DHS said the man died while he tried to commit suicide and “violently resisted security staff.” A medical examiner called it “asphyxia due to neck and chest compression.” A witness told the Washpost *on the record* that guards choked him as he said, “no puedo respirar.” Gift link⤵️ wapo.st/49FW4NG

The Star Tribune had an insane graphic about the presence of immigration enforcement in Minneapolis. There are more immigration officers in the metro right now than local police officers.

"Who gets to count as the press now, and who gets left out when access is redefined? ... Community, ethnic and independent media are not asking for special treatment. We are asking not to be erased in a moment when the definition of 'press' is rapidly transforming."

As thousands of immigration agents arrive in Minnesota, neighbors are working together to track, distract and protest ICE. The cat-and-mouse game between activists and agents is escalating as tactics change daily.

The US Department of Agriculture suspends all federal funding to Minnesota, effective immediately.

Location data from phone companies requires a warrant. But ICE believes this data doesn't, because people give it up "voluntarily." That's according to this internal ICE legal analysis shared with us. Ignores that people don't know what apps are tracking them www.404media.co/inside-ices-...

"She died because she loved her neighbors.” www.startribune.com/she-was-an-a...

I'm still reporting on what it's like to go through perimenopause/menopause while incarcerated for @themarshallproject.org, and building a guide for currently incarcerated people. Help me spread the word by sharing this or filling it out:

ICYMI over holidays: 3,800 children, including infants, were held in immigrant detention in 2025. Families report children are so distressed they are hitting themselves in the face and soiling themselves, despite being potty-trained. www.themarshallproject.org/2025/12/17/c...

I'm putting together a piece about how much investigative journalism actually costs. If you are an investigative journalist and you're willing to share (not for attribution) what you make and how many hours (years!) you put in, my DMs are open. Estimates fine, just want to get a sense of it.

What does it mean to get sick behind bars, where care comes second to cutting costs and avoiding lawsuits? For some, it means being ignored until an illness brings you to the brink of death: chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdog...

“'In Jabo, we see Christians as our brothers. We don’t have religious conflicts, so we weren’t expecting this,' said Suleiman Kagara, a resident of this quiet and predominantly Muslim farming community in Tambuwal district of Sokoto state."

NEW: A variety of military and intelligence contractors have already signed on to help ICE's immigrant bounty hunter program. A review of procurement data shows 10 companies stand to make up to *ONE BILLION* dollars from the program by 2027. theintercept.com/2025/12/23/i...

I count 10 cities in 2025 that are on track to have the fewest murders since at least 1970. Newark is on pace to have the fewest murders since 1956 (though only have data through Oct this year) and San Francisco is on pace to have the fewest murders since 1942.

The state, represented by the office of Attorney General Letitia James, plans to ask judges to dismiss up to 500 prison sexual assault cases filed against it under the Adult Survivors Act, Hell Gate and New York Focus have learned.

support independent media. idk what else to say right now.

Just in: Florida's supreme court today has UPHELD a recent state law that enables juries to sentence someone to death nonunanimously. Bolts reported on FL's law a few years ago, amid huge concern that nonunanimous convictions have a high error rate, & are likelier to sideline Black jurors.

The Marshall Project is exploring how menopause and perimenopause affect women behind bars. If you are a women’s health expert, formerly incarcerated, provide healthcare to people in prison, or have a loved one currently going through menopause behind bars — we want to hear from you.

During an immigration crackdown in Maryland this fall, two out of every three people arrested by ICE agents had no criminal history, a @thebaltimorebanner.com analysis found. ICE pushed back, calling the data "simply wrong" but refusing to say what was inaccurate. www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...

"a coalition of more than 230 environmental groups has demanded a ntl moratorium on new datacenters in the US, the latest salvo in a growing backlash to a booming AI industry that has been blamed for escalating electricity bills and worsening the climate crisis" www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

great idea from @themarshallproject.org

At some prisons, staff said the Bureau of Prisons had stopped providing basic hygiene items for officers. “You have to literally go around carrying your own roll of toilet paper,” one officer told ProPublica. “No paper towels, ... no soap.” By @keribla.bsky.social

from 2015 to April 2020, at least 3 women undergoing dialysis at Carswell died in that time period. All 3 women had been transferred to Carswell specifically to receive medical treatment, and all three developed sepsis prior to their death www.themarshallproject.org/2025/12/16/w...

New from me for @theintercept.com: As public support for the death penalty fell to the lowest level in 50 years, the US is poised to execute 48 people in 2025 -- the highest amount in 15 years. FL drove the surge in executions. I wrote about @deathpenaltyinfo.org's report, which was released today.

I'm reporting on what it's like to go through perimenopause/menopause while incarcerated for @themarshallproject.org, and building a guide for currently incarcerated people. Help me by filling out or sharing this form! www.themarshallproject.org/2025/12/16/m...

This story takes a lot of turns, and every single one of them is bad. Women denied the ability to visit loved ones because they have tampons. Guards unwilling to be screened to prevent contraband from getting in prison. Bad all the way down. nysfocus.com/2025/12/06/d... @chrisgelardi.bsky.social

"For the first time in history, the United States voted against the UN General Assembly’s periodic resolution condemning torture. The only other countries to do so were Argentina and Israel." From @gaborrona.bsky.social @justsecurity.org www.justsecurity.org/126649/does-...

Colorado became the first state to mandate polling places inside all county jails—and turnout among voters who were detained in jails skyrocketed. It grew by roughly 900% between 2022 and 2024.

One year after Robert Brooks was beaten to death, @timesunion.com ed board calls out Hochul for failing to sign reforms into law "We would say 'Better late than never,' but we cannot: This is, after all, an issue in which the most recent record of official inaction can be found on two gravestones."

I'm not exaggerating when I say following @boltsmag.org rn will unlock money for our journalism. A generous reader, @russ41.bsky.social, has offered to donate $1 for every 1-person increase to our follower count. If you're not following @boltsmag.org yet, it'll directly help fund our reporting!

NEW: North Carolina prison officials, this summer, raised the price of items that incarcerated people can buy. The prices are already way marked-up; & incarcerated people make a tiny fraction of minimum wage if they work. An incarcerated reporter explains what's happening, & why it matters:

In the past decade, more than 30 people in NY prisons experiencing health crises died of preventable or treatable conditions, including an asthmatic man who “died after he was denied access to an inhaler just feet away.” @themarshallproject.org

So happy to see that two stories I wrote this summer are included in the latest issue of @themarshallproject.org's News Inside, the organization's magazine specifically produced for thousands of incarcerated readers in prisons and jails nationwide.

The pigeon in this photo really pushes it into greatness @nyc.streetsblog.org

COPA, a bill that will let community land trusts have first dibs on bidding on distressed properties, is poised for a breakthrough with the city council, 5 yrs after it was first proposed. Now the city's housing agency is on board. NYC follows SF and DC, which have similar laws. buff.ly/s3ebXuV

absolutely harrowing description of adx supermax in colorado boltsmag.org/death-row-cl...

After Biden commuted the sentences of 37 men on federal death row last year, the Trump administration is retaliating by sending them to the supermax. Prisoners are locked in cells smaller than a parking space 22-24 hours a day. One prisoner told me he fears he won't make it out alive. My latest:

"It seems like a marvel of financial engineering: Meta is building a $27 billion data center in Louisiana, financed with debt, and neither the data center nor the debt will be on its own balance sheet."

"Students are afraid to fail, and AI presents itself as a savior. But what we learn from history is that progress requires failure. It requires reflection. Students are not just undermining their ability to learn, but to someday lead."

NEW: The exodus of corrections officers from federal prisons to ICE comes amid shortages of critical supplies, from food to personal hygiene items, for both staff and inmates. It threatens to make the already grim conditions in these prisons even worse.

I wrote about the man Florida plans to kill tonight and how the death penalty impacts people in ways we might never imagine.

The "men would rather do X than go to therapy" meme but for America not just reducing its use of fossil fuels

For my newsletter, I wrote about Olivia Nuzzi and the older men who have taken advantage of her her whole life. www.burnsnotice.com/olivia-nuzzi...

EXCLUSIVE: A forced detransition policy had disastrous effects in one Georgia prison, according to the manager of the medical unit there. The policy is on hold due to a court order requiring prisons to re-start hormone treatments for incarcerated people in GA. www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-new...

The NYC Department of Investigation has put out an open call for information about how the NYPD responds to protests and is using an online portal to gather more from people who have their own accounts of the incidents.

Trump's Chicago deportation blitz has hinged on aggressive and forceful policing tactics: Shootings, takedowns, chokeholds, car chases, chemical munitions, etc. To get a better sense of the scope and the impact, we mapped incidents, spoke to those affected and analyzed policy. tinyurl.com/3nrkaw55

BREAKING: Tremane Wood, who was moments away from being executed for a killing his brother admitted to committing, received a last minute clemency grant from Gov. Kevin Stitt www.huffpost.com/entry/treman...