1. No Readings

2. Class Introductions - Share your name & pronouns.

3. In-Class Discussion: In small groups answer these questions. 1) Why did you choose to take this class? 2) What do you hope to gain?

4. In-Class Activity: Group/Class Agreements - Click HERE for a short description on how to develop group agreements.

1. READ "Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police" by Mariame Kaba in the New York Times (June 12, 2020)

2. READ Ch. 1 of' "Are Prisons Obsolete?" by Angela Davis

3. In Class Activity: Solidify Group/Class Agreements from Day 1.

4. In-Class Discussion: In small groups answer these questions. 1) What are Mariame Kaba's primary points? 2) What are the intersections between Ch. 1 of "Are Prisons Obsolete?" and the article by Mariame Kaba?

1. READ Ch. 2 of' "Are Prisons Obsolete?" by Angela Davis

2. READ the Introduction of "Invisible No More" by Andrea Ritchie

3. WATCH IN-CLASS "Are Prisons Obsolete? - No Name Book Club"

4. In-Class Discussion: In small groups discuss these questions: 1) What is a controlling narrative? 2) How have controlling narratives impacted the way we understand the criminalization and prisons? 3) What are the controlling narratives undergirding an abolitionist analysis?

5. Assignment: Vision, Principles, & Policy Position - Identify a vision for abolition that you have encountered in the past few days of classes and readings. Write about that vision and identify an undergirding principle for that vision. Lastly, how could this vision and principle become a policy that is implemented or a policy position. This should be no more than 500-650 words.

1. READ Part 1 #3 Pg. 43-48 Isolation Cannot Heal Isolation of “Beyond Survival: Strategies & Stories from the Transformative Justice Movement” Edited by Ejeris Dixon & Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

2. READ Ch. 1 of "Invisible No More" by Andrea Ritchie

3. READ Part 1, #4 Pg. 47-56 of “Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect: A Truthout Collection”

4. READ (zine) The Prison Industrial Complex

5. WATCH IN-CLASS "Slavery to Mass Incarceration"

6. In-Class Discussion: In small groups discuss these questions: 1) What are the connections between slaver and mass incarceration? 2) Why is this important? 3) How does this impact your vision of your future legal work as lawyer?

1. READ "Racial Capitalism and Prison Abolition"

2. READ "Why American Prisons Owe Their Cruelty to Slavery" by Bryan Stevenson in the New York Times (April 14, 2019)

3. READ "Prisons Reform Isn't Anti-Racist, Prison Abolition Is" by Prince Shakur in Afropunk (January 11, 2019)

4. READ "Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy: Rethinking Women of Color Organizing" by Andrea Smith in the Color of Violence (INCITE!)

5. READ “Crime, Punishment, and Economic Violence” by Patricia Allard in the Color of Violence (INCITE!)

6. In-Class Discussion: 1) What is "racialized capitalism?" 2) What is the connection between the prison industrial complex and racialized capitalism? 3) White supremacy seeks not simply to conquer and divide communities, but also aims to turn oppressed communities against each other. What did you learn from "Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy: Rethinking Women of Color Organizing" by Andrea Smith in the Color of Violence (INCITE!)

1. LISTEN to Ruth Wilson Gilmore's "The Case for Abolition" in The Intercept (June 10, 2020) (podcast)

2. READ "Angela Davis vs. the Liberal Reformers" (by Existential Comics)

3. SELF-STUDY: Research "The First Step Act" 1) What is it? 2) What will it do? 3) Who will benefit? 4) Who will not benefit?

• Support resources:

  1. The First Step Act

  2. What is the First Step act and What is Happening with It?

Easy Access Charts: Reform vs. Abolition

1. • Reformist reforms vs. abolitionist steps in policing

   • Abolition Responses to Jail Expansion and Reform

4. ASSIGNMENT: Write a critical critique of "The First Step Act." 1) Is this abolitionist or reformist? Why? What are the principles undergirding this policy? 2) Who will it impact? How? 3) Who benefits and who does not?

1. READ Ch. 3 of' "Are Prisons Obsolete?" by Angela Davis

2. READ the Introduction, Ch. 1-2 of "Until We Reckon" by Danielle Sered

3. WATCH IN-CLASS Beyond Reform: Abolishing Prisons

4. In-Class Discussion: In small groups answer these questions: 1) What is the difference between reform and abolition? 2) Are all reforms problematic? 3) What do you think it means to move beyond reform?

1. WATCH "13th" by Ava Duvernay

2. READ Ch. 4 & 5 of' "Are Prisons Obsolete?" by Angela Davis

3. In-Class Discussion: "13th" Discussion Guide PDF the h

1. READ “Social Death: Racialized Rightlessness and the Criminalization of the Unprotected” by Lisa Marie Cacho

2. READ “Let’s Reject the Violent vs. Nonviolent Crime Dichotomy to End the War on Drugs” (Truthout) by Kassandra Frederique & Danielle Sered

3. READ Can we fix mass incarceration without including violent offenders? (The Marshall Project) by Jamiles Lartey

4. READ “Reform without Results: Why States Should Stop Excluding Violent Offenses from Criminal Justice Reforms” (Prison Policy Initiative) by Alexi Jones

5. WATCH IN-CLASS "The Economy of Incarceration" with Ruth Wilson Gilmore

6. Assignment: Vision, Principles, & Policy Position - Identify a vision for abolition that you have encountered in the past few days of classes and readings. Write about that vision and identify an undergirding principle for that vision. Lastly, how could this vision and principle become a policy that is implemented or a policy position. This should be no more than 500-650 words.

1. READ Ch.1 & 6 of “Prison By Any Other Name” by Maya Schenwar and Victoria Law

2. EXPLORE the No New Youth Jail website

3. EXPLORE the Zero Youth Detention website

4. READ "King County Executive Dow Constantine commits to depopulate the youth jail by 2025" by Elise Takahama in the SeattleTimes (July 21, 2020)

5. READ "L.A. and S.F. have it right: No children should be prosecuted as adults" by Maria Aroni Krinsky and Marcy Mistrett in the San Fransisco Chronicle (December 27, 2020)

6. READ "King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg uses state resources to attack the constitutional rights of youth and prevent reduction of sentences, all while Washington Prisons face rampant COVID outbreaks" by Sade Smith attorney at Dismantle - Smith Law, LLC

7. WATCH #NNYJ Anthem feat. WA-BLOC

8. WATCH IN-CLASS: A panel of local organizers discussing the No New Youth Jail Movement in Seattle-King County - VIDEO HERE

9. ASSIGNMENT: Write a critical critique of "Zero Youth Detention." 1) Is this abolitionist or reformist? Why? What are the principles undergirding this policy? 2) Who will it impact? How? 3) Who benefits and who does not? 4) Is there a place for reform in abolitionist movements? Why or why not?