A Letter from PJI's Board

Friends,

On Tuesday, April 22, 2025, PJI received an award termination letter from the Office of Justice Programs immediately ending our $1 million grant supporting crucial, ongoing pretrial work, claiming that it “no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities.”

This abrupt decision specifically prevents our work to help judges align their practices with constitutional principles while protecting public safety, ensuring people return to court, alleviating racial disparities, and saving taxpayer dollars by avoiding unnecessary pretrial incarceration. This work is a necessary, foundational step toward strengthening pretrial systems nationally and directly serves the U.S. Justice Department’s mission “to uphold the rule of law, to keep our country safe, and to protect civil rights.”

We are chillingly not alone in this sudden grant revocation. PJI is among 365+ organizations that received similar letters last week, resulting in the unprecedented mass termination of current Justice Department grants, totaling $811 million.

Make no mistake: Disrupting these grants harms us all. It sets nationwide criminal justice systems back, endangers communities, wrongfully tears apart families, perpetuates racial disparities behind bars, and ultimately costs taxpayers billions.

While our federal funding has been slashed, our mission won’t be. PJI will continue fighting. We will continue to partner with and bridge between local communities and system stakeholders. We will listen – and learn – from those closest to the problem. We will translate the communities’ vision for safety, fairness, and equity into tangible pretrial policies and practices. We will build brick by brick the capacity and momentum to implement that collective vision. We will unwaveringly demand and center racial justice. We will not be deterred from fighting for a brighter future.

But we need your help! Here’s how you can join us in this fight:

• Become a PJI monthly sustainer or make a one-time donation.
• Demand congressional action to reinstate these grants.
• Share our work with your networks and inspire others to invest in our vision.
• Contact us with opportunities where our expertise can support and strengthen the work ahead.

Your support directly fuels our mission and ensures our nearly 50-year legacy continues. Together, we will ensure the pretrial system is safe, fair, and equitable.

In solidarity,

The PJI Board

Douglas Smith

Alycia Castillo

Jaylin D. McClinton

Kayla Vinson

Rebecca T. Wallace

Nicole Zayas Manzano