Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • The Right to Pre-Trial Justice for All?

    The idea that someone should not languish in jail because they cannot afford bail is gaining more support around the country, including Mississippi thanks to a lawsuit challenging lengthy detentions of two men. In the lawsuit's wake the state's high court released rules of criminal procedure that grant a minimum bail bond if an initial hearing is delayed more than 48 hours. It also guarantees a right to legal representation early on in the legal process, a key factor in how long someone is in jail.

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  • Fight or Flight

    As immigration policy fluctuates under the current administration and the future of thousands of undocumented migrants remains volatile, uncertain, and complex, many find themselves in a heightened state of stress and fear. But activists in Colorado are attempting to take positive steps and support the immigrant community, specifically through the creation of the Colorado Rapid Response Network and 24-hour hotline. The network helps ensure accurate information about ICE activity is shared and that trained volunteers are available to assist with legal, human, or civil rights concerns.

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  • Hospitals Are Partnering With Lawyers To Treat Patients' Legal Needs

    Hospitals in Omaha are creating “medical-legal partnerships” for their patients: teams of doctors, social workers and lawyers that work collaboratively with patients to help them navigate challenges like fighting to get Medicaid coverage for a cat scan, or getting a security deposit back and moving out of an apartment that’s making them sicker.

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  • How Prisoners' Family Members Can Assist Overworked Public Defenders

    Public defenders' caseloads are too large for them to be able to provide the details that a loved one of an offender can provide in court. Participatory Defense programs train loved ones of the offender to be able to provide a testimony, often resulting in less severe sentences.

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  • A Haven From Trauma's Cruel Grip

    Victims of trauma are at risk for substance abuse, depression, or other difficulties. Trauma Recovery Centers are becoming increasingly prevalent for their ability to provide a wide range of services.

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  • How a Small Town Is Standing Up to Fracking

    While the US economy gluttonously enjoys the cheap fuel prices afforded by fracking, the consequences of the practice on the environment and communities like Grant Township in Pennsylvania reveal the ugly underbelly of the oil and gas industry and the broken regulatory infrastructure of state and federal government. But Grant wasn't willing to roll over and just let their woodlands and water sources be polluted, so they worked together and took a creative defense against the installation of a toxic injection well in their town: by granting the trees, animals, and streams rights to protection and battling it out in court. Their efforts may provide hope and a model for other communities at risk of being taken advantage of.

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  • Eviction prevention efforts in Baltimore lag

    Resources to prevent evictions in Baltimore continue to decline, even while other cities are allotting more resources to keeping people in their homes. This article explores the many problems facing Baltimore tenants trying to avoid eviction and juxtaposes those examples with those of other cities such as New York, which is actually expanding funding for attorneys to represent tenants because avoiding evictions saves money. Many organizations in Baltimore say people often need help just once to avert a crisis, but the funds available to help continue to dwindle.

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  • Leveling the playing field in rent court

    This is an opinion piece by the paper's staff based on a large series of investigative stories about evictions and substandard housing in Baltimore. It critiques a system that was designed to protect tenants, where they can get a judge to set up an escrow account to collect rent while landlords make repairs, because it usually favors landlords over tenants. The column outlines specific fixes that would address this imbalance, including more code inspections, a more transparent process and laws that hold landlords accountable for substandard properties.

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  • Dismissed: Tenants lose, landlords win in Baltimore's rent court

    Baltimore is home to the nation’s first housing court. Established 70 years ago, the court was supposed to hold landlords accountable for code violations, such as failing to provide heat, remove lead paint, or respond to pest infestations. But today, even if city inspectors deem properties so endangering to health and safety that they are uninhabitable, judges routinely require tenants to pay withheld rent before cases are even heard.

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  • These Undocumented Teens are Silent No More

    Undocumented immigrant youth are turning to activism to find their voice. Across the nation, young undocumented high school students are finding support within activism groups and fighting for change. “I started to see that when you’re organizing and you get people together, it all works out perfectly. The effect is not negative, it’s positive. It’s bringing people up, giving them hope.”

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