THE Phoenix mafia
a non-profit dedicated to fighting The Collateral Consequences of Mass Imprisonment by helping the formerly incarcerated find meaningful employment, housing and education .
THE FOUNDER:
AMANDA DOUB
AMANDA DOUB is a Minnesota based real estate agent, multi family investor and property manager. Amanda owns and manages several longhand short term rental properties in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area and surrounding suburbs. She also assists in the leasing and property management of over 300+ rental apartments owned by her Father, Lonny Doub, a well-respected real estate investor in the Minneapolis area.
Over the past 10 years Amanda has gained real, feet on the ground knowledge about the inner workings of city politics and crime by working directly, face-to-face, with each of her residents. She has witnessed first hand the juxtaposition of the war on drugs and the massive increase of non-violent, drug related felonies and incarcerations- and what their futures hold after release.
In the last 50 years countless books have been written on the issues at hand, the true history behind it and the specific changes that are needed at a local and federal level… but nothing has changed.
Amanda is taking a hands on approach working directly with the people in need. She focuses on working with local companies, donors and programs to educate, create awareness and most importantly- raise money via private donations— all of which go directly to our Phoenix Mafia Family Members to use as guidance and financial assistance after being released from prison. This ensures them a real chance at returning to their families and communities. A chance at a real life without the labels, ridicule, and persecution that leads to isolation, mental illness, relapse and incarceration.
mass imprisonment
The United States is in an era of mass conviction. Many distinguished commentators use a different term: “mass incarceration.” Since 1970, and even more profoundly since 1980, the increase in the rate of imprisonment and the absolute number of people in prison has been called “unprecedented in the history of liberal democracy.”4 In 1980, more than 500,000 Americans were confined to prisons and jails; in 2015, there were over 2.1 million.5
collatoral damage
It is common knowledge that criminal conviction can lead to traditional forms of punishment: incarceration, monetary fine, and supervision following or in lieu of incarceration. Less well understood, however, is that people with criminal convictions face a network of additional legal effects, known as collateral consequences.
Collateral consequences affect many areas of life. Some criminal convictions can lead to loss of civil status; a citizen may lose the right to vote, serve on a jury, or hold office; a non-citizen may be deported or become ineligible to naturalize. A conviction may make a person ineligible for public benefits, such as the ability to live in public housing or hold a driver’s license. Criminal convictions affect employment; laws prohibit hiring of people with convictions as peace officers or in the health-care industry. A criminal conviction can also make a person ineligible for a license or permit necessary to be employed or to do business, or cause forfeiture of a pension. Criminal convictions can also affect family relations, such as the ability to have custody or visitation of one’s child.
collateral consequences are increasing, yet invisible. Collateral consequences are imposed by federal, state, and local governments and their subsidiary agencies, sometimes transparently but often as a matter of informal policy that requires digging to discover. Collateral consequences should be collected and made available in every jurisdiction.
Third, collateral consequences, the most significant part of the criminal justice system for many people, have generally not been considered punishment, and therefore are not subject to provisions of the Constitution regulating criminal proceedings. For example, because they are “regulatory” and not punitive, new collateral consequences may be imposed on people convicted long before. Generally, clients are not entitled by the U.S. Constitution to know what collateral consequences will apply before deciding whether to plead guilty or go to trial; judges are not required to consider them in imposing sentence. Judges and prosecutors should consider collateral consequences in their charging and sentencing decisions, and defense attorneys should counsel their clients about them.
phoenix mafia
our mission to our people
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