Ida B. Free

Legal Defense. We practice participatory defense, conduct court watch, and mobilize movement lawyers, to ensure our community members involved in the criminal justice system have the best outcomes. 

We Keep Us Safe

The criminal legal system was never designed with true justice in mind for black people. We believe that there is a difference between crime and harm. Crime is “made up” by people with the power to maintain the status quo. We are committed to addressing harm within our community with a transformative approach. Within the Ida B. Free pillar we are committed to ensuring that black people charged with a crime have support in navigating the system to obtain the best outcome in their cases. In order to change the culture of the DC Superior court, we have to engage collective community accountability measures. We are building this by creating Courtwatch DC.

How are we supporting?  

  • We support our local Jail Support in partnership DC IWOC 

  • We provide Court Support for individual cases and systematic changes.

  • We support Free Black Mamas DMV  

Free Black Mamas DMV

Since our collective 2017 inception, we have:

  • Bailed out over 50+ community loved ones and counting;

  • Provided access and pathways to addressing social determinants of health including transitional housing, clothing, transportation and cell phones to mamas and caretakers we’ve bailed out.

  • Supported an eight (8) week paid fellowship at the Liberation and Justice Institute.

  • For the past six consecutive years, we've provided emergency assistance for mamas and caretakers bailed out through #FreeBlackMamasDMV in collaborative conjunction with other local organizers.

#FreeBlackMamasDMV is a member of National Bail Out Collective’s #FreeBlackMamas campaign, a formation of over a dozen community based organizations that is responsible for the Black Mama’s Bail Out along with subsequent bail out actions and strategies to end money bail and pretrial detention.

Participatory Defense

Meet us in the Community 

Community Participatory Defense Meetings:

Are you are a loved one in need of community defense and legal empowerment support? Register for our weekly meetings Tuesdays 7-9 pm

Click zoom registration link below

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAvfuyhpzwoHdUQQDBUQNV-UvrkXf0CgyVJ

You can also call our hotline and leave a message at anytime. (240) 206-1414

Sign up for Court Watch Training is bi-weekly on Thursdays at 7:00 pm.

Register at link below.

bit.ly/CWTraining2

“There must always be a remedy for wrong and injustice if we only know how to find it. ”

Ida B. Wells