Petition to Free Them All

D.C. Council, DC District Court Judges, DC Superior Court Judges, US Parole Commission, the US Attorneys Office, DC Attorney General, the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, Pre-trial Services Agencies, and the Department of Corrections

Harriet’s Wildest Dreams is a Black-led abolitionist community defense hub centering all Black lives at risk for state-sanctioned violence in the Greater Washington area. Our work includes legal empowerment, political and civic education, mass protest, organizing campaigns, and community care that builds alternatives to oppressive systems. Our work is guided by our ancestors and centers on holistic healing and transformative justice.

We are calling for all parties responsible for the people currently housed in the horrible conditions in the DC Jail to do everything in their authority to immediately release our loved ones. These demands are being made specifically to D.C. Council, DC District Court Judges, DC Superior Court Judges, US Parole Commission, the US Attorneys Office, DC Attorney General, the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, Pre-trial Services Agencies, and the Department of Corrections. At the onset of COVID -19 April of 2020, ACLU DC filed a lawsuit about the conditions of the D.C Jail. The majority of the people being held in DC Jail are being held pre-trial, meaning they are presumed innocent. Sending people that are awaiting trial to the outside of the jurisdiction creates a hardship on the person from being able to see their attorney, adequately be able to prepare for their case, and be close to those who love and support them.


To: D.C. Council, DC District Court Judges, DC Superior Court Judges, US Parole Commission, the US Attorneys Office, DC Attorney General, the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, Pre-trial Services Agencies, and the Department of Corrections
From: [Your Name]

We are calling for all parties responsible for the people currently housed in the horrible conditions in the DC Jail to do everything in their authority to immediately release our loved ones. These demands are being made specifically to D.C. Council, DC District Court Judges, DC Superior Court Judges, US Parole Commission, the US Attorneys Office, DC Attorney General, the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, Pre-trial Services Agencies, and the Department of Corrections. At the onset of COVID -19 April of 2020, ACLU DC filed a lawsuit about the conditions of the D.C Jail. The majority of the people being held in DC Jail are being held pre-trial, meaning they are presumed innocent. Sending people that are awaiting trial to the outside of the jurisdiction creates a hardship on the person from being able to see their attorney, adequately be able to prepare for their case, and be close to those who love and support them.

The acknowledgment of the conditions only after the U.S. Marshals’ Service determined those incarcerated after the racist planned January 6th attacks at the capitol, highlights only one component of the mishandling of those incarcerated. Black communities have historically faced heightened instances of the threat of violence and/or death from policing and predatory surveillance practices, which has led to the high rate of incarceration of Black people in DC jails. And while DC continues to face the constant threat of erasure of Black residents through practices like gentrification, housing discrimination, and abuse of policing power, Black DC residents will continue to be targeted while the large portion of those facing exploitative and inhuman conditions inside the DC jail will continue to be comprised of Black folks.

The immediate call for the release of all currently incarcerated people is only the first step. The police department has to be defunded of government spending dollars for policing and should be prioritized for community-led efforts to reduce harm and violence outside of state-led efforts to punish Black people. Recently released people should have access to job resources, adequate housing support, connections to drug prevention resources, and policy to prevent the current horrendous conditions from being replicated in the future.

Harriet’s Wildest Dreams