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Inmate-Made Masks Help Community and Those Incarcerated, Jailer Says

Liz Carey

July 09, 2020 |

The Daily Yonder |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Versailles, Kentucky

When a pandemic lockdown idled the men jailed at Woodford County Detention Center, they replaced the jobs they previously had performed in the community with work in the jail that served an immediate need: sewing protective masks. They sewed more than 28,000 masks in the first four months of the pandemic, using donated clothing as the fabric and distributing them at no cost. While the incarcerated men were paid little for their work, they said they benefited with new skills, staying active, and feeling pride in their community service.

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Their Unlikely Alliance Began at Whataburger. Can They Reform a Texas Jail?

Maurice Chammah

July 01, 2020 |

The Marshall Project |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tyler, Texas

Dalila Reynoso's local activism blossomed into a full-blown watchdog role when COVID-19 began to spread through the Smith County, Texas, jail. The marriage of criminal justice reform and pandemic safety, vested in one woman, mirrors much larger court watch and jail watch projects in larger cities. For her part, Reynoso became a conduit for complaints about jail conditions. Thanks to her diplomatic skills, and a receptive sheriff's openness to criticism and change, the pair's efforts lowered virus cases from 52 to three within three weeks and lowered the jail population by more than 150 people.

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San Quentin's Breakthrough Prison Newsroom

Emily Nonko

June 25, 2020 |

Politico |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Quentin, California

San Quentin Prison's media created by the men incarcerated there have gone beyond rehabilitation of individuals to a broader mission of promoting criminal justice policy reform by reframing the narrative about those who have committed crimes and the system's inequities. Through San Quentin News, the podcast Ear Hustle, and a series of dialogues between incarcerated men and criminal justice officials, their stories have shed new light on prison life and those held in prison, and formed a cadre of journalists who gained experience behind bars and have become prominent advocates on the outside.

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COVID-19 Motivates Policy Overhaul For County Jails In Montana

Charles Bolte

June 24, 2020 |

Yellowstone Public Radio |

Radio |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Missoula, Montana

In response to COVID-19 infection fears, Montana jails rapidly shrank the numbers of pretrial detainees held on nonviolent charges in a demonstration of how quickly a change in policy – without even changing state law – can decrease incarceration rates. Based on numbers like those seen at Missoula County Detention Facility, which dropped its jail population by 37% in March and April by turning away people who ordinarily would have been jailed, decarceration advocates hope to make the changes permanent after studying the effects on crime.

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How nonprofits are getting people out of metro Detroit jails during COVID-19 pandemic

Angie Jackson

June 16, 2020 |

Detroit Free Press |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

Nonprofit bail funds, which use donated money to pay the bail of low-income people held in jail on pending charges, have won the release of about 55 people in Detroit during the COVID-19 crisis. Beyond the immediate need to free more people from an environment that makes social distancing difficult, the bail funds are part of a larger movement challenging a system that disproportionately affects people of color. The combination of bail payments, bond reductions, and administrative releases have reduced Wayne County's jail population by almost half.

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

Judy Harrison

June 16, 2020 |

Bangor Daily News |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Bangor, Maine

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

Christina Cooke

June 15, 2020 |

Civil Eats |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Wagram, North Carolina

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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Diversion program thrives on cooperation, embraces skeptics

Ryan Lowery

June 04, 2020 |

Las Vegas Optic |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Alamosa, Colorado

The Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program in Alamosa, Colorado, gives police officers the option of sending people to substance abuse treatment rather than straight into the criminal justice system. Used in non-violent cases, the diversion program is based on a harm-reduction model that uses a health-care approach rather than a punitive approach to address the underlying issues when a crime is committed. Some police officers object to the program's mission, but proponents say that forcing compliance would be counterproductive.

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NM jail populations plummet amid joint efforts to avoid COVID-19 outbreak; positive test rates are low

Jeff Proctor

June 01, 2020 |

New Mexico In Depth |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New Mexico

New Mexico criminal justice officials joined forces to lower local jail populations by one-third in just 11 weeks, a rushed COVID-19 response that not only seems to have prevented widespread illness but also led law enforcement officials to question whether they need to lock up so many people in the future. Prosecutors, police, and county jails arrested fewer people, released low-risk inmates, and suspended “warrant sweeps” and jailing people for technical probation and parole violations. With 27 jails less than half-full, a top prosecutor acknowledged the virus response may turn into standard practice.

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Arrests decrease under diversion program

Ryan Lowery

May 28, 2020 |

Las Vegas Optic |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Alamosa, Colorado

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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