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

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  • The long quest to stop a ‘Sugar Daddy' judge

    Arkansas’ judicial oversight agency has the staffing and persistence to hold bad judges accountable in ways that counter a nationwide pattern of weak enforcement and judicial impunity. The Arkansas Judicial Discipline & Disability Commission has a staff that’s almost three times as large as the national per-judge average and it publicly disciplines judges more than twice the national rate. It is one of the few such agencies that will investigate anonymous complaints, frequently a barrier to starting judicial misconduct probes.

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  • Coronavirus concerns revive labor organizing

    Employees at 7 Yakima Valley fruit packing plants, who are predominately Latinx, went on strike to protest inadequate protection and pay during the Covid-19 pandemic. Agricultural workers accounted for nearly one-fifth of the county’s positive cases. The worker initiated strikes and picket lines were supported by community members, union representatives, and non-profit legal centers. Workers returned to work after gaining concessions on better pay, safety protections, and the formation of worker advocacy committees. The state also issued new workplace safety standards for agricultural workers after protests.

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  • How Bangor drug court participants are getting help staying sober during the pandemic

    Bangor drug court in Maine has turned to the use of Zoom to keep in contact with program participants during the Covid-19 pandemic. Although meeting via video call can disguise some physical symptoms of drug use, this new process has so far seen success with all participants still enrolled and one even graduating from the program.

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  • Youth Are Flipping an Abandoned North Carolina Prison into a Sustainable Farm

    A former North Carolina prison has been reclaimed by the nonprofit Growing Change to teach sustainable farming to youth who otherwise might be doomed to their own prison terms without an effective intervention. The 9-year-old program, while small, is meant to serve as a model for reusing many other shuttered prisons as the nation’s incarceration numbers fall. Boasting positive effects on recidivism, the program’s focus is the racially diverse youth of the rural, impoverished eastern part of the state – the same people who disproportionately get imprisoned.

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  • With Abuse Victims Trapped at Home, Detroit Moves Restraining Order System Online

    Domestic abuse risks are on the rise, at a time of social isolation, economic disruption, and gun-buying, and so Wayne County, Michigan, court officials responded to the closing of their courthouses by allowing people to seek orders of protection online. A replacement for an onerous, face-to-face process, the new e-filing system processed fewer applications in its first month than before the pandemic crisis, but at least preserved a steady flow of cases that enable victims to block their abusers from possessing guns. Victim advocates hope the new system expands access even after the courthouses reopen.

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  • Arrests decrease under diversion program

    Alamosa, Colorado has lowered its jail population and the number of felony cases and arrests, and has broken the cycle of repeat offending, by diverting people with drug problems from prosecution into treatment. The local version of a national program called Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) was modeled on one in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which worked best when people in the program maintained a close relationship with their case workers. One of many problems those relationships solved: the high number of missed court dates, which result in arrest warrants.

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  • Helping Tenants and Landlords Resolve Issues — Before Going to Court

    The city of Philadelphia piloted a mediation program that showed how landlord-tenant disputes could be resolved short of an eviction lawsuit. Though the program only lasted two months and heard just a handful of cases, it demonstrated that landlords will participate voluntarily in a system that can equalize a power imbalance and resolve disputes in ways that prove less damaging to both parties. Demand for the mediation program could ramp up if an expected wave of evictions hits because of the pandemic's effects on the economy.

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  • Solutions to restore inmates' mental health and get them to trial

    In Texas, legislators and advocates are working to address mental health concerns for individuals entering or in the criminal justice system. For those already in jail, telepsychiatry is being offered to help rehabilitate inmates. For those just entering the system, a mental health court in Travis County has been developed to connect people with needed mental health services so that they can stand trial and even have their cases dismissed.

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  • Outpatient Competency Restoration

    In Texas’ Travis County, a mental health court is helping divert people out of the criminal justice system and into treatment and outpatient programs. The collaborative process gives individuals the opportunity for rehabilitation, and upon completion, the chance to have their case dismissed. This approach has seen a 42% success rate, showing a decrease in recidivism and increased connection to treatment facilities.

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  • America's Other Epidemic: A new approach to fighting the opioid crisis as it quietly rages on

    To close a gap in drug treatment that often denies help to people who end up jailed, a hospital employee schooled in the strong evidence of effectiveness of medication-assisted treatment cobbled together a program using Medicaid funding and the cooperation of the courts and medical community. The program is rare in rural America. Though still small, the Courts Addiction & Drug Services program ended its first year with no overdoses, and only a handful of relapses, among its dozens of participants. In a region where MAT drugs are nearly impossible to get, the program is now working to expand its services.

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