About
Neighbors for Justice was founded in 2020 by neighbors who live a few blocks from the DC Jail and wanted to do more to support our neighbors at the jail during COVID and beyond.
In 2025, Neighbors for Justice transitioned from a volunteer-led effort to a formal non-profit entity with funding from local funders.
Mission
Neighbors for Justice was formed to:- Increase awareness of the lived experience of neighbors in the jail in order to foster engagement, relationship, and deeper understanding in all of us.
- Support our neighbors in the jail and DC residents in the federal Bureau of Prisons through specific, tangible actions.
- Advocate on behalf of our neighbors in the jail via relevant proposed legislation and related decisions.
- Be a resource to amplify local groups and organizations working to support these neighbors.
Statement of Beliefs
- All residents of the DC jail are our neighbors. In proclaiming each other as neighbors, we commit to treating each other as neighbors.
- Our neighbors at the DC jail and all DC residents in federal and private prisons across the country deserve to be treated humanely, with care and consideration. This includes: full and free access to hygiene products (soap, toothpaste, etc), clean and temperature-controlled facilities, good and prompt health care, fresh air and sunshine, physical activity, access to their loved ones by whatever means possible (phone, video conference, in-person visits), access to education, training, and support services
- We stand for investing more in communities through health care, education, housing, re-entry, and social services to better serve DC residents and reduce the use of incarceration.
- We urge review and revision of policies related to arrest and charging, sentencing, incarceration, and parole to better position all DC residents to thrive and decrease the number of justice-involved residents.
- We support our neighbors following their re-entry and aim to be a resource to the organizations serving DC returning citizens.
- We stand for an anti-racist society and anti-racist justice system.
Core Team
The founding team members of Neighbors for Justice saw the sharp distinctions between freedom and incarceration at this most local level. We realized we share this space and place, but lack connection. Neighbors for Justice was created to acknowledge that we are neighbors and to strive to act accordingly. In 2025, as Neighbors for Justice transitioned from a volunteer-led effort to a non-profit, James Carpenter and Anthony Petty stepped into formal leadership roles.
- Anthony Petty, Co-executive Director
- James Carpenter, Executive Director
- Julie Johnson, Founder (Board chair)
- Laura Forsythe, Founder (Board member, former Core Team member)
- Shannon Fyfe, Founding Member (Board member, former Core Team member)
- Jack Harvey, Member
