Become a Member
Impartial Membership
Why Become a Member
The objective of Impartial’s membership is to provide people who want to commit to our mission a meaningful way to get involved with our activities.
Do you care passionately about the judicial system, policing, racial inequities, access to legal services, the presumption of innocence (or more likely guilt), mass incarceration, privately run prisons, art by inmates, restorative justice or any other aspect of how our criminal justice system works? So do we, and we’d like you to join us, to become more knowledgeable, to imagine how the system can become better for all of us, and to put our collective voices and energy into action.
Membership Goals
Our goal for members of Impartial: to support any effort we can for you to make your impact on the criminal justice system.
Whether amplifying your voice, connecting you to the best non-profits most aligned with your personal goals, or working with us directly to create new knowledge and get it in the hands of those who need it, we are your conduit, and members are who make it possible to achieve these ambitions.
Benefits of Membership
When you join us, you support our investigative journalism and stories of justice/injustice, get discounts off Impartial products, become a subscriber to our newsletter, and gain first access to preview and purchase new prison artwork. You may also be invited to participate in Focus groups from time to time.
As our capability to conduct independent research grows, we also plan to add exclusive member content (not available at this time). And in the future, we plan much more.
Membership Types and Cost
There are two types of membership: Student, and Professional. At present the only differentiation between them, and the reason we make the distinction, is because there will be opportunities that will be available only to those at universities.
At this time, Impartial membership is free. If you want to make a donation to us while at the same time becoming a member, we would appreciate it, but it is not required to become a member.
Member Programs
Community
We are building a community. Our community shows appreciation and respect for others’ ideas and interests. We constantly learn from each other because we have such diverse backgrounds, experiences and views of the world.
Our common denominator is a better US criminal justice system. There are a million ways to accomplish that, but primarily Impartial chooses to align with criminal justice non-profits that already do the hard work of filling in the gaps and fixing the errors our criminal justice has.
Investigative Journalism
We are doing our own deep subject matter research internally, and developing articles that shine a light on important criminal justice stories. Writers often are drawn to a slice of the criminal justice system that concerns them personally, and dig deep to expose the facts for you to decide what you believe or should act on. This is a growing part of our work, and if you have ideas that you’d like to develop, we invite you to contact us to inquire about contributing to our repository.
We work with journalists, criminal justice non-profits, lawyers, advocates, former inmates, academics and others to expose you to things you may not have known. Keeping you well-informed is part of our mission.
Prisoner Stories
If you want to know the real story of real people affected by the US criminal justice system, we share them in their own words. Prisoner stories aren’t just about their experience with policing and lawyers and the judicial and penal systems, but about their relationships to the rest of us — victims, citizens and community.
In many cases, the incarcerated may be mentally ill or unstable, poorly educated, impoverished, or have suffered racial or some other social inequity. No matter their background or what they may have done, we want you to understand what has led them to this point.
Analysis, Ideas & Opinions
Our goal is to provide unique insights that lead to better criminal justice solutions, and sometimes just to cause you to stop and think. Judges that have seen thousands of cases, advocates that see a clear path, and students that will be our future justice leaders have a platform. Also victims of crime, community members and legislators. We all see justice differently and have an opportunity to briefly sit in someone else’s shoes to see what that was like for them.
Focus Groups
Impartial is creating a subset of our membership to guide our selection of opportunities. Impartial’s focus group are trusted voices that provide a thoughtful opinion about what we do and how we do it. The collective wisdom of people that appreciate our mission is a vital part of how we stay connected. Volunteer members are invited to this group.
First Access to Original Prison Artwork
We have collected over 1200 pieces of prison artwork, and we are growing every day. Although we typically will exhibit and auction prison artwork, you can see it first. When the artwork is exhibited, we will let you know. When the artwork is going to be auctioned, we will let you know. Exhibiting prison artwork is important to increasing the value of each piece. We want you to be the first to appreciate it.
We will be continuously adding to the membership benefits as we assess how to best meet your needs/wants.
Thanks!
