True justice offers healing, hope and opportunity for growth.
Our goal is one just system in Los Angeles County:
centered on strong communities and practical resources, not prisons.
One just system holds people accountable when laws are broken, and holds itself accountable for responding in ways that increase safety and prevent future crimes. Care is taken to understand the circumstances of every child and adult in the system. People are treated equitably without regard to wealth or race. Legal representation is fair. Consequences are compassionate and designed to develop potential, with incarceration used only as a last resort. One just system counts every person’s well-being as a measure of the whole community’s health, and looks to communities first for solutions.
Justice systems across the U.S. have bypassed these principles. Currently, the system in LA County stands out nationally for its problems. At JMLF, we believe in LA County’s potential to develop one just system and become a different kind of leader—in a movement toward true justice nationwide.
JMLF Priorities
The best advice we’ve been given comes from the people most impacted by justice system failures—those who are behind bars or have been incarcerated. We’re listening as they build a framework for true justice along with their families, communities and activists; often working together with people who have been hurt by crimes. Our role is to learn from their stories and strategies, stand beside them, and offer support that’s informed by their experience.
LA County represents a pivotal opportunity to show how quickly an entrenched system can change. |
| We’re beginning this work in our local community because the Los Angeles County criminal justice system is marked by some of the most extreme discrimination and abuses in the U.S. We believe people who are imprisoned are as much a part of our community as our best-respected leaders. We’re working toward a community-centered justice system where people have a chance to restore themselves to self-worth, health, family, the economy, democracy and our common heart. |
Current Grants
JMLF currently supports these nonprofit organizations working to end mass incarceration in Los Angeles County.
Previous Grants
Featured Issues
As JMLF continues to learn, we’ll keep sharing content and voices that inform, inspire and challenge us. We may not necessarily agree with every opinion that’s expressed—but we think it’s important to hear those ideas too.
About JMLF
If you are interested in JMLF’s history of HIV/AIDS work
please visit our archived website
John Lloyd created JMLF to seek solutions to the AIDS epidemic. He believed medical knowledge existed to alleviate the crisis, but he also saw that a lack of wisdom, compassion and common sense were barriers to decisive action. He responded by putting his own energy and money to work for people living with AIDS.
As a boy growing up in Libertyville, Illinois, John said he wanted to leave the world a better place than he found it. He sought to reverse the root causes of problems rather than just treating their symptoms. He worked at an inner-city community housing project. He taught meditation techniques. He graduated from Taft School and the University of Illinois, and worked as a commodities broker and investment manager. In 1990, he married Heidi Mage.
Early in 1991, John passed away due to complications of AIDS. He had lived out his own wisdom, compassion and common sense, always with a sense of humor. He dedicated everything he had to making a positive impact on his world.
We remember John with love and are energized to carry his legacy forward.
The JMLF staff and board of directors are inspired by everyone who is working toward
one just system.