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Can't Pay Your Rent? ‘Lawtech' Is Here to Help.

Kriston Capps

September 18, 2020 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

Soon after the federal government imposed a second moratorium on evictions, SixFifty, a tech firm, released Hello Landlord, a mobile app for tenants to generate a legally compliant form letter invoking the law with their landlords to block a threatened eviction. In the first nine days after its release, the app was used by more than 200 people. The free service is an example of what's called lawtech: technology giving access to legal information to individuals and small businesses. Hello Landlord asks 19 questions that serve to automate what a tenant's lawyer might do – if only the tenant could afford one.

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Harris County's bail reforms let more people out of jail before trial without raising risk of reoffending

Jolie McCullough

September 03, 2020 |

The Texas Tribune |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Houston, Texas

Releasing tens of thousands more misdemeanor defendants from jail without requiring cash bail had no measurable effect on crime rates in Texas' most populous county. To settle a lawsuit that claimed cash bail unconstitutionally discriminated against people on the basis of wealth, Harris County established a set of reforms abolishing cash bail in most misdemeanor cases. Court-appointed researchers monitoring compliance with the settlement found re-offending rates remained stable while racial disparities in who gets released improved. Not tested yet was compliance with court appointments.

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How Essential Food Workers Are Fighting Back

Nadra Nittle

July 31, 2020 |

Civil Eats |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Nevada

Meatpacking workers protested Covid-19 safety concerns and a coalition of advocacy groups filed a civil rights complaint with the government accusing Tyson and JBS USA of racial discrimination during the pandemic because the safety issues disproportionately impact line workers, who are largely people of color. Nevada’s Culinary Union also sued Las Vegas Strip casinos for unsafe working conditions. Two casinos have been dropped from the suit after deciding to negotiate privately with the union and Tyson has since instituted some safety measures, but broader impacts of the complaints remain to be seen.

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Law Firms Step Up To Help Small Businesses Navigate COVID-19 Crisis

Amanda Peacher

July 15, 2020 |

Boise State Public Radio (KBSX) |

Radio |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Idaho

Lawyers are providing free legal consultations to business owners and health care workers whose lives and livelihoods have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Pro bono legal aid in Idaho is helping businesses navigate problems with vendor contracts, loan assistance programs and HR issues. In New York, Lawyers for Good Government is a nonprofit providing wills for health care workers on the front lines of COVID-19. The legal consultations have proved effective 9 out of 10 times but the volunteer lawyers are unable to meet the high demand for legal assistance.

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'We're Not Optional': Aid Organizations at the Border Adapt to the Pandemic

Megan Janetsky

May 28, 2020 |

Sojourners |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Mexico, Tijuana

To continue serving tens of thousands of refugees stuck at the U.S.-Mexico border during the pandemic, shelters have collaborated on an improvised system to deliver food aid, emergency hotel accommodations, and legal aid via videoconferencing. The border buildup of recent months, a product of the “Remain in Mexico” asylum policy, became a far more complicated humanitarian mission thanks to COVID-19. After completely shutting down, some shelters are cautiously reopening with new protocols to serve a more socially-distanced clientele.

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UnCommon Law Helps Inmates Serving Life Sentences Earn Back Their Freedom

Jennie Butler

April 26, 2020 |

NowThis News |

Video |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, California

The California law firm UnCommon Law is helping people in prison make parole through group counseling and training. The firm facilitates conversations around insight, helping participants understand and explain their own personal journey and reckon with the impact of their actions, so that they can convey this to their parole board. Since 2006, UnCommon law has helped 248 men and women receive parole, a 60% success rate.

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The translators giving indigenous migrants a voice

Megan Janetsky Victoria Stunt

April 20, 2020 |

BBC |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Guatemala

The group, Promoters of Migrant Liberation, provides translation of indigenous Guatemalan, Maya, Mexican, and Afro-Caribbean languages for migrants in US detention centers. They help translate right from detention, throughout case preparation, and as migrants exit detention centers. The group is made up of only women translating for women migrants, but as detention centers see more migrants as a result of zero-tolerance policies, they’re going to expand to help children and men.

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5 billion people around the world lack basic access to justice. These organizations are out to change that.

Alessandra Bergamin

January 09, 2020 |

Ensia |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Peru, Pisco

Microjustice4All, an international legal empowerment organization, provides people in vulnerable communities with legal aid, especially after environmental crises. Another global organization, Namati, trains local paralegals so that they may help their communities in legal issues. This sort of legal empowerment has taken hold on a global scale, with the overarching goal of building power through law and environmental justice – especially as climate change affects the most marginalized populations.

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How St. Louis Took a Proactive Approach to E-Scooter Regulation

Cinnamon Janzer

November 14, 2019 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, St. Louis, Missouri

A failed bikeshare program left St. Louis prepared for the onlsaught of e-scooters that has been sweeping the nation and left the city ahead of the curve with scooter regulation. The city installed a permit system that easily transferred from the bikeshare program structure - which never launched due to lack of grant money - to scooter usage. The permit system allows any changes to regulations to go through administration, rather than a lengthy legislative process, and ensures scooters are available all over the city rather than just in the wealthier, more developed pockets.

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Finding Home: When Eviction Looms, Landlords Have Lawyers. Now More Tenants Do, Too.

Mary Newsom

September 30, 2019 |

WFAE |

Radio |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Charlotte, North Carolina

In North Carolina’s Mecklenburg County, they’ve allocated funding for tenants to have access to free legal aid, provided by Legal Aid of North Carolina, in their eviction cases. With eviction often being the start of a downward spiral, having legal representation can help people prevent or delay their evictions. Beyond funding some legal aid, the courthouse also provides residents with information about evictions and their specialty eviction court.

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