How could this have happened? This question has reverberated in people’s minds and hearts since high school freshman Jared Padgett shot and killed 14-year-old Emilio Hoffman and injured physical education teacher Todd Rispler before taking his own life. A ...
15 Jul 2014 - Kerry Naughton
Willamette Week’s May 7 piece on juvenile justice in Oregon, “ Spare the Jail, Spoil the Child,” demanded a reaction. As the title suggests, the article posited that Multnomah County in particular, and Oregon in general, need to use more jail beds to addr ...
17 Jun 2014 - Shannon Wight
Regular readers of our column will know that Partnership for Safety and Justice often writes about voting and why we think it’s so important. During presidential election years, voter interest is usually high and so is voter turnout. But in mid-term elect ...
23 Apr 2014 - Denise Welch
A survivor called our 24-hour crisis line asking for emergency shelter. She was fleeing from her abuser, who had found her at her sister’s house and assaulted her so badly she ended up in the hospital. “Unfortunately, we have no shelter space available, a ...
27 Mar 2014 - Kerry Naughton
More than 4,000 people leave Oregon state prisons each year, and many more are released from county jails. This population suffers from disproportionately high rates of untreated infectious and chronic disease, mental health disorders and substance abuse ...
28 Jan 2014 - Gina Anzaldúa
Last June, the Legislature passed House Bill 3194, a public safety reform package that made some changes to Oregon’s criminal justice system. The goal of the bill was to reduce the size and cost of the state prison system and invest some of the money save ...
2 Dec 2013 - Shannon Wight
When discussing re-entry barriers with a formerly incarcerated person a few years ago, I was struck by the need for Oregon to grapple with a rhetorical question the young man was posing. “When will we actually put corrections in the Department of Correcti ...
8 Oct 2013 - David Rogers
Recently, there has been quite a buzz in the criminal justice reform community across the nation. Attorney General Eric Holder, who heads our nation’s Department of Justice, announced earlier this month that the DOJ will be taking steps to reform and tran ...
11 Sep 2013 - Cassandra Villaneuva
Summer is here and many of us have been treated to the familiar serenade that calls up so many childhood memories: the lilting melody of the ice cream truck. Imagine the disappointment on little kids’ faces if, after running up to the ice cream truck with ...
14 Aug 2013 - Kerry Naughton
Regular readers of our column will know that Partnership for Safety and Justice and our members worked very hard to help shape the recommendations that the Governor’s Commission on Public Safety made to the Oregon Legislature. The result was House Bill 31 ...
16 Jun 2013 - David Rogers