Contact: Leila McDowell
lmcdowell@famm.org
202.822.6700

NEW FACT CHECKING INITIATIVE WILL MONITOR ‘LAW AND ORDER’ STATEMENTS AT BOTH THE RNC AND DNC CONVENTIONS

The nation’s leading sentencing reform organization, FAMM, today is launching JustiFACT, a fact checking initiative to monitor and assess the statements of public policymakers and others at the upcoming national party conventions. This initiative begins at a time when issues of crime, justice, and safety are playing a bigger role in the public debate. 

“Politicians and talking heads make a lot of claims about crime and our justice system, but many of those claims turn out to be simply false. Our goal is to provide the facts that either support or expose those claims so that the public knows what’s fact and what’s fiction. We hope JustiFACT will become a valuable resource to the press and public as they try to determine the truth in the justice system debate,” said FAMM Vice President Kevin Ring.

Similar to some elements of PolitiFACT, JustiFACT is a fact-checking project that rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials, candidates, pundits, activists, the media and others who speak about criminal justice. The initiative also presents the facts, background and prospective impact of proposed legislation. After investigation and research, JustiFACT staffers rate the accuracy of statements and legislative claims from True to False. The most egregious falsehoods get the lowest rating BUSTED (four bars) and claims that are based most solidly in the facts are stamped as TRUE (zero bars).

FAMM is a nonpartisan organization that has had significant success in bringing people from across the ideological spectrum together on sentencing and prison reform. It receives funding from both the Koch Brothers and George Soros, for example.

For more information, interviews or to sign up for JustiFACT, contact Leila McDowell at 202-822-6706; lmcdowell@famm.org.

FAMM, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, promotes commonsense sentencing and prison policies that increase public safety.

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