Please listen, share, and subscribe to help us amplify the conversation. “Before They Could Dream” is available now, wherever you get your podcasts: www.buzzsprout.com/2598463/follow
Episode 3 centers on the story of Catherine Jones and examines the profound impact of childhood abuse in addition to sharing data and insights into the unfair realities that young girls face in America’s criminal justice system.
Episode 2 features Donnell Drinks and explores the far-reaching impact of parental addiction, disproportionate policing within communities of color, and the trauma of being sentenced to the death penalty as a child.
NOW LIVE: the first three episodes of Before They Could Dream! In Episode 1, we hear from the host, Abd’Allah Lateef, about his childhood in Philadelphia as a shy, athletic boy and the circumstances that led him to being sentenced to life without parole.
Karen Awana's commentary for @CivilBeat illustrates why SB 2325 is vital to ensure the state’s laws embody the principle that children can grow and change.
As we urge the Hawai’i Senate to advance SB 2325 next week, read here and share: www.civilbeat.org/2026/03/lets...
We are proud to stand alongside them as they fight for a system that prioritizes healing, accountability, and safety. #SurvivorsSpeak2026
CFSY’s Catherine Jones & Ghani Songster joined Crime Survivors Speak in Montgomery for Survivors Speak Alabama. On the steps of the Alabama State Capitol, survivors urged lawmakers to expand victim compensation & open the state’s first trauma recovery center.
At 17, they gave him a life sentence. After 25 years, he's giving young people a chance at life:
🤝 Interrupting violence on Baltimore’s Stop The Beef team.
📚 Mentoring youth in schools & writing books.
❤️ Being a leader, a husband, a son, and a role model.
This is redemption.
As CFSY’s Policy Advocate Jose Burgos testified, “SB 2325 reflects what research, common sense, and lived experience have shown us: children are different.”
Follow along for more updates out of Hawai'i.
In 2014, Hawai'i was an early leader in abolishing life without parole for children. This bill builds on that legacy, updating the law to improve review processes for children serving lengthy sentences.
Good news! In Hawai'i, the Senate Committee on Judiciary just voted YES on SB 2325, a critical bill to ensure people sentenced as children have a meaningful second chance.
We had our first call of the year with members of the Incarcerated Children's Advocacy Network (ICAN) and, as always, heard many pieces of wisdom 💛
If you’re in the DMV area, you can register for the free in-person event here: montgomerycountywomensdemocraticclub.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/m...
CFSY’s Eddie Ellis will be a part of a panel discussion with fellow juvenile justice expert Professor Kristin Henning, Senator @willcsmithjr.bsky.social, moderated by @sentencingproject.bsky.social's Olinda Moyd, to discuss Maryland's current process of automatically charging children as adults.
CFSY's Saif Imtiaz and Callie King-Guffey participated, gaining and sharing insights to develop solutions that are more child-centered and trauma-responsive.
Special thanks to Baker McKenzie and Google for putting together this annual event.
How often do decision makers step into the shoes of system-impacted children?
That's what the Children's Rights Summit in New York asked leaders to do through a powerful simulation co-created with youth who have experienced incarceration and other systems of housing, healthcare, and welfare.
The Reiners' commitment to Nanon reflected values that shaped much of Rob’s work: compassion, chosen family, and redemption. To fully honor their legacy means continuing to advocate for a justice system rooted in humanity and transformation. Read more here: www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Rob and Michele Reiner built a legacy grounded in storytelling, compassion, and unwavering advocacy for others. After seeing a play about Nanon Williams, who was sentenced to death at 17, they formed a deep bond and came to embrace him as family.
Happy Black History Month! This year marks a century of Black history commemorations.
At CFSY, we celebrate the historical figures and living legends who are confronting our past to build a more just and joyful future for Black children around the world. 🖤
- Reflections from Christy Lockheart, ICAN Member
Learn more from our 10th Anniversary Report here #Montgomeryat10 (tap bio): cfsy.org/media-resour...
The women and officers stopped and stared. They wanted to know what it meant- I told them because of this ruling, we might not die here. Thanks to Henry’s courage, the dedicated attorneys, and the advocates who never up on us, I am finally home. God bless you, Henry.”
When the ticker tape finally read a small summary of the ruling...we SCREAMED, CRIED IN JOY AND DISBELIEF! I ran straight into the yard and yelled, "Henry Montgomery WON- HE WON."
“When we heard the decision in Montgomery v. Louisiana was coming down, the entire prison campus was glued to the TV. We were afraid. We were excited. We were finally hopeful.
-Reflections from Donnell Drinks, CFSY’s Leadership Development & Engagement Coordinator
Learn more from our 10th Anniversary Report here #Montgomeryat10: cfsy.org/media-resour...
and advocating across the country to help end the barbaric practice of sentencing children to die in prison. Above all, it has meant using my second chance to fight for a justice system rooted in accountability, healing, and redemption."
As I look back on the past 10 years, I feel deep gratitude and an equal deep sense of responsibility. For me, honoring Montgomery has meant using my lived experience to mentor children in my community so they don’t make the same mistakes I did
They were people who I had grown up. The men who became my family behind bars. All of us would finally have a shot at freedom. There was no guarantee, but after decades of concrete, and lost time, we finally had hope. Today, every one of us on that list has come home.
I will never forget the day my lawyer showed me the list of nearly 3,000 fellow juvenile ‘lifers’ who would finally have a chance to be resentenced because of Montgomery. Many of the names I recognized. Abd’Allah Lateef. Don Jones. Ernest Franklin.
It wasn’t until Montgomery v. Louisiana that something profound inside me shifted. For the first time in decades, I could truly imagine a life beyond the prison walls.
