By Matthew Mittlieder, 1011 Now
More than 1,000 people filed into St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in southeast Lincoln on Thursday to hear from Justice in Action.
The organization represents 26 faith communities in Lincoln, and has been advocating for the expansion of diversion programs in the justice system to reduce the amount of people stuck in the system and help repeat offenders from ending up back in jail.
They gathered at the church near 84th Street and Pioneers Boulevard to talk about efforts toward eviction mediation, boosting mental health supports and pretrial diversion programs. They offered proposals to city and county officials on how to fix those problems.
“We stand with courage today and we ask for commitment and change on behalf of our elected officials when it comes to these three community priorities. We are Justice in Action!” said Rev. Joy Martinez-Marshall with First Baptist Church.
One of the officials in attendance was Lancaster County Attorney Pat Condon. Justice in Action says they’ve been working with his office on expanding diversion and problem solving programs — but haven’t made much progress yet.
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