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Can Prosecutors Be Taught to Avoid Jail Sentences?

Tina Rosenberg

August 25, 2020 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Columbus, Ohio

A nonprofit consulting firm, Prosecutor Impact, advances the cause of reducing incarceration and related reforms by helping reform-minded elected district attorneys confront one of the greatest obstacles to change: their own staff's opposition. In Columbus, a two-week curriculum educated front-line prosecutors about local services that can serve as problem-solving alternatives to punishment. It also taught them about poverty's challenges and engaged them in dialogue with prisoners, to make them more open to alternative approaches, which a local defense lawyer says was successful.

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Grounded by the pandemic, community groups are working to save Cleveland's Census

Lee Chilcote Conor Morris

August 25, 2020 |

The Land |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Cleveland, Ohio

With 75 micro-grants totaling $200,000, community organizations in Cleveland encourage people to complete the census in innovative ways. The Cleveland Caravan, or La Caravana, is a collaborative effort where trucks play looped messages in English and Spanish over a loud speaker with information on how to fill out the Census, vote, and stay safe during the pandemic. Asian Services in Action and Us Together, a refugee and immigrant services group, conduct outreach and have helped 1,190 and 700 people complete the Census respectively. Despite these efforts, the city's response rate is comparatively low.

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Many COVID Test-Seekers Lost in Translation at City-Run Testing Sites, Say Staff

Anastassia Gliadkovskaya

August 24, 2020 |

The City |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

In the run-up to the start of the 2020-21 school year, New York City Health + Hospitals ran COVID testing sites that each were supposed to provide telephone links to language interpreters in more than 200 languages. More than 40% of all NYC school students live in homes where English is not the primary language. In many cases, the test site staffs could not make use of the translation service, either because the phones were inaccessible or the service took too long to gain access to.

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Black Artists Find Ways to Make Their Voices Heard in Portland

Zachary Small

August 23, 2020 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

A burst of creativity is helping Portland confront its racist histories. From murals appearing on boarded-up buildings, protest art on exhibit at art centers, and artists gathering downtown to display their work depicting clashes between protestors and federal troops, new opportunities have been created for the city's Black artists. Community groups are also connecting artists with affordable housing resources and memorializing displaced Black communities using murals, photography, and oral histories. While a good start, more work is needed to bring about structural changes.

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How Teenage Activists Are Talking to Family About Racial Injustice

Christina Morales

August 22, 2020 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Young people are using social media as an effective way to engage in conversations with their families about racism, police violence, and Black Lives Matters protests. Many share their conversations on social media and find support from other young people struggling with talking about racial justice with family members. Social media is also being used to elevate and circulate images and videos of violence, which some point to as powerful ways to transform the attitudes and beliefs. On the other hand, some young people’s posts exacerbate tensions with family members.

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Why did 77 Ohio prisoners die of COVID-19, but just 10 in Pennsylvania?

Brie Zeltner Cid Standifer

August 21, 2020 |

Eye On Ohio |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania prisons' relatively uncrowded conditions and approach to releasing people early when the pandemic hit have limited deaths in its prisons, making people incarcerated in Pennsylvania less than half as likely to die of COVID-19 as free Pennsylvanians. In neighboring Ohio, where COVID cases appeared simultaneously, the prison death rate has been nearly seven times higher than Pennsylvania's. Ohio's prisons are far more crowded, they rely much more on dorm-style housing, and their early-release rules were much more restrictive.

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Minnesota Freedom Fund Bails Out Those Who Can't Afford It

Bonita Gooch Jazzlyn Johnson

August 20, 2020 |

The Community Voice |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Minnesota Freedom Fund spent its first four years as a modestly funded nonprofit that used donations to bail people out of jail, as a means of countering a cash bail system that critics see as unfair to people living in poverty and people of color. From 2016 to early 2020, it had a budget of $100,000 per year and bailed out 563 people. Protests against Minneapolis police misconduct produced a windfall of $30 million in donations. The fund has excess funds, beyond what's needed to bail out protesters, and faces some criticism that it has freed people accused of violence.

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Nice White Parents: We Know It When We See It

Chana Joffe-Walt

August 20, 2020 |

The New York Times |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

A Brooklyn school district has changed the zoning and middle school admission process to racially integrate schools and level the playing field. White children previously gained admission to schools with the most resources based on impressive grades and extracurricular activities. The new system is based on a lottery and can not screen students for test results or attendance. Black and Latino families have been demanding change since 1950, but this change was a result of the efforts of white parents. Critics question whether the motive was equality or anger over too many white kids kept out of good schools.

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Transgender people, who often struggle to access basic healthcare, find safety and support at Summa's Pride Clinic

H.L. Comeriato

August 18, 2020 |

The Devil Strip |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Akron, Ohio

Health care providers at Summa Health Pride Clinic in Akron, Ohio are transforming the way care is offered to trans and gender nonconforming people by working to reduce barriers that they often face. All staff undergo LGBTQ+ sensitivity training and the clinic is adorned with Pride flags – two parts of the clinic's overall "blueprint," which doctors say "can be duplicated anywhere in the country."

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19 Volunteers Sharing an iPhone Are Trying to Support Incarcerated People Through COVID-19

Celeste Hamilton Dennis

August 13, 2020 |

TalkPoverty.org |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

Beyond These Walls launched a crisis phone line to provide emotional support for LGBTQ+ people who are incarcerated and to hold prisons and jails accountable for their virus-containment practices. Trained volunteers have fielded 369 calls so far, more than a quarter of which concern fears that reporting virus symptoms could land people in solitary confinement. Beyond These Walls and its coalition partners can provide safety by letting jailers know their practices are being monitored.

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