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Public safety that makes sense, costs less, rebuilds lives

Oregon faced a public safety crisis in 2013: the state’s prison population had grown at a rapid rate between 2012 and 2013. According to the Bureau of Justice statistics, our prison population grew by 3.5 percent – the fifth highest rate in the country an ...

3 Feb 2015 - Shannon Wight
Mult. Co. Sheriff to preserve in-person visitations

This story was updated on March 3, 2015. Multnomah County Sheriff Dan Staton says he will continue in-person, “through the glass” visiting for visitors to Multnomah County jails, bowing to pressure from public concerns over replacing all visits with vide ...

27 Jan 2015 - Street Roots Staff
‘The biggest stain since slavery’: former prison chaplain Jeannie Alexander works against the dehumanization of modern incarceration

Jeannie Alexander grew up “deeply obsessed” with God. Before she resigned as chaplain of Riverbend Maximum Security Insitution in September, her obsession drove her to work with a group of some of the most marginalized members of society. “It’s this very ...

10 Jan 2015 - Amanda Haggard
Warrant Day? Perhaps the avalanche of reality the system needs

Everyone with a warrant or who thinks they might have a warrant should turn themselves in on Jan. 1. What would happen if everybody with a warrant turned themselves in on the same day? In one jurisdiction, if only 25, 50 or 100 people were willing to do ...

29 Sep 2014 - Chris O'Connor
From strong women come strong families, strong Oregon

Women are the fastest growing inmate population in Oregon. Locking up women brings a unique set of issues to our families and our communities. A system built on an assumption that a one-size-fits-all approach works for everyone has clearly failed, most no ...

12 Aug 2014 - Jennifer Williamson
A new reason to live

One year ago, Tara Elizabeth Axmaker, high on meth, stabbed a Clackamas County acquaintance, stole a police car and led deputies on a chase that ended when she wrecked about five miles away. In October 2013, Axmaker pled guilty to first-degree assault, ag ...

21 Mar 2014 - Tara Axmaker
Oregon’s legislature grapples with racial equity

Last month on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, a coalition of advocacy organizations presented findings from Facing Race: the 2013 Oregon Legislative Report Card on Racial Equity. The report is designed to help legislators better understand how to addr ...

15 Feb 2014 - David Rogers
Dylan and the DoJ? The times they are a-changin’

In 1963, Bob Dylan wrote his famous ballad “The Times They are A-Changin” to capture the spirit of the social and political upheaval that characterized the 1960s. The song is a call for people to come together in a movement for social progress and became ...

2 Jan 2013 - Denise Welch