Representation Matters: Legal Support for Dawn

On June 25, 2021 local activist, Dawn Jeffrey's bond was revoked and she was sent to Greene County Detention Center to await her trial.

 

Dawn Jeffrey is a well known community activist who resides in the Central Arkansas area. She is the founder of the Little Rock Freedom Fund and Nayborhood Activists. Dawn has worked in the Little Rock community for years helping the unhoused , facilitating park & community cleanups, backpack drives, educational events, protests, and direct actions. Dawn even organized and co-hosted a summer long course called the Know Your Rights Tour. This tour educated participants on the rights we hold as citizens by legal professionals. The things Dawn does for the Central Arkansas community is endless.

 

Dawn spent June facilitating the release of 13 African American men and women for Juneteenth. Shortly after organizing and executing this VERY successful Bailout, Dawn's bond was revoked. Dawn previously been charged with five counts in relation to case No. 4.20CR00288-DPM. These charges refer to a Little Rock Police Department car being set on fire in the height of 2020's Summer of Resistance .

 

Due to previous traumatizing experiences with governing officials, Dawn experiences diagnosed traumatic stress disorder that she had been ordered by a licensed physician to treat with medical marijuana and mental heath counseling. After testing positive for THC, Dawn’s bond was revoked.

 

Two appeals have been filed on her behalf and both were denied. Her September trial date has been pushed to May of 2022. Dawn has plead NOT guilty to all counts, and has stated that she did NOT do the things that she has been charged with. As of October 1st, no evidence had been reviewed or presented to Dawn in relation to the case. She has not been charged with any crime. 

 

Dawn needs more legal support to bring her home to her daughter, family, friends, and loving community. Representation matters in the court room, especially in regards to a case that many attorneys have no experience with. We are grateful that trusted and experienced legal support teams have offered to assist Dawn. Legal teams have given us a quote range from $60,000 to $250,000.00. We know proper, experienced legal defense is necessary. Many individuals remain in the prison system, not because they did it, but because of lack of representation. Holding Dawn in jail for over 120 days in relation to prescribed  medical marijuana use is a means of excessive punishment commonly used against African Americans in the court / prison system.

 

We refuse to allow Dawn, an advocate for equality and liberation, to become a victim of the prison system. We request the support of our local, national, and global community to support our mission of bringing Dawn home as soon as possible. Our hope is that community members and organizations band together to support her just as she has supported us, our families, friends, and loved ones. We cannot do this alone. As we work together, we are confident Dawn will be released from her holding cell in Greene County Detention Center.

 

To learn more about Dawn's community work visit LRfreedomfund.com