The Open Philanthropy Project recommended a grant of $250,000 to Faith in Texas to support criminal justice reform work, including prosecutorial accountability. This funding is intended to support organizing faith communities for accountability in the lead-up to and aftermath of district attorney elections this fall, and organizing for statewide legislative work in 2019. Chloe Cockburn, Open Philanthropy's Program Officer for Criminal Justice Reform, believes it is important to build grassroots support for criminal justice reform among members of white evangelical, black, and Hispanic faith communities, particularly in Texas, which has the largest incarcerated population of any state in the U.S.{footnote_1}
This grant is a renewal of Open Philanthropy's September 2016 recommendation, and falls within its focus area of criminal justice reform.