Family survivors of Daniel Marsh double homicide will be featured during Commons Town Hall meeting next Tuesday at 3pm
(Woodland, CA) – April 6, 2022 – April 6th marks the one-year anniversary of the launch of the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office’s transparency portal, Commons. In 2020, the District Attorney partnered with Measures for Justice (MFJ), a non-profit organization based in Rochester, NY, to develop Commons. MFJ’s mission is to make accurate criminal justice data available to spur reform.
Commons is a first-of-its-kind online data portal that tracks local criminal justice data on a regular basis alongside a policy goal embraced by the DA and community leaders. Commons is unique in that the county data is validated and posted by MFJ, a neutral third party. The data is not controlled internally by the District Attorney’s office, unlike other portals across the nation. The portal is also the first to seek community input in terms of what data they want to see.
To develop Commons, MFJ held focus groups and sought input from Yolo County’s Multi-Cultural Community Council (MCCC). MCCC Chair Tessa Smith said, “I was so pleased District Attorney Reisig didn’t try to tell us, the community, what we wanted to see.” We provided feedback of what the people of Yolo needed, wanted, and deserved to see. And the finished product shows Measures and Reisig listened to us.”
“We’re so pleased to see how Commons is being regularly used by the D.A.’s office to review and update policy,” said Amy Bach, CEO of Measures for Justice. “And how the Yolo community has been invited to monthly opportunities to discuss the data and what they mean. Launching Commons in Yolo has opened the door to possibilities nationwide and we’re looking forward to the tool being used for years to come.”
The District Attorney and MCCC have been holding monthly town hall meetings featuring guests speaking about varying topics such as racial disparity, human trafficking, and domestic violence. During the town hall meetings, various data points from Commons are discussed to explore each of these topics.
During the next Town Hall, the topic will be focused on victims and survivors of crimes and the pain and emotional suffering they endure on their road to survival. Guests will include Victim Services Manager, Laura Valdes, and Crime Survivor, Sarah Rice, whose grandmother Claudia Maupin and her husband Chip Northup were murdered by Danial Marsh while they slept in their Davis home on April 14, 2013. The Commons Town Hall meeting will be held via zoom on April 12th from 3 – 4 pm. To attend, please register at https://yoloda.org/commons-town-hall-meetings/. For more information regarding the Commons portal and Measures for Justice please go to, https://www.measuresforjustice.org/commons/yoloda and https://measuresforjustice.org/ .
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