Finding Justice Over the Airwaves

Millions of families of arrested individuals do not know what to do to help, how to obtain a lawyer, or what the process entails in the court system. Created by Albert Cobarrubius Justice Project, participatory defense is a type of community organizing that teaches and empowers people who face criminal charges. Individuals know how to work with attorneys in order to navigate the system and ultimately feel equipped to become drivers of their own change.

In part, miscommunication between bankers, brokers and homeowners created the 2008 economic crisis. Protection laws mandating better labeling and trusted third-party intermediaries could improve communication and help prevent another crisis.

Being poor can make you sick because of where you work, live and eat. Medical-legal partnerships, in hospitals U.S. cities, are attacking these social determinants through legal aid to the poor, often class-action lawsuits.

Forty percent of low-income students accepted to college never start school because of a fear of debt and feelings they don't belong. A New York college access organization is using peer-mentoring to help perspective students jump over the hurtles.

Many U.S. medical systems are using medical-legal partnerships to help disadvantaged patients who need help navigating problems with landlords and insurers that interfere with their health.

A Department of Justice study reported that about 75 percent of those released in 2005 were rearrested, and women prisoners often have a harder time re-entering society after release. A New Way of Life (ANWOL) is a Los Angeles transitional living facility that has helped more than 750 women stay out of prison by offering housing, case management, mental health and substance treatment, and job training.

Rampant misconduct by judicial systems across the country brought to light a crippling practice of debtors' prisons—where disadvantaged individuals unable to pay fines and fees were continually and wrongfully imprisoned, creating a vicious cycle. The American Civil Liberties Union stepped in to work with governments and private companies to increase transparency, eliminate abuse, and reeducate law enforcement officials. The state of Ohio has emerged as a leader in reforming debtors' prisons, though there is still work to do.

Thirty-five percent of Americans will never own their home and risk a rent increase or eviction. Owned Communities USA enables working-class families to become home owners through manufactured homes, loans, and legal aid.

By depicting crucial social issues such as infant mortality, domestic abuse, and alcoholism, TV and radio soap operas are being used internationally as a powerful tool for mass behavior change.

In Tanzania, a country that has yet to fully embrace mobile phones and whose road infrastructure remains weak, farmers have embraced radio as a means of receiving pricing and planting information. The reach and relatively low expense of radio afford the medium its popularity.