Promise of Justice Initiative

The Promise of Justice Initiative (PJI) is a New Orleans-based decarceration organization that stands at the forefront of the fight for the dignity, freedom, and autonomy of those targeted and touched by the criminal legal system and mass incarceration.

Because racism and mass incarceration are entrenched and pervasive, PJI’s approach is multifaceted, including collective action, legislative advocacy, civil and criminal litigation, and reframing narrative discourse. PJI:

• Challenges the notion that prisons keep us safe and that people with convictions do not deserve basic rights.
• Fights for freedom for people sentenced to die in prison.
• Blocks harmful legislation and pushes for legislation that heals and improves lives.
• Partners in and co-strategizes social movement work with hundreds of incarcerated people.
• Advances the voices of people impacted by violence and mass incarceration
• Builds powerful authentic stories, pushes counter-narratives, and changes discourse.

The Promise of Justice Initiative is governed by a deep belief in the power of people and that people of color and those who are marginalized have a right to freedom, dignity, autonomy, and justice.

PJI is a different kind of civil rights organization; we don’t follow any national agenda or framework. We confront issues and take on cases that, very often, no other organization will venture to challenge. Our work requires deep investments of time, energy, creativity, and collaboration with partner organizations, legal and community stakeholders, and those most directly impacted by the criminal legal system. Our work blurs the traditional lines of litigation and advocacy as we develop and execute novel legal and engagement strategies to attack seemingly intractable problems.

Our methodology is client-centered and community-partnered. We use power building, narrative construction, and storytelling as core vehicles. Our proximity to impacted people, their partnership with us, and our systems-level work inform our strategy. PJI doesn’t guess at problems; we learn about them first-hand from incarcerated people, victims, survivors, and impacted family and community members.

The Promise of Justice Initiative is the most comprehensive statewide organization committed to people living in prison in Louisiana. PJI successfully leverages differentiated tools to challenge problematic and unconstitutional aspects of Louisiana’s legal and incarceration systems using innovative multipronged strategies.

PJI is building a world that no longer warehouses human beings in prisons - a world where justice means a legal system that recognizes freedom and dignity as universal rights, embodies an ethos of transformation, restoration, and safety, and values community, family, dreams, and joy as part of Black life and all life. We believe that a better world is possible. We believe in the promise of justice.