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

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  • Keeping People Out of Jail Keeps People Out of Jail

    July 12, 2021 |

    Reasons to be Cheerful |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Boston, Massachusetts

    When prosecutors in Boston and Baltimore stopped prosecuting certain non-violent, minor offenses, crime of all sorts, from minor to violent, went down. Getting prosecuted and jailed can in itself increase the probability that people will get in more trouble. When their mistakes are not compounded by an arrest record that limits their job and housing prospects, they are apt to stay out of trouble. The prosecutors and research found that simply excluding cases of non-violent, minor drug possession, disorderly conduct, shoplifting from the system does not encourage more crime; probably the opposite.

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  • Some youth avoid detention and rehabilitate at Central Oregon ranch

    July 09, 2021 |

    Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) |

    Radio Talk Show |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Bend, Oregon

    Youth in Oregon who get court-ordered rehabilitation as an alternative to youth detention might end up at the J Bar J Ranch, which despite its name is less a working ranch than a boarding school with individual counseling aimed at helping troubled young people change themselves. Success takes many forms – high school diplomas, reconnecting with family, setting and meeting personal goals – but first the youth must earn a place at the ranch, which can only take 28 at a time.

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  • The ‘prison' with no fence: Go inside a Charlotte women's center changing lives for good

    July 08, 2021 |

    The Charlotte Observer |

    Multi-Media |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Charlotte, North Carolina

    Charlotte's Center for Women uses a rehabilitative approach to incarceration, letting up to 30 women at a time live in a group home that provides both therapy and connections to employment. Women with one to three years left on their sentences can apply for a spot in the residential work-release program. They and their families – most are mothers – get the counseling they need to adjust to a better life once the residents get released. The women say the small freedoms they are granted in the home, plus the respect and help they get, do for them what prison never could in changing lives.

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  • Incarceration after COVID: how the pandemic could permanently change jails and prisons

    July 07, 2021 |

    Wausau Pilot and Review |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Wisconsin

    Across Wisconsin, the pandemic pushed prisons and jails to work quickly to lower their numbers of prisoners, in some cases accelerating reforms that had been planned apart from virus containment. Incarceration hit a 20-year low in December 2020 through a variety of mechanisms, including issuing citations instead of arresting; limiting arrests for parole violations or on old warrants; and using electronic monitoring. Some jails saw fewer coronavirus infections, as well as population numbers averaging much lower than before. But a backlogged court system has reversed some of the gains.

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  • Criminal justice changes in Virginia prompt debate over how prosecutors are funded by the state

    July 06, 2021 |

    The Washington Post |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Fairfax, Virginia

    Fairfax County, Virginia, boasts the state's most ambitious program to divert cases from criminal prosecution to treatment courts, including for drug offenses and involving veterans. But all of the work by prosecutors to deliver a more therapeutic form of justice ends up penalizing the county under the state's formula for funding of prosecutor offices, which rewards felony convictions. Because the true workload isn't reflected in the funding, Fairfax has faced staffing shortage, leading to conflicts with the police over inaction on certain cases. The state has begun a lengthy study of the issue.

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  • Back to Life

    June 30, 2021 |

    Transitions Online |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: Belarus, Gomel

    People Plus has begun to fill a vacuum left by the Belarus prison system's lack of reentry services aimed at giving people a better chance to succeed after prison. The NGO provides its "resocialization" counseling for incarcerated people in the six months before their release. In its first six months, the program counseled more than 1,000 people, helping prepare them to find housing and jobs and avoid substance abuse, which in many cases proved successful. Its peer counselors stay in contact with clients after prison through meetings and online forums.

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  • The career where it helps to have a criminal past

    June 29, 2021 |

    BBC |

    Podcast |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

    All people between the ages of 14 and 21 in Washington, D.C., who are placed on probation for criminal convictions get assigned a probation officer, social worker, and a "credible messenger" – a mentor, usually with his or her own criminal past, who is paid by the city Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services to help ensure a successful probationary period. The cost is far lower than youth detention and is associated with a much lower rate of re-offending. The work is so intense that the highly trained messengers often need their own counseling to cope with the stress of turning lives around.

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  • Millions of People With Felonies Can Now Vote. Most Don't Know It.

    June 23, 2021 |

    The Marshall Project |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Nevada

    Thirteen states restored the right to vote to millions of formerly incarcerated people in the years leading up to the 2020 elections. An analysis of four of them—Nevada, Kentucky, Iowa, and New Jersey—shows the new rights were rarely exercised, ranging from 4% to 23% of newly eligible voters actually registering. None of the four states required prison, parole, or elections officials to notify eligible voters. Those and other information gaps and barriers teach instructive lessons as the 2022 elections approach.

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  • The Everglades Experiment: Florida's First 'Incentivized' Prison Redefines Punishment

    June 21, 2021 |

    The Crime Report |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Miami, Florida

    Two years into an experiment in "incentivized prison" management, Florida's Everglades Correctional Institution is considered the state's safest prison. An incarcerated journalist reporting from inside writes that by rewarding good behavior instead of only punishing bad behavior, the prison has expanded the classes it offers incarcerated men who can participate if they have a trouble-free record for four years. Separating men from the general population based on their desire to work toward their own rehabilitation and success once they leave prison has reduced stress and violence in the prison.

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  • Clearing a Path from Prison to the Bar Exam

    June 21, 2021 |

    Reasons to be Cheerful |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, New York, New York

    The Formerly Incarcerated Law Students Advocacy Association at City University of New York's law school mentors people whose criminal records serve as a barrier to pursuing a law career. FILSAA is part of a movement to nurture law-practice dreams and make them a reality by knocking down those barriers, including restrictive use of states' "character and fitness" requirements to become licensed to practice. Before that step, mentors can help people prepare for the LSAT and succeed in law school. Advocates say that lawyers with lived experience can serve clients better by earning their trust more readily.

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