Decarceration Advocacy

Building a More Just Future

Through advocacy, education, and collaboration, The Second Look Project is working to build a criminal legal system that recognizes human dignity, values rehabilitation, and creates meaningful opportunities for second chances. We believe that safer communities are built not through endless punishment, but through hope, accountability, and the belief that people can change. The Second Look Project, we believe that lasting change requires more than individual representation. It requires transforming the policies, systems, and narratives that drive extreme sentencing and mass incarceration. Through advocacy, public education, coalition building, and community engagement, we work to create a criminal legal system that recognizes the capacity for growth, rehabilitation, and redemption.

Our Advocacy Priorities:

  • We advocate for policies and practices that reduce the use of excessive prison sentences and expand opportunities for review, resentencing, parole, and release. We believe individuals should be evaluated based on who they are today, not solely on the worst act they committed years or decades ago. Our work promotes a criminal legal system that values rehabilitation, accountability, and proportionality over punishment alone.

  • Everyone deserves the opportunity to demonstrate growth and earn a second chance. We support policies and initiatives that create meaningful pathways home for people who have demonstrated rehabilitation and readiness to successfully reintegrate into their communities. This includes advocating for sentence review mechanisms, parole reform, compassionate release, and other opportunities that recognize personal transformation.

  • Research continues to show that young people and emerging adults possess a unique capacity for growth and change. We advocate for policies informed by adolescent brain science and developmental research, particularly for individuals who committed offenses before the age of 25. Our goal is to ensure that sentencing laws and practices recognize the realities of youth development and provide opportunities for redemption.

  • Washington, D.C. residents deserve meaningful control over the laws and policies that govern their communities. We support efforts to strengthen D.C.’s authority to enact and implement local criminal legal reforms without congressional interference and advocate for policies that reflect the values and needs of District residents.

  • The Second Look Project’s Parole Advocacy Program supports D.C. Code offenders preparing for parole review hearings by helping them access legal representation, institutional programming, and resources that support parole readiness. Through the program, SLP assists with pro bono attorney placement, advocates for access to educational, vocational, treatment, and rehabilitative opportunities, and provides general information about the parole process.

    While the program does not provide legal representation or legal advice, it is designed to help participants navigate the parole process and connect them with the support needed to pursue a meaningful opportunity for release.

    Who We Can Help:

    • Individuals serving time on a parole eligible DC Code violation, and

    • Individuals who will receive a DC parole grant hearing within the next 18 months, and

    • Priority is given to individuals who have not previously been paroled on the offense.

    Services Include:

    • Pro bono attorney placement

    • Advocacy for programming and treatment access

    • General parole process information

    • Resource navigation and support coordination

    For more information contact slitner@secondlookdc.org• Individuals serving time on a parole eligible DC Code violation, and

    • Individuals who will receive a DC parole grant hearing within the next 18 months, and

    • Priority is given to individuals who have not previously been paroled on the offense.

Our Advocacy Strategies

We advance these priorities through a variety of coordinated advocacy efforts, including:

  • legislative advocacy, 

  • coalition building, 

  • public education, 

  • storytelling initiatives,

  •  community engagement,

  • and media outreach.

We also work closely with attorneys, advocates, service providers, and community stakeholders to build support for reforms that expand second chances and reduce reliance on extreme punishment.

Centering Directly Impacted Voices

The people most affected by incarceration and extreme sentencing should play a central role in shaping reform efforts. We intentionally elevate the voices and experiences of directly impacted individuals through public education campaigns, storytelling initiatives, advocacy events, and coalition work.

We are committed to supporting leadership development, amplifying stories of growth and transformation, and creating opportunities for civic engagement and community partnership. By centering lived experience, we help ensure that criminal legal reform is informed by the people who understand its impact most deeply.

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