Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Incarceration after COVID: how the pandemic could permanently change jails and prisons

    July 07, 2021 |

    Wausau Pilot and Review |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Wisconsin

    Across Wisconsin, the pandemic pushed prisons and jails to work quickly to lower their numbers of prisoners, in some cases accelerating reforms that had been planned apart from virus containment. Incarceration hit a 20-year low in December 2020 through a variety of mechanisms, including issuing citations instead of arresting; limiting arrests for parole violations or on old warrants; and using electronic monitoring. Some jails saw fewer coronavirus infections, as well as population numbers averaging much lower than before. But a backlogged court system has reversed some of the gains.

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  • Criminal justice changes in Virginia prompt debate over how prosecutors are funded by the state

    July 06, 2021 |

    The Washington Post |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Fairfax, Virginia

    Fairfax County, Virginia, boasts the state's most ambitious program to divert cases from criminal prosecution to treatment courts, including for drug offenses and involving veterans. But all of the work by prosecutors to deliver a more therapeutic form of justice ends up penalizing the county under the state's formula for funding of prosecutor offices, which rewards felony convictions. Because the true workload isn't reflected in the funding, Fairfax has faced staffing shortage, leading to conflicts with the police over inaction on certain cases. The state has begun a lengthy study of the issue.

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  • How Montana ag producers are building topsoil, drought resilience and profits

    July 06, 2021 |

    Montana Free Press |

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    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Montana

    Faced with the effects of climate change, in Montana, some farmers are turning towards organic or regenerative practices, a form of farming that includes thing like crop rotation, and using fewer pesticides. It’s a switch from conventional farming, which usually involves mono crops, heavy use of pesticides, and genetically modifies seeds, producing thehighestt yield. A technique that has led to soil erosion. Nationally, farmers are turning towards regenerative farming which builds the topsoil, meaning it is better for the land and the environment.

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  • Millions of People With Felonies Can Now Vote. Most Don't Know It.

    June 23, 2021 |

    The Marshall Project |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Nevada

    Thirteen states restored the right to vote to millions of formerly incarcerated people in the years leading up to the 2020 elections. An analysis of four of them—Nevada, Kentucky, Iowa, and New Jersey—shows the new rights were rarely exercised, ranging from 4% to 23% of newly eligible voters actually registering. None of the four states required prison, parole, or elections officials to notify eligible voters. Those and other information gaps and barriers teach instructive lessons as the 2022 elections approach.

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  • ‘It liberated me': The fight for Calgary's supervised drug-use site

    June 22, 2021 |

    The Sprawl |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: Canada, Calgary, Alberta

    In less than three and a half years, Safeworks, the only supervised drug-use site in Calgary, saved thousands of people from opioid-overdose deaths and helped users for whom abstinence-based treatment didn't work. The government of Alberta deemed the site a scene of "chaos" and ordered it closed once two new sites open. Safeworks supporters oppose the disruption in harm-reduction work that move would bring, considering how critical personal relationships built on trust are to this kind of service.

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  • College-in-prison programs have many benefits, but barriers to access abound

    June 21, 2021 |

    Prism |

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    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Middletown, Connecticut

    College-in-prison programs like Wesleyan University's Center for Prison Education have a track record for improving incarcerated students' lives, lowering crime, and making prisons safer. But a number of factors compromise the number and effectiveness of such programs. Many fewer programs exist since incarcerated students were denied Pell Grants beginning in the 1990s. A 2015 program aimed at making financial aid more accessible poses a number of logistical hurdles. Prisons themselves can be inhospitable environments for attending classes and independent studies.

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  • Barred From Her Own Home: How a Tool for Fighting Domestic Abuse Fails

    June 17, 2021 |

    The New York Times |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, New York, New York

    Stay-away orders are a tool New York judges can use to protect victims from their abusers even before accusations get scrutinized in court. They grew out of a reform movement that urged police and prosecutors to take domestic violence more seriously. But they have become a form of summary justice, routinely issued upon the filing of a complaint without proper vetting. They have wrecked families and cost people their homes and jobs based on what turn out to be flimsy or false accusations. New York courts and legislators are considering proposals to fix the system.

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  • Why U.S. Presidents Can't Win The War On Drugs

    June 17, 2021 |

    CNBC |

    Broadcast TV News |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States

    Fifty years on, America's war on drugs has failed at its principal goals: to eradicate illicit drug use and sales, to repair communities damaged by the drug trade, and to prevent drug-related deaths. Despite massive amounts spent on law enforcement, which has created great social harms and fueled incarceration, drug use has rebounded to 40-year highs, drug overdose deaths are peaking, and supply of illegal drugs is abundant. Policy advocates say a combination of legalization and public-health approaches to the problems would accomplish more than the wasteful, ineffective "war" mentality used to date.

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  • Crisis counselors are being hailed as police alternatives. It's too heavy a burden, some say.

    June 16, 2021 |

    The Washington Post |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Montgomery County, Maryland

    Montgomery County's longtime crisis response center illustrates the pitfalls of embracing a policing alternative without proper resources or thinking through the implications. The racial-justice protests of 2020 inspired many more cities and counties to explore mobile crisis response teams instead of police, to minimize violence and get people needed help instead of incarceration. While Montgomery County's team often deescalates crises and can either provide care or refer people to needed services, it lacks the staff to respond effectively. And the system of mental health care is too thin for the need.

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  • The force that could redraw the peninsula of India

    June 15, 2021 |

    BBC |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: India

    In the South Indian coast, erosion is leading to disappearing beaches. A study found that this erosion was in part due to man-made structures like a harbor that was built in the late 80s, groynes, and seawalls. These structures were interfering with the natural movement of sand. To fix it, they needed a structure that could block waves but also allow sand movement, the solution? An artificial reef. It was installed and some beaches are already seeing the results.

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