The Justice Not Jails coalition (JNJ) was formed by a group of community organizers to develop and advocate for policies related to criminal justice reform, behavioral health care access, and public safety in Spokane County. JNJ’s work in 2023 was centered around Spokane County’s Measure 1, a ballot initiative that would have enacted a sales tax to pay for two new jails.
Rather than just opposing Measure 1, the organizers used this campaign as an opportunity for long-term movement building and centered impacted people, including a decolonized campaign leadership comprised of those who have been impacted by the carceral system.
The impact of JNJ’s work is evidenced by Measure 1’s resounding defeat: Measure 1 failed 63.3% to 36.7%, with 99% of precincts voting against it (447 vs 4). JNJ’s work in 2023 is a prime example of how organizations can successfully organize around a ballot initiative, and should be used as a template for groups planning on organizing around initiatives in 2024.
JNJ fostered a network of staffers, volunteers, and community partners with common goals and values, building capacity to continue the work beyond 2023 and to grow into a statewide coalition.
The campaign organized canvasses every weekend for supporters and volunteers with a special focus on looping in impacted folks, and provided compensation as needed. Weekend canvassers were followed by bbqs and other gatherings, providing a space to build community among supporters.
The campaign also organized both phonebanks and textbanks for canvassing the community: JNJ organized weekly phone banks for volunteers who made calls and sent texts every Friday, emphasizing outreach to very low propensity voters.
JNJ’s direct voter outreach work prioritized reaching out to voters who have been disenfranchised – whether through the legal system, or through historic lack of engagement and/or representation. This outreach centered on educating voters about the carceral system and other systems of racism and oppression, and having honest conversations about alternatives to mass incarceration for improving public safety and the lives of community members.
JNJ also used persuasion programs to oppose Measure 1, including mailers and a combination of broadcast, cable, streaming, and digital ads.
In total, JNJ made 277,927 outreach attempts to 93,613 unique voters in the 90 days leading up to Election Day, canvassing more than a quarter of the electorate in Spokane County – more than any other WCA Data Hub partner in 2023.
This included 17,845 door knocks, 39,530 phone calls, 22,552 text messages, and 197,271 mailers. JNJ’s direct voter outreach work was extremely successful: 73.2% of voters canvassed by JNJ voted in the 2023 General Election, compared to just 43.2% of all voters in Spokane County. The relative increase in turnout among canvassed voters was highest among those canvassed via in-person outreach (+17.0%), followed by voters who received text messages (+15.2%) and voters who received phone calls (+4.2%).
The vast majority of Justice Not Jail’s funding came from the Seattle-based Inatai Foundation and the Spokane-based Empire Health Community Advocacy Fund, of which Teeters is the policy director.