Could a Citizens' Assembly Help Fix Your Democracy?

Joe Nerssessian

April 19, 2021 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: France

France is among a growing number of countries piloting "citizens assemblies," in which a randomly-selected sample of citizens is tasked with reviewing and recommending potential responses to a pressing societal issue. The country's assembly on climate change resulted in more than 100 proposals for curbing greenhouse gas emissions, but because they were nonbinding, only about 40 percent of the recommendations were forwarded to parliament.

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The Mexican women who kicked out the cartels

Monica Wise Robles Richard Sprenger Katie Lamborn Charlie Phillips

April 15, 2021 |

The Guardian |

Video |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: Mexico, Cherán, Michoacan

Ten years after the women of Cherán, an indigenous town in Michoacán, took up arms to lead an uprising against criminal cartels, their town is an "oasis" of low crime in a region otherwise beset with violence. The town declared itself autonomous and women now belong to the community police force that patrols the town and its surroundings. The cartels' illegal logging and extortion of businesses had corrupted local politicians and threatened a way of life. The town's men did nothing about it, so the women led the uprising that established order and kept the crime at bay.

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Once jailed, these women now hold courts accountable — with help from students, retirees and Fiona Apple

Katie Mettler

April 09, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Upper Marlboro, Maryland

Court Watch PG acts as a traditional court watch program for Maryland's Prince George's County, but with a twist: the two formerly incarcerated women running it turned adversity, in the form of the pandemic's shutdown of trials, into opportunity in the form of a nationwide crew of volunteers watching over Zoom. The watchers attend bond hearings, where people jailed on pending charges try to gain pretrial release. After observing thousands of hearings, Court Watch PG has exposed flaws in the system, which it pushes to reform through the more than 100 "accountability letters" it has sent justice officials.

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A California town was promised police reform – then police got involved

Aaron Miguel Cantú

March 12, 2021 |

The Guardian |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chico, California

A series of killings by the police sparked a community-led movement urging greater accountability and better training. The campaign bore fruit when the Chico mayor formed a committee to examine use of force policies. While police-reform advocates got appointed to the committee, the panel was dominated by the police and their political allies. Use of force policies never got examined. The city, in fact, ended up giving the police more resources and power. One policing critic concludes from this episode that professionalizing the police without scrutinizing their mission is bound to fail.

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43 Cases, No Convictions: Prosecuting the Police Falters in New York

Jonah Engel Bromwich Sarah Maslin Nir Benjamin Weiser

February 26, 2021 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York

In the more than five years since New York's governor ordered the attorney general to take charge of investigations and prosecutions when police kill unarmed people, only three police officers have been charged with crimes and none has been convicted. By taking control of such cases away from local prosecutors, officials hoped to instill greater trust in outcomes, because of the close ties local prosecutors have with local police. But the narrow scope of the rule establishing the special prosecutions unit, plus a host of other systemic and legal barriers, have meant that the outcomes have not changed.

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How new technology is helping to identify human rights abuses in the seafood industry

Virginia Gewin

February 25, 2021 |

The Counter |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Ghana

A growing number of governments, companies, and nonprofit organizations are working together with new technology and data to identify fishing vessels that are breaking laws and engaging in human rights violations. Using satellite imagery and tracking signals, for example, a philanthropic company and a nonprofit worked with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime to help the Ghanian navy arrest four vessels for illegal fishing practices. Technology by itself won’t stop forced labor and unregulated ships, but it can be helpful for cash-strapped governments looking to increase oversight of their fisheries.

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City governments in Kansas didn't launch the tech revolution. But they're embracing it

Stan Finger

February 23, 2021 |

The Kansas Leadership Center Journal (KLC Journal) |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Kansas

City websites have embraced technology, allowing residents to pay bills, request permits, and attend council or commission meetings online. The shift, which was accelerated by the pandemic, also made the websites crucial information hubs, informing residents about everything from tax increases to street closings. The shift increased efficiency, for example decreasing in-person visits to City Hall, reporting problems like potholes any time, and officials are fielding fewer calls because information is readily accessible. Conducting business online also led to greater transparency into city business.

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SC law enforcement agencies are supposed to report info on traffic stops, but most are not

Daniel J. Gross

January 28, 2021 |

The Greenville News |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, South Carolina

After the South Carolina legislature in 2005 began requiring police to enforce a seat-belt law with traffic stops, it imposed on all police departments a duty to track and report traffic-stop data on drivers' race. The law was meant as a way to prevent biased policing, through public disclosure of disparities. But only about one-third of the state's law enforcement agencies have consistently complied with the law, and some never have. Some blame ignorance of how the system should work. But another explanation is the state has done little or nothing to enforce the law.

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Queens Prosecutors Long Overlooked Misconduct. Can a New D.A. Do Better?

Troy Closson

January 27, 2021 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

On her first day as district attorney of Queens, Melinda Katz created a unit to review potential wrongful convictions that in its first year has exonerated four men and has 80 more cases under review. The Queens DA's office long resisted the national trend toward such "conviction integrity" units, based on its contention that all prosecutors should be open to fixing their mistakes. The office, however, showed little inclination to do so systematically. Katz put the new unit under the control of a former lawyer with the Innocence Project and showed a resolve to take claimed injustices more seriously.

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How 60 reporters from 25 media outlets in 18 countries are finishing the work of murdered journalists

Amaris Castillo

January 25, 2021 |

Poynter |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Mexico

The Cartel Project formed an international team of journalists that produced a five-part series on the murder of Mexican journalist Regina Martinez. The series also explored the subjects that Martinez's killers attempted to silence: particulars about drug trafficking and political corruption. The project was founded on the principle that journalism must be a cross-border collaboration to counter transnational crime syndicates. The series documented the role Mexicans play in the international drug business and in spying on and censoring journalists who seek to reveal these secrets.

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