We've updated our habeas tracker again, and more than **40,000** new cases have been opened since Trump took office again. projects.propublica.org/habeas-track...

A ProPublica reporter shares a real-life horror story: Someone was masquerading as them on Signal and WhatsApp, and reaching out to would-be sources. Read our newsletter for more about what you can do to get ahead of impersonation — and subscribe.

FAC is representing @joeyneverjoe.bsky.social in a lawsuit against Imperial County for withholding public records about the county's cooperation with ICE and other federal immigration enforcement agencies. More⬇️ firstamendmentcoalition.org/news/post/fa...

the rising urge to put "We know pterodactyls and plesiosaurs aren't dinosaurs" in all methodology notes, regardless of content

Markwayne Mullin appears to be scaling back the visibility of ICE agents in enforcement, saying he’d “love to see” ICE spend more time doing “transport” and less on the “front line.” One way to do that is by paying local police to take on more of the investigations and arrests of immigrants.

Looking to develop your investigative skills? Our latest challenges focus exclusively on audio analysis, without visual cues—an increasingly relevant skill in the context of AI-generated audio. Explore the exercises here: challenge.bellingcat.com

The sheriffs’ union spent thousands to cast the deputy at Ward 86 as a hero after social worker Alberto Rangel was stabbed to death. Paid posts flooded social media despite reports that clinic staff actually stopped the attack. missionlocal.org/2026/03/sher...

Interesting look at how California sheriffs receive $2 billion in state money every year, and somehow no one knows where it goes. Some are using it to lobby for law enforcement interetsts. www.cjcj.org/reports-publ...

I’m pretty sad about this, it was such a great space.

Great new series on wandering cops in NC from @lucasthomae.bsky.social. As he reports, officials there are failing to track why officers are leaving their agencies, a crucial data point in preventing wandering cops. The data that exists is available on the National Police Index, national.cpdp.co.

Just out: www.propublica.org/article/trum...

Officer Jarret Tonn shot and killed Sean Monterrosa on June 2, 2020. It was the 4th time in 5 years Tonn fired his gun at someone while on duty. Tonn was fired after the Monterossa shooting, but reinstated when an arbitrator overturned the decision.

Several San Francisco police officers piled onto a 23-year-old inside his Bayview bedroom and “punched” him repeatedly during a racially-motivated 2025 arrest, according to the public defender’s office. missionlocal.org/2026/03/sfpd...

NEW: California DAs have charged nearly 20,000 people with drug possession *felonies* under Prop 36, a new tough-on-crime law. Despite promises for "mass treatment," only 57 of those people have successfully gone into treatment + had their cases dismissed in the first year. Others face prison time.

Great reporting from @readfrontier.bsky.social about the state law blocking access to basic police employment history data in Oklahoma. It's one of just a handful of states where @invisible.institute hasn't been able to access data for the National Police Index.

Breaking news: A jury convicted people who protested outside an ICE facility in Texas of providing material support to terrorists, and other charges in a closely watched case in which the gov't argued the protesters were "Antifa". www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

"A man who was shot by police and later died had to wait 10 extra minutes for an ambulance after an officer having a “mild anxiety attack” took the first one that arrived at the scene, according to a newly released state investigation." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Excited to talk about using @invisible.institute’s National Police Index tool and accessing police misconduct and employment history data in the Pacific Northwest with my colleague Maheen Khan and @wilsonc.bsky.social of @investigatewest.bsky.social later today. Registrations are still open:

Baby cat season is starting in the Bay Area! While it may be tempting to swoop up a litter of wild mini panthers, snuggle them like crazy, and take them to a shelter, there are a few super important things to consider first 👀 We've got the low down, in our latest from @nuala.bsky.social 🐱🐈😻🐾🐈‍⬛

We've got a ton of great session pitches already, but we're hungry for more and you need the extra time ... so let's make it happen. #NICAR26 folks, rejoice. We're extending the first priority CFP deadline to March 11. Submit the form to pitch a session or request $500 in travel support!

Staff at the nation’s largest Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility have placed bets on which detainee will be the next to die by suicide, according to new reporting from the Associated Press based on 911 calls and detainee accounts.

How friction can be good keeps coming up at #NICAR26. Running into the weird cases gets you to understand the data better. It can force you to ask the right questions.

Were NICAR lightning talks the first PowerPoint parties? 🤔 #nicar26

We’re discussing the Police Records Access Project at #NICAR26: Thursday: Challenges with cross-domain collaboration, 3:45 Monitoring police accountability laws across the U.S. 5 Friday: Utilizing new police misconduct and employment databases, 9 Saturday: How to use AI responsibly, 2:30

Out-of-state police access Silicon Valley license plate readers sanjosespotlight.com/out-of-state...

The National Police Index’s brand new website provides unprecedented public access to police employment records from across the United States and allows users to track law enforcement employment records across 24 states — searchable by officer name, agency, and more. national.cpdp.co/

Post a pic you took, no context, to bring some zen to the feed.

NEW: SCOTUS rejects private prison company GEO Group's attempt at avoiding accountability. A long-delayed lawsuit challenging GEO Group's treatment of people in immigration detention can proceed again. A unanimous decision that matters — especially now. Tonight, at Law Dork:

It Only Tuesday https://theonion.com/it-only-tuesday-1819569397/

Born #onthisday in 1868, the US sociologist + civil rights activist W. E. B. Du Bois. Celebrate with a look at the stunning hand-drawn "infographics" he made with his students, depicting conditions of African-American life in 1900: publicdomainreview.org/collection/w... #otd #BlackHistoryMonth

me, having a friend over: so these are my emotional support spreadsheets

A court-ordered, first-of-its-kind analysis of four years of data found Chicago police disproportionately used force against Black Chicagoans — even accounting for higher rates of arrests and suspicion. Read more: news.wttw.com/2026/02/19/c...

the median reporter or editor makes $60,000 a year, which makes them slightly below the average U.S. income. www.bls.gov/ooh/media-an...

BREAKING: The San Francisco teacher's strike is over. The 2 sides reached a deal early Friday morning. Educators won fully funded family healthcare, 5% raises, some special education caseload reductions & more. Students will be back in class next week. missionlocal.org/2026/02/sf-t...

Habeas cases filed by immigrants claiming their detention is illegal have taken off to levels we have never seen before. Just look at that chart. www.propublica.org/article/habe...

Two of my passions: Dinosaurs and charts

Breaking: San Francisco public school principals and administrators, as well as school maintenance workers, say they will strike in solidarity with teachers in the event of a Monday walkout. missionlocal.org/2026/02/scho...

The U.S. Virgin Islands always deserve transparency but especially when they're at the center of national news like the Epstein case. We spoke to journalist @shirleysmithvi.bsky.social about her efforts to fix the territory's archaic public records laws.

A lot of people cannot just start a paid newsletter or become freelancers to sustain their careers. The sports, metro, and international desks did work that requires *team* resources, like legal checks, documents, access to archives, and long-term beat experience.

Glad to see change is coming after @audreydutton.bsky.social's great work on failures of Idaho's coroner system.

EXCLUSIVE: Out-of-state police searched data collected by Connecticut license-plate cameras thousands of times on behalf of federal immigration officials, records show. My latest w/ @ellanapack.bsky.social, @alexputterman.bsky.social and Eric Bedner. www.ctinsider.com/connecticut/... #nutmegsky

The decision follows the police department’s criticism last week of Flock Safety, the company supplying its automated license plate reader system, after an audit turned up alleged “unauthorized” use by federal law enforcement agencies. localnewsmatters.org/2026/02/03/m...

‼️Applications are open for the inaugural TJA Reporting Fellowship! Seven fellows will receive: 💰$5000 stipend over six months to offset reporting costs 👍🏾Dedicated mentorship and reporting guidance 🎯Targeted professional development Find out more info www.transjournalists.org/reporting-fe....

A package of three proposals could loosen rules on BPD requesting K-9 and air support or using smoke, pepper spray or tear gas.

IRE, the nation’s largest journalism association, calls on the federal government to drop these charges and to acknowledge and respect the rights of journalists covering protests across the country. www.ire.org/2026/01/30/i...

BIG news from @bloomberg.com, which confirms that ICE has gone ahead and *purchased* multiple commercial warehouses with the aim of converting them into mass detention camps. This is likely to be the big detention story of 2026 — literal warehousing of people. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Georgia Fort, an independent journalist and vice president of the Minnesota NABJ chapter, was also arrested by federal agents this morning I was sent this video of agents at her door:

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A former Illinois deputy has been sentenced to 20 years for fatally shooting Sonya Massey, who called 911 for help.

Yesenia had walked thousands of miles through the Darién Gap and through Mexico to get a modicum of safety and security for her children in Tucson. Then a traffic stop destroyed it all @jwashing.bsky.social follows the story of one family after deportation azluminaria.org/a-long-way-h...

ICE agents would be disqualified from working in California law enforcement and inside the public school system under a new bill introduced in the Legislature this week.