Breaking News: Court Watch NYC relaunches as a volunteer-run project!

Dear Court Watch NYC Community,

 

Court Watch NYC is officially relaunching as an entirely volunteer-run project! Volunteers have always been at the core of this initiative, and now we’re guiding CWNYC into the future as an anti-carceral project connecting court watchers with campaigns, individuals, and organizations that most need our support.


We would like to thank Envision Freedom Fund, as well as VOCAL-NY and Five Boro Defenders, for all of their work establishing CWNYC, training nearly 1,000 volunteers, and running the program for the past five years.


Our volunteer organizing committee has mapped out a plan for CWNYC that we’re thrilled to share with you today! As part of this transition, we have had an opportunity to reflect on how we can be most useful to the abolitionist struggle in NYC and beyond. We are excited about our three new areas of focus outlined below, which will allow us to wield the power of court watching as an abolitionist tactic where we can be most useful and effective: 

  • Court support for individuals

    • Accepting & promoting requests to support individuals at court dates by “packing” courtrooms with volunteers (via this form)

  • Partnership campaigns

    • Training volunteers to participate in specific district attorney or judge watching campaigns, such as our current project with Scrutinize (more information to come)

    • Other partnerships to come - we are open to all ideas!

  • Community building 

    • Maintaining our abolitionist study group

    • Joining rallies in support of anti-carceral goals in NYC

    • Hosting arraignments training and court watching for student groups

    • Training interested members of the public when possible

While we will no longer be formally collecting data from arraignments as we’ve done historically, we encourage trained watchers to continue showing up in arraignments in our yellow shirts as we know our presence can help shift power in the courtroom. 

 

Please visit our refreshed website for more information or email us at info@courtwatchnyc.org with any questions. (Please add our email address to your contact list so you don't miss any future emails as we make this transition in operations.)

 

In solidarity,

CWNYC Volunteer Organizing Committee