Revolving door in Montana corrections still turning, despite reforms

Phoebe Tollefson

January 04, 2021 |

Helena Independent Record |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Montana

A set of criminal justice reforms enacted in Montana in 2017 that were meant to reduce incarceration and reinvest some of the savings in crime prevention programs has had little effect on the prison population. The state's "justice reinvestment" program, using a model adopted in 30 other states, has failed to put plans into action, partly for a lack of public spending on programs for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people. As a result, the prison population is tracking where it would have been had nothing been done, and recidivism remains high.

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The ex-monk and the Thai sex mafia: helping victims find another way

Edward Girardet

January 04, 2021 |

Global Geneva Magazine |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Thailand

Wat Arun Rajvaram Community Learning Centre, founded on Buddhist precepts by a former monk, has trained more than 250 Thai young women for work as nurse assistants, jobs aimed at keeping them out of the illicit sex trade, forced labor, and arranged marriages. High school graduates, ages 16 to 19, are selected in groups of 15-20 per year, mostly on scholarships paid by donors. They typically come from rural towns where poor families often sell their daughters to traffickers. Nearly all graduate and are guaranteed jobs at hospitals and health centers in Bangkok or elsewhere in Thailand.

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Five Days Without Cops: Could Brooklyn Policing Experiment be a ‘Model for the Future'?

Yoav Gonen Eileen Grench

January 03, 2021 |

The City |

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Response Location: United States, New York, New York

For 50 hours over five days, police and community members collaborated on the Brownsville Safety Alliance pilot project, which kept police officers away from a longtime crime hotspot so that community members could provide for police-free public safety. During the experiment, no one in the neighborhood called 911 to report a serious crime. Criminologists caution that the test does not prove that police can step away permanently. But residents say that after longstanding friction over policing, they and the police struck a new tone of cooperation in community-led crime prevention that they hope can continue.

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In Brattleboro, a new kind of police patrol pushes treatment, not jail

Paul Cuno-Booth

January 02, 2021 |

Sentinel Source (The Keene Sentinel) |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Brattleboro, Vermont

Police officers paired with substance abuse counselors go onto Brattleboro's streets to offer no-strings-attached help to people using drugs. Without using arrests or other coercion, the Project CARE "recovery coaches" have connected dozens of people to rehab and other needed services since the program began in July 2018. Modeled on bigger, successful programs in Gloucester and Brockton, Massachusetts, CARE's effect on overdoses is unknown and the involvement of police is seen by some as a drawback. But the outreach has let the community know help is available for the asking – even from cops.

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الابتزاز الجنسي في سوريا .. الضحايا يدعمن بعضهن

إيجاب نوار المير علي

December 31, 2020 |

Deutsche Welle (DW) |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Syria

تقدم مجموعات فيسبوك سوريّة مستقلة الدعم القانوني والنفسي لضحايا الابتزاز الجنسي الذي تزايد بسبب الوباء والصراع طويل الأمد. تبلّغ هذه الفرق عن حسابات المبتزّين، كما تتخذ إجراءات قانونية كي يتراجع الجناة، وتقدم الدعم النفسي والمعنوي للنساء اللاتي يخشين ردود فعل الأهل.

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Prosecutors try to keep people out of pandemic-clogged courts through diversion programs

Rebecca Rivas

December 30, 2020 |

Missouri Independent |

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Response Location: United States, St. Louis, Missouri

Missouri legislators passed a law in 2019 clarifying that prosecutors can divert criminal cases to social services and healthcare agencies even before charges are filed. Small experiments that had been taking place in recent years suddenly grew in St. Louis County to help the courts focus only on serious cases during pandemic shutdowns. Now those innovations are spreading, as more drug cases and other low-level cases avoid the courts altogether. This eases the burden also on people, who in traditional drug courts still get arrested and face employment barriers even if their cases eventually get dropped.

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An Alternative to Police That Police Can Get Behind

Rowan Moore Gerety

December 28, 2020 |

The Atlantic |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Eugene, Oregon

A street-level view of White Bird Clinic's CAHOOTS program in Eugene explains its appeal as a cost-saving, humane alternative to sending the police to 911 calls concerning mostly minor problems involving homelessness, mental illness, and substance abuse. From the decades-old program's countercultural beginnings to today's 24/7 presence, the private agency's publicly funded teams of a medic and crisis worker have helped keep problems from escalating into violence and jail time. But a number of factors call into question how scalable this approach would be in larger, more diverse cities.

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City program sends personal message about gun violence

Elise Kaplan

December 27, 2020 |

Albuquerque Journal |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Albuquerque police make house calls to deliver a carrot-and-stick message to people at high risk of getting shot or shooting others. The Violence Intervention Program's "custom notifications" target people based on their criminal record or victimization in gun violence. The message: accept the offered services that can redirect your life, or suffer the consequences, of arrest or getting shot. Of 74 people notified and helped from March through mid-December 2020, none were known to have committed a new crime. Shootings in the city are up, but more research is needed to pinpoint the program's actual effects.

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After Abusive Ex Left Her for Dead with Stabbing, a Trauma Center Helped Ohio Woman Reclaim Her Life

Jeff Truesdell

December 24, 2020 |

People |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Cleveland, Ohio

A network of trauma recovery centers nationwide helps victims of violence and survivors of murder victims by focusing on their emotional, medical, and financial needs first. What started as a single healing center run by San Francisco's health department in 2001 went statewide in California in 2013 and since then has expanded to 35 centers in multiple states, including at Cleveland's Circle Health Services. The concept, promoted by California-based Alliance for Safety and Justice, stands in contrast with policies that respond primarily to victimization with punishment of those who committed crimes.

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Local initiative helps folks with cannabis-related charges find jobs—while pushing to decriminalize pot

Courtney Duchene

December 22, 2020 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

When Pennsylvania's largest medical-marijuana dispensary, TerraVida Holistic Centers, struggled to find enough employees, given the state's ban on the industry's employment of people with marijuana convictions, TerraVida joined with the Urban League of Philadelphia to expand aid to the formerly incarcerated. Through Urban League's Out4Good program, the partnership helps people expunge their drug convictions. It also counsels and financially helps groups of 10 trainees at a time, dozens of whom have started careers and stayed out of trouble. The group also seeks a longer-term fix: marijuana legalization.

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