Our Purpose

Hear from DJC’s Founder, Amanda Alexander, and other team members on the common goals of DJC and the the Kresge Foundation’s Detroit program and why this collaboration is so important to push Detroit forward.

DJC is founded on the belief that we cannot build cities that work for everyone without remedying the impacts of mass incarceration. This mission requires innovative ways of community lawyering—rooted in defensive and offensive fights for racial justice and economic equity—that build up our poorest residents through direct services and novel approaches to land use, housing, and employment. We use a three-pronged approach—what we call “defense, offense, and dreaming”—to serve individual clients, build power, and catalyze systemic solutions.

What’s Happening at DJC

Seeding Abolition from within Our Relationships: On Building an Abolitionist Detroit Workshop Series

What does abolition look like as a creative practice? Ruth Wilson Gilmore reminds us that...
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Celebrating Five Years of DJC’s Fight for Freedom

At our celebration in August, we brought together over 160 partners, neighbors, supporters, and friends....
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Statement on Porcha Woodruff

By now, word has spread about the false arrest of Porcha Woodruff, a Black woman...
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In Memoriam

The Detroit Justice Center mourns the loss of Charles J. Ogletree Jr., a beloved law...
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Piloting Our First Restorative Justice Training for Detroiters

DJC’s Metro Detroit Restorative Justice Network (MDRJN) held its first restorative justice community circle keeping...
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In Memoriam

The Detroit Justice Center mourns the loss of Rev. Joann Watson, who was a civil...
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