People who are thrown in solitary confinement aren't told how long they'll spend there. Some people end up there—for years. There are so few restrictions. Read how this Texan who's experienced this describes it: boltsmag.org/designed-to-...

NEW in Bolts: The authors of a new book on solitary confinement answer questions about their experiences with isolation and the movement to end the tortuous practice.

“Isolating people inside a small, closet-like cell for weeks, months, and even years on end remains common inside this country’s prisons and jails, even though the United Nations defines the practice as torture.” boltsmag.org/designed-to-...

Missourians have repeatedly used ballot initiatives to adopt policies that lawmakers in the GOP supermajority refuse to move on: abortion rights, paid sick leave, Medicaid expansion. In response, Missouri Republicans are attempting to make direct democracy impossible: boltsmag.org/missouri-ame...

"We don’t want this mega prison in this state. We don’t need this mega prison in this state.” New must-read from @boltsmag.org: boltsmag.org/arkansas-pri...

For @boltsmag.org & @thenation.com, I went to the farms, livestock sale barns, and roadside bars of Arkansas and the prison towns of Upstate New York to report on how rural communities are changed (or changing) when a prison comes to town. boltsmag.org/arkansas-pri...

19 people say they were sexually assaulted under Leonard Dixon – a Chicago superintendent who draws a $280,000 yearly salary and whose public records trail, including voting records, ties him to suburban Detroit. Amazing work here by @kellygarcia.bsky.social: www.injusticewatch.org/juvenile-cou...

Four deaths in two weeks: What’s behind the surge in violence at one Texas prison www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investi...

Abbott revived this bill by amending his special session call to effectively admit it's broader in scope than GOP and police proponents have been publicly saying it's back on the calendar, could come up today more on why Uvalde families are against it www.uvaldeleadernews.com/articles/edi...

We're finishing up our weekly newsletter at @boltsmag.org. It's full of info on: today's elections, latest on redistricting, homelessness sweeps, DA races, voting rights restoration, prison reforms... If you want to follow local politics & policy, you should be on this! boltsmag.org/newsletter

good thread here on the TX police secrecy bill that derailed yesterday (but some are already vowing to revive) it would make more police files secret, undermine voter-mandated reforms in Austin, and help the state cover up its bungling response in Uvalde www.uvaldeleadernews.com/articles/edi...

👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 Blackwell and Harris, who are incarcerated in Washington state and Texas, respectively, co-authored the book ***Blackwell and Harris have agreed to answer questions from Bolts readers about their new book and the experience of writing it*** Submit by 8/27 boltsmag.org/solitary-con...

JUST IN: Federal appeals court just *upheld* Gov. Youngkin's 2022 decision to eliminate automatic rights restoration in VA. So people with a felony remain barred from voting *for life.* Bolts reported here on people who were banned from voting, incl. one man who later became center of this lawsuit:

I had fun answering questions from @boltsmag.org readers about what is going on in Texas - and Texas’ long history of drawing gerrymandered and racially discriminatory maps. #txlege boltsmag.org/a-new-cycle-...

NEW: Texas Republicans have unveiled a new gerrymander to gain as many as 5 seats in next year's midterms. *Can they do that? What data must they use? What are legal avenues here!?* You sent us a ton of questions. And a redistricting expert who knows Texas inside out answered 9 of them:

New regulations were set to slash the exorbitant prices for prison phone calls across the country, but Trump's FCC chair blocked enforcement last week. Phill Smith, who's incarcerated in North Carolina, reports on the impact to people behind bars and the families fighting for state-level reforms

Texas Gov. Abbott's summer special session agenda released today calls for further abortion restrictions—potentially reviving this sweeping, unprecedented bill targeting abortion pills that narrowly failed to pass last session. Background: boltsmag.org/texas-1925-a... slate.com/news-and-pol...

New from me for LA Public Press. What’s a little crossfire among friends? I found three calls from LAPD complaining about being gassed and shot by LASD. I have the audio! lapublicpress.org/2025/06/ice-...

After an anti-abortion activist allegedly killed two people in Minnesota and had a hit list of abortion providers, perhaps more people will understand why OBGYNs specializing in abortion were afraid to travel to Texas for a board exam. Read Garnet's story for @autonomynews.co

Melissa Hortman, who was assassinated last night, was the Speaker of the Minnesota House in the 2023-2024 session, when Democrats ran the state government. That means she had a leading role in shepherding the many landmark reforms that Dems adopted in that period—an important legacy. Brief 🧵.

Chants of "Immigrants and trans folks are welcome here" in Downtown Houston

Surreal day in Oklahoma City. Mere months after AG Gentner Drummond won big at SCOTUS—persuading the justices to vacate Richard Glossip’s conviction due to the lies of the state’s star witness—the AG now seeks a 3rd murder trial (despite having no new evidence). w/ @jordansmith.bsky.social

A new Texas law will turn sheriffs into federal immigration enforcers. Experts say racial profiling and rights violations are sure to follow. My latest for @theborderchronicle.bsky.social. www.theborderchronicle.com/p/iced-up

Leaders in Austin, San Marcos, and Dallas have raised concerns about how police are using automated license plate readers following reports of ICE searches Austin just ended their program. San Marcos halted an expansion of their program. Dallas could be next. thebarbedwire.com/2025/06/10/c...

NYT reporting that the White House is pushing for an aggressive mid-decade Texas redistricting to target Democratic-held seats. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/09/u...

If you're looking to background any LA sheriff's deputies this week to see if they have a history of bad behavior, here is a searchable collection I made of all the disciplinary and use of force (SB 1421/ SB16) records LASD has released so far: journaliststudio.google.com/pinpoint/sea...

Gina Ortiz Jones made history Saturday, becoming San Antonio’s first openly lesbian mayor and only the third woman to hold the office. txst.us/rhyxyz

Just a reminder to say the #txlege just passed #SB2570 by Flores shielding cops from any criminal responsibility whatsoever when using so-called "less lethal" weapons, even when they're used in ways, as in this case, contradicting manufacturer guidance, which explicitly cautions against head shots.

wild how seems like every time someone investigates LASD, they end up getting investigated themselves: the inspector general, reporters, the constitutional policing adviser, a COC member, the former COC chair almost like LA County doesn't realllly want oversight!!! www.latimes.com/california/s...

Sheriffs are hugely important to Trump’s mass deportation plan. They’ve lately been rushing to partner with ICE. So we really should talk about ways in which Democrats are *not* fighting back against growing sheriff-ICE cooperation. I have a story out today on this: boltsmag.org/sheriff-elec...

I've got a new piece out on the astounding abuse of power from Missouri's AG and GOP lawmakers right now, all to try to undo the abortion rights constitutional amendment voters approved months ago—and also, how this should be a reality check on the tactic of "putting abortion on the ballot":

NEW: In April, 7 abortion providers traveled to Texas. Prior to their trip, they were required to submit a list of abortions they provided in the past year. This wasn't some new Texas law—it was a requirement of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. My first story for @autonomynews.co

We’ve received police disciplinary files from prosecutors in Ohio, Florida and Washington. Now, we want your help reviewing the documents. www.muckrock.com/news/archive...

new: as one of the biggest TX counties grows more democratic, republicans brought in top national GOP operatives to gerrymander local maps. one democrat warns: "what happens here will not stay here. it will shape what comes next for other communities." www.democracydocket.com/analysis/top...

The Tarrant County commissioner targeted by the new GOP-drawn maps previously led the local NAACP and has organized to put pressure on local police for deaths in custody before and after her election to county govt bsky.app/profile/mich...

the republican county exec in Tarrant Co, whose new gerrymandered maps are set to lock in a GOP supermajority there, has a penchant for regularly siccing deputies on ppl who speak out at meetings—including families of ppl who died in the scandal-plagued county jail www.keranews.org/news/2025-04...

The dismal endurance of solitary confinement in New York – @psfrench.bsky.social reports: boltsmag.org/new-york-rik...

New from 404 Media: a cop in Texas performed a nationwide search of license plate reading cameras for a woman who got an abortion, according to multiple sets of data we've reviewed. Included cameras where abortion is legal, like Washington and Illinois www.404media.co/a-texas-cop-...

with the 2025 #txlege about to wrap up, here's my roundup in @chron.com of all the anti-trans bills that passed this session. while previous sessions focused on big ticket items (restricting care for minors & sports) this session featured quieter but more extreme bills www.chron.com/culture/arti...

11 years ago on this day, Houston City Council passed the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance. Before NC tried its bathroom bill, conservative groups tested out the anti-trans playbook to defeat an anti-discrimination law here in H-Town. Re-upping this piece last summer: www.chron.com/culture/arti...

in addition to sensationalist coverage of the initial charges against this woman and this stunt by a crisis pregnancy center, @expressnews.com even ran her mugshot w/ its story about prosecutors finally dropping charges this month

sure it's stunning to see TX lawmakers double down on prohibition and create new criminal penalties for cannabis, tho not entirely surprising considering the reefer madness-style coverage from some of the most vaunted outlets here, just parody-level shit www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

important update: this legislation appears to have stalled after failing today's deadline for the full House to advance Senate bills 19thnews.org/2025/05/texa...

TX lawmakers advanced this sweeping bill today ahead of a critical deadline, read more from Sophie on how this legislation would even further restrict access to emergency care here and could criminalize pregnant people slate.com/news-and-pol... boltsmag.org/texas-1925-a...

how cops in so-called sanctuary cities and states still get federal $$ for feeding sensitive info on immigrants into ICE’s deportation machine illuminating reporting here by @pascalsabino.bsky.social boltsmag.org/alameda-coun...

Problems with staffing, medical care, and dangerous conditions have plagued Philadelphia’s jails for decades. Tomorrow, voters will decide whether to create an independent oversight board to investigate and monitor them. More on the ballot measure here: boltsmag.org/philadelphia...

Even with police reforms in the wake of George Floyd's murder in 2020, the citizen board overseeing HPD rarely disputes officer discipline and even less frequently challenges how cases are resolved when police are accused of negligence and abuse. trib.al/PqidLc6

Houston's oversight system has been worthless for years bc every mayor, including Sylvester Turner and now John Whitmire fears the police union more than voter reprisals and refuse to punish bad cops almost no matter how egregious their misconduct. gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2020/11/on-p...