dante Starks on bail without delay. His family needs him home, and COVID-19 cases are surging. Time is of the essence and swift action is needed. https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/release-dante-starks