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No More Labels is an organization that seeks to educate the public about the myths surrounding those members of our community that are labeled as "sex offenders" and the hardships being caused for the families and loved ones of these modern day "lepers" that are being ostracized once they have served their court ordered sentences. No More Labels does NOT support or condone the crimes or acts of violence committed by these or ANY criminal offender. We recognize the damage done to the victims of these, and ANY CRIME. No More Labels simply advocates for justice through fair punishment of criminal offenders, joined with treatment, rehabilitation and accountability coupled with community reentry programs to ensure that these individuals can once again become productive, law abiding citizens. No More Labels is striving to providing support for the families of the men and women who are trying to support the offenders when they do return to the community. We also work with the victims of these crimes to find support and healing. We DO NOT provide legal advice, but can provide access to lawyers and other professionals that can help.

Open States is a collection of tools that make it possible for citizens to track what is happening in their state's capitol by aggregating information from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Using the site is simple: enter a U.S. address or select a state to start to research bills, review voting records, contact elected officials and more. Check out this Sunlight Academy tutorial to see how Open States can help citizens, journalists and activists learn more about their state government. Open States is a project of the Sunlight Foundation. Thank you to the Rita Allen Foundation, Minnesota Historical Society and Open Society Foundations for their generous support. Additionally, collecting this data would not be possible without the support of a community much larger than the team here at Sunlight. A special thanks to all of our volunteer contributors and the authors and maintainers of all of the libraries that we depend upon.

TIFA (and our members) provide support, information, and advocacy for families who have a loved one incarcerated in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). Mission: "Breaking the cycle of crime by strengthening families through support, education, and advocacy" tifa@tifa.org

Our Mission: Breaking the cycle of crime by strengthening families through support, education, and advocacy. About 200,000 adult men and women are incarcerated at any one time in county jails and state correctional facilities in Texas. The state has the unenviable distinction of having more individuals behind bars than any other state in the country. Left behind are family members and friends: 55 percent leave behind a spouse, and 85 percent or more leave behind a parent and/or a child. In fact, about 75 percent of male inmates and more than 95 percent of female inmates have a child younger than 18. More than half have a child younger than 10.

I have been an activist for many years. I was born in 1951, and came of age in the Washington, DC area in 1969. The place was overflowing at that time with worthwhile causes to be active in. I was active in the civil rights movement, the women's movement (and am discouraged with some of the current parts of that movement) and the anti-Vietnam War movement (while supporting the troops themselves, at times a delicate balancing act). So, I am not an newbie to activism. I am, however, a newbie to having an activist blog. The cause which I am addressing myself to in this instance is liberty and justice. A broad topic, one might think, but one which I have found to be sorely under addressed. In particular, I am very concerned with the registries now popping up all over the place. The sex offender registry is one which impacts me personally. I have two sons who are listed on it.