Day 2: Choosing Values Over Pressure

Dear friends,

One of the defining moments of the past decade came during debate over the First Step Act. Many national groups endorsed it; others declined. Pressure was intense.

But UUSJ — volunteers, partners, and staff together — paused and asked a different question:

What do impacted communities say?

Organizations led by formerly incarcerated people, as well as those centered on BIPOC perspectives — the directly impacted — warned that the bill would likely expand “virtual incarceration” through ankle monitoring and extended probation. We listened. We aligned with them. And we raised moral concerns grounded in UU values.

This was a turning point. We began consistently centering impacted voices in our advocacy analysis — a shift that wasn’t Pablo alone, but all of us, maturing together as a justice-making community.

What Was the First Step Act?

The First Step Act (2018) was a federal criminal justice reform bill promoted as a bipartisan effort to improve sentencing and re-entry. Many national organizations supported it, and it was widely described as “the best deal available” at the time.

But organizations led by formerly incarcerated people raised concerns that the bill would:

• Expand electronic monitoring, increasing “virtual incarceration” through ankle bracelets
• Extend probation terms, making supervision longer and more burdensome
• Shift resources toward surveillance, rather than community-based support
• Create uneven benefits, with many reforms not reaching those most harmed by the system

For UUSJ, this moment became a values test: Would we follow the dominant narrative and deal-making imperative, or listen closely to impacted communities?

After deep discernment, UUSJ chose to raise moral concerns grounded in UU values and solidarity with formerly incarcerated leaders. This decision helped reshape how we approach all justice work today — centering those most affected, not just policy experts or political momentum.

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