University of Wisconsin–Madison
Progressive Local Government
For the 21st Century

ProGov21 Policy Library

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Year
Abolitionist Principles & Campaign Strategies for Prosecutor Organizing
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2019
Level City or Town, County, Other Boards and Agencies
State(s) All States
Source Community Justice Exchange
Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights, Housing, Public Safety
"The following is a framework that seeks to draw out what “prosecutor organizing” looks like with an abolitionist lens. The first section outlines principles to hold us accountable to each other, so that there is shared agreement about what abolition means in organizing around prosecutors....
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An Organizer’s Guide to Confront Pretrial Risk Assessment Tools in Decarceration Campaigns
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2019
Level State
State(s) All States
Source Community Justice Exchange
Policy Areas Civil Rights
Risk assessment tools (RATs) are decision-making rubrics that make predictions; they utilize a multitude of tools to make predictions about a defendant’s statistical likelihood, or “risk,” of not returning to court or being rearrested if released. Ultimately, RATs greatly influence...
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No More Shackles: Ten Arguments Against Pretrial Electronic Monitoring
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2020
Level City or Town, County, State
State(s) All States
Source Media Justice
Policy Areas Data & Technology, Public Safety
This report outlines ten arguments against the use of pretrial electronic monitoring. It describes how monitoring restricts a person's ability to earn income; reduces access to legal resources and due process; limits participation in parenting and caregiving, increases the risk of...
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COVID-19: Release People From Prisons and Jails Without Electronic Monitoring
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2020
Level City or Town, County, State
State(s) All States
Source Media Justice
Policy Areas Data & Technology, Public Safety
This brief outlines six arguments opposing electronic monitors for people released from prisons and jails during the pandemic. The use of electronic monitoring violates social distancing, increases costs, misdirects resources, impacts access to healthcare, increases barriers to movement,...
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Proposed Public Health and Public Safety Pathways for Criminal Justice System Responses to COVID-19
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2020
Level City or Town, County
State(s) All States
Source Williams Institute
Policy Areas Public Spaces, Public Safety, Health
Incarceration puts both incarcerated people and corrections staff at risk of contracting COVID-19. A wide array of criminal justice stakeholders have come together to call for a public health-oriented approach to the COVID-19 crisis. The key recommendations include releasing incarcerated...
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LGBTQ Criminal Justice Reform
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2018
Level City or Town, County, State
State(s) All States
Source National Center for Transgender Equality
Policy Areas Civil Rights, Public Safety
Incarceration is inherently traumatic, dehumanizing, and harmful. It imposes tremendous costs on individuals, their loved ones, and our communities. Fortunately, there is much that LGBTQ advocates can do to combat the crisis of mass incarceration that disproportionately affects poor...
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Transparency is Not Enough: A Framework for Building Campaign Strategy
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year -
Level City or Town
State(s) All States
Source Community Justice Exchange
Policy Areas Civil Rights, Public Safety, Health
Activists, organizers, and reformers often demand transparency from the criminal legal system because of the harm the system inflicts behind closed doors—particularly upon Black and Brown, poor, LGBTQ, and immigrant communities. For organizers working to dismantle the criminal legal...
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Reducing Officer-Involved Shootings in Fresno, CA
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2017
Level City or Town
State(s) California
Source American Civil Liberties Union of California
Policy Areas Civil Rights, Democracy & Governance, Public Safety
Police officers are authorized to use force in the line of duty to protect the public they serve. However, inappropriate use of this authority can erode trust between the police and the public and undermine the core mandate of the police to “protect and serve.” Between 2001 and 2016,...
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Guidelines for Respecting the Rights of Individuals on Electronic Monitors
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2019
Level City or Town, County, State
State(s) All States
Source Media Justice
Policy Areas Data & Technology, Public Safety
This brief establishes guidelines for the implementation of electronic monitoring. In order to respect the human rights of those being monitored, rules for electronic monitoring should be transparent and accommodate basic daily needs without imposing unnecessary restrictions; monitoring...
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Responding to Hate Crimes: A Community Resource Manual
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2009
Level City or Town, County, State
State(s) All States
Source National Center for Transgender Equality
Policy Areas Civil Rights, Public Safety
This manual provides tools to create an effective response to a hate crime committed against transgender members of your community. It includes model meeting and event planning worksheets, press kits, and other resources advocates will need to raise awareness in the general public....
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Alternatives to Arrest for Young People
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2017
Level City or Town
State(s) All States
Source National League of Cities
Policy Areas Public Safety
Evidence shows that young people achieve better life outcomes and are less likely to commit future crimes when kept out of juvenile court and detention facilities. This brief highlights case studies in which cities have diverted youth away from the juvenile justice system through...
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No More Shackles: Why We Must End the Use of Electronic Monitors for People on Parole
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2019
Level City or Town, County, State
State(s) All States
Source Media Justice
Policy Areas Data & Technology, Public Safety
This report calls for the elimination of the use of monitoring for individuals on parole. It argues that electronic monitoring is an extension of incarceration that is ineffective, expensive, and greatly limits the freedom and potential success of people on parole. Further, its expansion...
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Step-by-Step Guide to Drafting Your Own Community Safety Policy at the State Level
Type Fact Sheet or Infographic
Year 2022
Level State
State(s) All States
Source Civil Rights Corps
Policy Areas Community Development, Public Safety
A Community Safety Policy is a policy agenda that shifts the concept of “safety” from a primarily criminal-legal model to a new framework that roots safety in public health and makes investments in non-carceral solutions. This guide outlines four steps states can take to create their...
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Sentencing reform through a stronger SB 3
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2019
Level City or Town
State(s) Ohio
Source Policy Matters Ohio
Policy Areas Housing, Public Safety
Senate Bill 3, under consideration in the Ohio Senate, seeks to provide addiction treatment instead of incarceration to Ohioans charged with possession of certain drugs. As introduced, SB 3 would reclassify some low-level drug offenses from felonies to misdemeanors. This is an important...
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Community Bail Funds as an Organizing Tool: A Primer for Exploring the Tactic
Type Fact Sheet or Infographic
Year 2019
Level City or Town, County, State
State(s) All States
Source Community Justice Exchange
Policy Areas Civil Rights, Community Development
This document is intended for organizers, legal advocates, and organizations contemplating starting a bail fund as an intervention in the criminal legal and/or immigration detention systems. The first part of the document poses core exploratory questions to consider before starting...
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2011 Cook County Policy for Responding to ICE Detainers
Type Ordinance
Year 2011
Level County
State(s) Illinois
Source Cook County Board
Policy Areas Civil Rights, Public Safety
This ordinance requires the Sheriff of Cook County to decline ICE detainer requests unless there is written agreement stating that all costs incurred by Cook County in complying with the ICE detainer shall be reimbursed. It also prohibits ICE agents from accessing individuals or County...
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Increase Public Safety and Advance Racial Justice by Repealing Juvenile Curfews
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2020
Level City or Town, County
State(s) All States
Source Local Progress
Policy Areas Civil Rights, Community Development, Public Safety
Roughly three-quarters of American cities have juvenile curfew laws that criminalize youth for being in public spaces during late night and school hours. These laws disproportionately punish black and brown youth and low-income families. This policy brief argues that juvenile curfew...
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Local Policy Interventions for Protecting Immigrants
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2020
Level City or Town, County, State
State(s) All States
Source The Immigrant Legal Resource Center
Policy Areas Civil Rights, Public Safety
This report identifies the most effective local policy interventions for protecting immigrants. These include establishing multi-agency prohibitions on immigration enforcement, limiting jail-to-ICE transfers, prohibiting patrol officers from working with ICE, setting due process protections,...
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What If?: 10 Questions for Sparking Local Pretrial Change
Type Fact Sheet or Infographic
Year 2021
Level City or Town
State(s) All States
Source Pretrial Justice Institute
Policy Areas Civil Rights, Public Safety
This report outlines 10 key questions that justice system stakeholders can ask themselves when working to improve pretrial practices in their local jurisdictions. These questions cover topics such as the purpose of pretrial release; redefinement of arrestable offenses; alternatives...
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The Case Against Pretrial Risk Assessment Instruments
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2020
Level City or Town, County
State(s) All States
Source Pretrial Justice Institute
Policy Areas Civil Rights, Community Development, Public Safety
Pretrial risk assessment instruments (RAIs) are tools intended to estimate two key outcomes for those who are released pending trial: the likelihood that someone will fail to appear for court, and the likelihood that someone will be arrested for a new crime before the disposition...
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Updated Position on Pretrial Risk Assessment Tools
Type Fact Sheet or Infographic
Year 2020
Level City or Town, County
State(s) All States
Source Pretrial Justice Institute
Policy Areas Civil Rights, Data & Technology, Public Safety
This document is a statement from the Pretrial Justice Institute (PJI) updating their stance on the use of Pretrial Risk Assessment Tools (RAIs). PJI opposes the use of pretrial RAIs when making detention decisions and determining restrictions placed on a person's pretrial liberty...
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A Racial Equity Transformation: PJI’s Rationale
Type Fact Sheet or Infographic
Year 2019
Level City or Town, County
State(s) All States
Source Pretrial Justice Institute
Policy Areas Civil Rights, Community Development, Data & Technology, Public Safety
This document outlines the Pretrial Justice Institute's (PJI) rationale for prioritizing racial equity transformation in the criminal justice system. It begins by discussing PJI's journey to advancing racial equity from 2015 to 2019. It then explains why PJI's mission is focused on...
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Scan of Pretrial Practices
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2019
Level City or Town, County
State(s) All States
Source Pretrial Justice Institute
Policy Areas Civil Rights, Data & Technology, Democracy & Governance, Public Safety
This report compares, critiques, and provides an overview of pretrial practices across the United States. In particular, it discusses how 89 counties differ (or relate) in using citation releases, bond schedules, pretrial assessment tools, and more. It also outlines shared concerns...
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Courtroom First Appearance Observation Template
Type Fact Sheet or Infographic
Year 2017
Level City or Town, County
State(s) All States
Source Pretrial Justice Institute
Policy Areas Civil Rights, Democracy & Governance, Public Safety
This template is a tool for gathering important information and data relevant to first-appearance hearings. It includes sections for the defendant's personal information, the charges against them, the judge's remarks, and any other notable observations during the hearing. The template...
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Disrupting the School to Prison Pipeline
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2019
Level City or Town, County, School District, State
State(s) All States
Source Local Progress
Policy Areas Civil Rights, Education, Public Safety
Zero-tolerance policies and the proliferation of law enforcement officers in schools have funneled many students into the criminal legal system. This brief outlines steps school districts, cities, and states can take to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline. Recommendations include...
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