- ‘I’m somewhere bettering myself’: prison reform unlike any other in America, By David Kidd, August 2018, Governing: “Terry Pullins is on his second tour in the North Dakota prison system. He’s also done time in California. Since he never got farther than the fifth grade, the 40-year-old Pullins has spent nearly as much time behind bars as he did in school. But last December brought the most acute punishment he has ever suffered: Pullins lost his daughter in a car accident. Most inmates in most prisons endure that sort of grief alone. But Pullins is at the Missouri River Correctional Center near Bismarck, N.D. This is a prison designed as much as possible to imitate life on the outside…”
- Phone calls from New York City jails will soon be free, By Zoe Greenberg, August 6, 2018, New York Times: “People who end up in jail in New York City will now be able to use the phones there for free, after Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a bill into law on Monday that will eliminate the charge. The city had been collecting about $5 million per year from calls made by incarcerated people and their families…”
- Bail reform bill considered by California legislature, By Marissa Gerchick, Fiona Kelliher and Emily Lemmerman, August 8, 2018, Napa Valley Register: “In late 1987, Sheri Costa drove her three young children from Alameda County to Fresno County to see her husband in jail. He had been arrested more than 30 days earlier in Fresno on charges of drug possession with intent to sell and distribute, and the price of his freedom was set: $100,000…”
Tag: North Dakota
Refugee Resettlement – North Dakota
Federal funds give refugees a start, but communities offer local safety net, By Andrew Haffner, March 28, 2017, Grand Forks Herald: “When she’s not behind the counter at Al Amin Grocery in Grand Forks, Ilhaam Hassan is helping fellow members of the local Somali refugee community find their way in a new land. Hassan, a native of Somalia, came to the U.S. in 1999 when she was just a child. Now in her early 30s, Hassan’s fluency in English has opened a role for her as an interpreter with the local office of Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota, the agency tasked with resettling refugees, many of whom are Somalis, in the state’s most populous cities: Fargo, Bismarck and Grand Forks. With her own passage a distant memory, Hassan now works with those refugees from Somalia who now find themselves in northeast North Dakota. Even with help from the federal government and local civic groups, she says the transition is difficult for new arrivals…”
Low Income Housing – North Dakota
Housing challenges abound in North Dakota, By Jessica Holdman, August 25, 2013, Bismarck Tribune: “The groups that build, fund and manage housing in North Dakota all face different challenges, but most agree on one thing: There is not enough affordable housing in the state.“There’s still plenty of work to do,” said Max Wetz, director of public affairs for the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency. The agency funds low- and middle-income housing projects statewide through taxpayer donations given in exchange for state income tax breaks. Wetz said a housing needs study conducted by the agency last year “shows a pretty dramatic increase in needs…”