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A Year of Pushback to Save Social Innovation

Tina Rosenberg

January 09, 2018 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

When the federal government fails to stimulate social change, local areas step up. Tennessee is giving more structure and funding to community college education, and it’s drastically increasing graduation rates. Alaska and other states are getting rid of money bail. All around the country, citizen activists are becoming advocates and attempting to make our political system accessible to everyone. Despite partisan politics in Washington, D.C., the country is nonetheless experiencing social progress.

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What Can New York Learn from New Jersey's Bail Reform?

Beth Fertig

January 04, 2018 |

WNYC |

Radio |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, New Jersey

In 2017, New Jersey eliminated the cash bail system – meaning that potential offenders awaiting court could not be held in jail for money. Instead, judges use an algorithm that considers the individual’s criminal history, flight risk, and threat level to the community. As New York considers doing the same, it looks the impact it has made in New Jersey.

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How Texas' Harris County went from ‘capital of capital punishment' to zero executions

Henry Gass

December 27, 2017 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Houston, Texas

In 2017, Harris County, TX saw a year where no one was sentenced to death and no one was executed. The county, nicknamed as the capital of capital punishment, is seeing a shift in the support of the death penalty. While studies haven’t shown a definitive answer, it has been linked to new, reform-focused DAs, the introduction of life sentences without parole, and Supreme Court decisions that likely diminished the use of capital punishment.

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Bernalillo County partners with South Valley community programs to end racial and ethnic disparities in juvenile justice

Elizabeth M. Miller

December 26, 2017 |

New Mexico In Depth |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Albuquerque, New Mexico

A program in Albuquerque, New Mexico that successfully diverted young offenders from the criminal justice system still grappled with kids running away while under house arrest. This defeats the purpose of diversion since they can end up in jail, so county officials found another option for kids who might have chaotic home lives. They partnered with a community organization where kids can go if they need a safe space without violating their probation orders and learn skills like gardening and screen printing.

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Rethinking Rikers

Michael Schwirtz Neeti Upadhye Michael Kirby Smith Kaitlyn Mullin

December 16, 2017 |

The New York Times |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

In the ongoing challenge to reform New York’s Rikers Island prison complex, many have turned to Chicago’s Cook County jail as a model. While Rikers has made some reforms – including group therapy for those with mental health concerns and doing away with solitary confinement for inmates under 22 – there is more that they can do to follow in Chicago's footsteps. There, they have introduced the use of real-time data collection to map violence, made mental health care a key component of their services, and trained guards in verbal de-escalation.

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Why New York City Created Its Own Fund to Bail People Out of Jail

Teresa Mathew

December 01, 2017 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Bail reform is a difficult process largely out of the hands of municipalities. Charitable bail funds allow individuals who can't afford bail to be free until their trial, in the hopes of changing the bail system from the inside.

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Native American peacemaking courts offer a model for reform

Rebecca Clarren

November 30, 2017 |

InvestigateWest |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Yurok Reservation, United States, Klamath, California

A growing number of tribal judges nationwide - including Judge Abby Abinanti of the Yurok Tribal Court - are using a framework of traditional culture and an approach known as "restorative justice" to address both the need for rehabilitation of offenders and resolution for people often failed by the dominant criminal justice system.

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Young Perps: The Costs of Sensationalizing Youth Crime

Ko Bragg

November 29, 2017 |

Jackson Free Press |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Jackson, Mississippi

Media and public scrutiny as well as the experience of being detained can worsen the outlook for juvenile offenders. Increasing court involvement, keeping the media at bay, and having a juvenile facility can help the circumstances.

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Participatory Defense

Thomas Fox Parry

November 29, 2017 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

While there are many factors that have contributed to the sky high incarceration rates in the United States which have left prisons bursting at the seams, one of the causes remains the simple fact that the resources of a private prosecutor vastly outweigh those of publicly-funded defense attorneys.

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What Happens When a School Stops Arresting Kids for Throwing Skittles

Aviva Shen

November 27, 2017 |

The Atlantic |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana

After a school in Jefferson Parish gained national notoriety for having an 8th grader sent to juvenile jail for six days for tossing Skittles on a school bus, the area's schools reformed school discipline by adopting a system of mediation and community conflict resolution based on restorative justice principles. In the first year, one middle school's suspensions have dropped by more than half. Racial disparities in school suspensions or arrests have led many other schools to follow a similar path. Success seems to depend on making restorative justice central to the mission, not just a disciplinary add-on.

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