THE WORK WE DO
" The organization was made to promote social justice and to address the epidemic that is mass incarceration. Since then I am proud of what we’ve accomplished and the people we’ve helped. "
— Ceasar McDowell, Co-Founder of Unite the People Inc.
Spectrum News reports on the homecoming of Allan McIntosh, a Long Beach Native who was harshly sentenced for gun possession, resulting in him spending 20+ years incarcerated and isolated from his family.
Tory Lanez stopped by the Unite the People office in Downtown Long Beach and donated $50,000 to pay off the legal fees for 30 families on Friday. Most of the families were completely surprised by his appearance and gesture. Lanez has been an advisory board member with Unite the People for three years and the organization is diligently working on prison reform. But at this moment, he felt paying off the legal fees would provide an immediate impact. “People think the goal is to be successful. My goal is not to be successful. Success is just the platform in which I help people from,” Lanez said.
Unite The People Inc., visited Intellectual Virtues Academy of Long Beach, CA. UTP team members Ceasar McDowell, Payton Lowry-Sanders, Destani Cuarezma, and Chelsea McDowell spoke to the students about providing affordable legal services to Californians, and promoting social justice throughout the united states.
Unite the People, formally known as “We the People Org,” formed a protest in the city of Los Angeles to take a stand against the various issues surrounding our criminal justice system. Mass incarceration in America is an epidemic, and has become a burden on families and taxpayer dollars. Unite the People, organizers of The People’s Fair Sentencing and Public Safety Act of 2018, hopes to eradicate the Three Strikes Law.
Unite the People was featured on Univision protesting against mass incarceration, the 3 Strikes Law, and advocating for prison reform.
Catalyst Cares Team & Unite The People Inc.’s Tony Smith (bottom), Maurice Lenear (Back), and Ceasar McDowell (Middle) pictured cleaning the streets of Long Beach Saturday July 10th, 2021, during Catalyst Cares’ “CD1 Downtown Clean Up” cleaning Broadway North to 6th Street and Pacific Avenue to Long Beach Boulevard.
“CD1 Downtown Clean Up” organized by Catalyst Cares featured many of Long Beach’s prominet social organizations such as Unite the People Inc., The Office of Councilwomen Mary Zendejas, Downtown Long Beach Alliance, Long Beach Development Services, Long Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau, North Pine Neighborhood Alliance, Turnbridge Equities, and Long Beach Power & Water; Tony Smith (Ambassador), Maurice Lenear, and Ceasar McDowell (CEO & Co-Founder) pictured above.
Tony Smith (Ambassador), Maurice Lenear, and Ceasar McDowell (CEO & Co-Founder) pictured above cleaning Broadway North to 6th Street and Pacific Avenue to Long Beach Boulevard.
Catalyst Cares Team pictured cleaning the streets of Long Beach Saturday July 10th, 2021, during Catalyst Cares’ “CD1 Downtown Clean Up” cleaning Broadway North to 6th Street and Pacific Avenue to Long Beach Boulevard.
In collaboration with organizations such as The Office of Councilwomen Mary Zendejas, Downtown Long Beach Alliance, Long Beach Development Services, Long Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau, North Pine Neighborhood Alliance, Turnbridge Equities, and Long Beach Power & Water
Tony Smith (Ambassador), Maurice Lenear, and Ceasar McDowell (CEO & Co-Founder) pictured above cleaning Broadway North to 6th Street and Pacific Avenue to Long Beach Boulevard.
Unite The People Youth Ambassador, DJ, helps the Compton VFW hand out toys, clothes, and necessities to the community.
Unite the People staff and associates passed out warm clothes to veterans and the community members-in-need at the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ clothes & kids’ toy drive in Compton, CA this past December. We wanted to make sure that with the colder months approaching, people of the community had someone to look out for them.
Ceasar McDowell, Unite The People Co-Founder & CEO, Jaqueline Venters (City of Compton District Candidate), and Mr. Hayes for Mayor (Compton) at “VFW Outreach and Kids Toy Drive” event.
Ceasar McDowell & Jaqueline Venters help the Compton VFW hand out toys, clothes, and necessities to the community.
Tony Smith, Unite The People ambassador, and Jaqueline Venters help the Compton VFW hand out toys, clothes, and necessities to the community.
Unite The People helps the Compton VFW hand out toys, clothes, and necessities to the community.
Mitch McDowell, Unite The People President & Co-Founder, helps the Compton VFW hand out toys, clothes, and necessities to the community.
Due to the Coronavirus, Unite The People was not able to host their first annual “Homelessness Drive”. So with half staff, Unite The People took to the streets of Long Beach to make sure the homeless knew they were accounted for during this unforgivingly tough year.
Unite The People wrote The People's Fair Sentencing and Public Safety Act to exclude non-violent offenders from life sentences under California's outdated and draconian Three Strikes law, and to provide legal remedies that may allow for their early release.
Our law is expected to help nearly 4,000 currently incarcerated Californians to come home
This will save the state more than $100 million annually that will be reinvested into youth, education, and rehabilitation programs.
Amends state law to (1) reduce the number of felonies that are considered violent and serious; (2) limit eligibility for a third strike sentence; (3) require re-sentencing of some third strikers; and (4) require that any state savings resulting from its provisions be spent on education, prison inmate rehabilitation, and youth crime prevention.
AMENDS THREE STRIKES SENTENCING LAW FOR NONVIOLENT OFFENDERS. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Revises the "three strikes" law to impose a life sentence with possibility of parole only when the third or subsequent conviction is for a violent felony, unless the new offense is a specified sex-or-firearm-related crime, or a prior offense was for rape, child molestation, or murder. Requires re-sentencing of inmates currently serving life with possible parole if they would have received different sentences under this measure. Applies savings to schools, colleges, prison rehabilitation programs, and youth crime prevention programs.
Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Net state criminal justice system savings that would likely be in the high tens of millions of dollars initially and could exceed $100 million annually. State savings from the measure would be spent on education, inmate rehabilitation, and youth crime prevention programs. (17-0046.)
On Tuesday, March 30th, Revolve Impact and Summit brought together George Gascón, Los Angeles District Attorney; Ceasar McDowell, CEO & Co-Founder of Unite the People; and Professional Soccer Player, Megan Rapinoe, for a discussion on the role of survivors and systems-impacted people in the reimagining of and the building of a new justice system.
In the past few years, Los Angeles has undergone a number of historic efforts to transform the justice system including the establishment of the Alternatives to Incarceration Initiative, the passage of Measure J, significant youth justice reform efforts, and the election of George Gascón as Los Angeles’s District Attorney. Converstation consisted of the voices of those who have been deeply impacted by the criminal legal system and how their experiences can inform a renewed and reimagined justice system.
