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  • San Francisco's new bot will downgrade marijuana crimes

    June 01, 2018 |

    Apolitical |

    Text |

    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

    Writing laws to be machine-readable could have huge payoffs. San Francisco is designing a computer program to read through the city’s prosecution records and automatically downgrade applicable marijuana possession convictions from felonies to misdemeanors. Such a change became possible in 2014, but the downgrading process proved too expensive and complicated for most individuals to take on themselves. Software developers face hurdles that include needing to teach computers to read inconsistent language and paperwork formats.

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  • New Zealand explores machine-readable laws to transform government

    May 11, 2018 |

    Apolitical |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: New Zealand, Wellington

    Legislation is currently written in such a way that it often takes a lawyer to interpret how policies are supposed to work. What if laws were written to be machine-readable instead? A team in New Zealand rewrote two laws as software code in a pilot program that showed how this style of writing could prove invaluable for increasing transparency and accountability across government.

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  • Police in Illinois Are Helping Substance Abusers Get Into Rehab Instead of Arresting Them

    April 18, 2018 |

    Juvenile Justice Information Exchange |

    Text |

    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: United States, Dixon, Illinois

    Dixon is the second police department in the United States to stop jailing drug addicts and start helping them check into rehab centers instead. “We’re changing the way law enforcement views addiction — to see it as a disease, not a crime,” says Police Detective Jeff Ragan. At least 267 people have gone through the Safe Passage program so far, some multiple times, but the program seems to be working. Residential burglaries, retail thefts, and drug arrests have dropped.

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  • San Francisco has the only women's department in the US — and it shows

    April 17, 2018 |

    Apolitical |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

    San Francisco’s Department on the Status of Women has pushed gender sensitivity in policymaking since 1975. As a result, the city leads the nation in paid parental leave, lactation support, and rights to flexible work arrangements.

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  • Do wage theft laws in Ohio harm or help workers?

    April 15, 2018 |

    Cleveland.com (The Plain Dealer) |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Cleveland, Ohio

    Laws against wage theft can be effective if enforced. The probability of violations decreased in Ohio during a 13-month period of full enforcement, but rose again after the enforcement policy changed.

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  • When Iraqi women face discrimination, her legal clinic can help

    March 23, 2018 |

    The Christian Science Monitor |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Iraq, Baghdad

    The Shahrazad Center in Baghdad offers workshops and free legal services to women experiencing domestic abuse, violence, threats and gender-based discrimination. Lawyer Rajaa Abd Ali says, “Here we teach women their rights, because education is the most powerful weapon for them.”

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  • Europe's beauty spots plot escape from the too-many-tourists trap

    March 07, 2018 |

    The Guardian |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Germany, Berlin

    At the world’s most popular sites, innovations in tourism management can benefit both visitors and residents. Marketing efforts in Iceland are successfully distributing tourists all over the country throughout the year, and locals in Miami Beach, Florida, receive SMS alerts about traffic congestion so they can plan ahead. These are just two examples of the many initiatives currently in progress.

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  • Why Swedish gangs use hand grenades (and what the country is doing about it)

    February 28, 2018 |

    The Local |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: Sweden

    Sweden confiscated thousands of explosive items within months of changing customs laws. The move, along with an amnesty program, are efforts to combat a seeming rise in grenade use by criminal gangs.

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  • Chicago will give hotel workers panic buttons to prevent sexual assault

    January 22, 2018 |

    Apolitical |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

    A new ordinance in Chicago requires hotels to give panic buttons to employees working in rooms alone. 58 percent of the city’s hotel workers report having experienced flashing, groping, and other forms of sexual harassment from guests. 96 percent say a panic button would make them feel safer. The ordinance also gives workers the right to stop working and leave the area without facing retaliation from their employer.

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  • 'Making war is easier than making peace': in conversation with Colombia's President Santos

    November 08, 2017 |

    The Guardian |

    Podcast |

    5-15 Minutes

    Response Location: Colombia

    The rights of victims are at the center of Colombia’s peace agreement. These rights include those to reparations, justice, non-repetition, and truth. This choice - as well as investment in education, health, infrastructure, and technology - is helping the country recover from decades of armed conflict.

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