new: highlands reit, a small chicago-based real estate firm, is renting an empty prison it owns in colorado to ice and private prison giant geo group. highlands is part of a network of private contractors hoping to get a cut of the $45 billion allocated to warehouse immigrants through 2029.

Before Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders announced a megaprison a mile from his house, Colt Shelby hadn’t voted in 15 years. Now he says he won't miss another election. Ahead of Tuesday's special election, I took a look at how incarceration has become the race's biggest issue in a deeply red district.

NEW: Black voters in Mississippi are on the brink of a major victory — a federal judge ordered the state to redraw its state supreme court districts to ensure greater Black representation. But GOP lawmakers are dragging their feet for now, looking toward SCOTUS & its Callais order to "save" them:

survivors of domestic violence who are in prison for fighting back against an abuser have inspired and helped pass resentencing reforms in red and blue states in recent years. @pamelacolloff.bsky.social reports how opposition from prosecutors is still keeping them behind bars

Sarah Huckabee Sanders' plan to build a huge mega-prison in rural Arkansas has drawn major opposition, with some residents saying it's made them think differently about incarceration in the face of organizing. Now that's bleeding into a local election, as candidates vow to fight the governor. NEW:

Hidden in traffic cones & highway signs: CBP & DEA have built a covert license plate reader network across Arizona, some 130+ miles from the border, scanning every car on Tohono O'odham land. Read full story🔗🦂:

A majority of the 16 U.S. states under total Democratic control now ban 287(g) partnerships with ICE. Maryland and New Mexico just joined that list, following Maine in January. I wrote about this landscape and these new reforms in @boltsmag.org: boltsmag.org/maryland-new...

After railing against narcoterrorists + deporting migrants w/no criminal record, President Trump pardoned the former Honduran president last year – then federal officials lifted his ICE hold & whisked him to the Waldorf Astoria My latest for @propublica.org www.propublica.org/article/trum...

After @laurengill.bsky.social investigated how court fines and fees weigh heavily on indigent defendants in Iowa, even after their charges get dismissed, the state's supreme court ended the practice for dismissals. Now she reports on how prosecutors are trying to undo the decision

For @boltsmag.org, I wrote about the race to unseat Rep. Carla Cunningham in NC. After casting critical votes forcing cooperation with ICE, and backing other Republican legislation, the longtime Democratic lawmaker is facing a strong challenge in next month’s primary. boltsmag.org/north-caroli...

New in @dmagazine.bsky.social "In June 2025, DHS waived the original 12-hour limit on holding people at field offices, increasing it to 72 hours...between July and October 15, at least 336 people were held at the Dallas ICE field office for more than 72 hours." www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/...

The email we sent out today celebrating our 4th birthday at @boltsmag.org ! 🎂🎂🎂🎂 mailchi.mp/boltsmag/fou... As I wrote later on: "Thank you for trusting us and reading us. It blows my mind every day that there are so many of you—and today your support feels very special indeed."

Massachusetts is the only state run by Democrats that still partners with ICE. I dug into this and found that it’s had profound and very troubling consequences: at least 164 people funneled straight from state prisons to ICE since 2023 alone. New in @boltsmag.org: boltsmag.org/massachusett...

@ethanscorey.bsky.social and I have published a database of congressmembers who take money from GEO Group + CoreCivic. Find out if your reps have taken cash from the companies fueling ICE’s mass deportation efforts. Published in @theappeal.org + @inthesetimes.com. theappeal.org/ice-cold-cas...

Bay Area prosecutors are continuing to pursue felony charges against pro-Palestine activists who staged sit-ins in 2024 @psfrench.bsky.social reports how the cases represent a notable escalation in punishment against nonviolent demonstrators boltsmag.org/stanford-san...

NEW: Abigail Spanberger this afternoon ordered that all state agencies leave ICE's 287(g) program. This means that the state police (and some other agencies) will no longer be empowered to detain and arrest people for ICE. Big, big move by the governor within weeks of coming into office.

Experts have described Dilley as “a hellhole” and decried the lack of proper medical care. Court records claim food is filled with worms, and the water is undrinkable. As a result, reports have spread of children are hitting themselves in the face and wetting themselves long after potty-training.

In Minneapolis, for every story detailing the fallout of the federal crackdown, there are as many stories of people like Bri, a mom donating breastmilk for babies whose mothers are detained by ICE. Bri's story: 19thnews.org/2026/02/minn...

NEW: There are 2,400+ elections for DA & sheriff this year. These matter hugely to criminal justice & policing—including: *these are often officials who decide ICE collaboration.* So I took a dive into these 2,400+ races to identify early hotspots and battlegrounds. Read, & check out our maps:

NEW: I spoke with the Texas inmate who was put in solitary confinement after a GoFundMe for her sick prison cat went viral. While she's since been returned to regular housing, she and her longtime friend worry that more retaliation could be on the way. www.chron.com/culture/arti...

My latest for @boltsmag.org examines efforts to pass the MA Survivors Act, allowing abuse survivors to petition for resentencing (& release) or avoid lengthy/life prison sentences: boltsmag.org/massachusett...

New in @boltsmag.org: Virginia voters will decide this year whether to repeal the state's exceptionally harsh Jim Crow-era policy of banning anyone with any felony from voting for life. This will be the country's first statewide vote on felony disenfranchisement since 2020.

Here's an enraging story I wrote about today: A lady currently incarcerated in Texas has been taking care of a stray cat. It got sick. Her daughter started a fundraiser to pay for the vet. The prison now has put her in solitary confinement. thebarbedwire.com/2026/01/15/p...

From me in @boltsmag.org: some of the most important legal questions on voting rights and democracy that we're facing this year

weekend must-read from @burness.bsky.social: How American Samoans, unlike ppl born in every other US territory and state, don't have voting rights—which has long generated confusion even among public officials, and has now made American Samoans a troubling new target for voter fraud prosecutions

good point here: "By electing prosecutors less willing to confront police misconduct, two cities hit hard by ICE also found themselves with prosecutors less willing to stand up against ICE" slate.com/news-and-pol...

i don't totally get why it's all labeled 'illegal' when there are many exceptions to the PO box ban, but even if so.. doesn't this just show that the number is tiny (100-200ish out of 2.6 million registered voters) and that local election workers were already screening and suspending many of these?

Eleven American Samoans in Alaska face serious prison time for voting in the only country they’ve ever known. Theirs is a wild story of colonialism, cops, “voter fraud” panic, small-town beef, and family. I spent months on this + am so glad to now be able to share it: boltsmag.org/prosecuted-f...

If you were born on US soil, have a US passport, SSN, you can vote in US elections, right? Not those from American Samoa. They're unique in not having birthright citizenship, something one Alaska town found out the hard way. Can't-miss story by @burness.bsky.social boltsmag.org/prosecuted-f...

2025 was just as busy as 2024, so we’ll forgive you if you missed some of our articles at @boltsmag.org! Our team chose just 10 of our favorite pieces of the year. It was very hard to choose—but these are articles I'd love for you to not miss. (And: thank you for reading us!) 🧵

“Grace periods” for late-arriving mail ballots were not controversial until very recently. (Kansas lawmakers voted *163-1* for a grace period in 2017!) But Trump wants them banned, so red states have lately rushed to help him. Ohio just joined the list: boltsmag.org/ohio-ends-gr...

NM lawmakers in 2023 passed a Second Chance Act to ban life without parole sentences for juveniles. But a recent opinion by the state’s AG, which appears to conflict with the reform law, is now blocking releases and threatens to pull others back into prison the latest from @laurengill.bsky.social

All asylum decisions paused. Naturalization ceremonies canceled. Green card applications on hold. The Trump administration's blanket restrictions on legal immigration "don’t just disrupt paperwork, they derail lives.” My latest for @motherjones.com:

The Massey Commission was established after Sonya Massey was killed by a sheriff's deputy in her own home. I followed along for 9 months as its members tried to enact real policing & mental health reforms – & grappled w/ the limits of these commissions to effect change: boltsmag.org/sonya-massey...

Over the past year, a group of activists, former law enforcement officials, and relatives of people who were harmed by police worked to recommend police reforms for Springfield, Illinois. Their new report reflects months of debate and compromise.

NEW: Here's my story on Arlington, Texas, becoming the first known city in the nation to kill a city-wide LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination policy in response to the Trump administration. With no statewide protections, it was one of the few things protecting LGBTQ+ Texans: www.chron.com/culture/arti...

Max Huntsman, the inspector general tasked with holding the LA Sheriff’s Department to account, is retiring… and going out with a bang in this letter 🔥

They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.

A shady stop and search outside San Antonio underscores the role of local elected officials (sheriffs) in the growing surveillance dragnet by federal police www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investi...

New from me: The DOJ plans to dismantle protections for trans and intersex people in federal, state, and local prisons, jails, and youth detention facilities, according to a government memo obtained by Prism.

FOLKS, do you have questions on the redistricting wars (especially tonight)? Bolts just launched a call for questions today: Tell us what you want to know... on new maps, about lingering questions, about lawsuits, on VRA threat, what where it means for 2026? Reply below, or there's a form in here:

an unapologetic fascist and attorney in North TX is trying to move from court-appointed cases to a seat on the bench see more of Steven's great coverage of this guy thebarbedwire.com/2025/08/22/c...

Men incarcerated at the notorious Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia in the 1800s had more access to sunlight than people held at DCP now. And it can lead to lifelong health consequences. www.pennlive.com/news/2025/12...

a very kind offer from a reader, any level of support really helps—even if just a follow and/or share, which still gets us more $ from Russ! i'm proud of the reporting that this small team continues to crank out every week, and immensely grateful to the readers who have helped us keep it going

North Carolina prisons just hiked up prices for basic goods – such as food, drinks & AAA batteries. But the prices were already high. Even if prices are up mere cents, it could have a big impact: The state pays incarcerated workers between just 40 cents & $1.25/day. boltsmag.org/north-caroli...

NC prison officials say “shifting economic conditions” forced them to raise their markup on basic goods like food, drinks, batteries to run radios, etc Phill Smith, who’s incarcerated there, reports on the impact of the price hike and how prisons squeeze revenue from those who can least afford it

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

After 30 years in prison and 25 years on Louisiana's death row, Chris Duncan walked out of Angola today a free man. "I'm cruising down a highway," he texted me. "Most glaring emotion is shock."

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:

Congressional redistricting is monumentally important. But for Black people in places like Fayette County, TN, it is the County Commn where the stakes are highest. What SCOTUS does in Louisiana v Calláis may threaten Black representation across the rural South. boltsmag.org/voting-right...