Fed judge agreed that forcing Angola prisoners to pick crops in triple-digit heat is unconstitutional. Then ruled he couldn't stop it, citing 5th Circuit case. In @theappeal: theappeal.org/angola-farm-...

ACLU: Biden's DOJ found Phoenix police used excessive, racially discriminatory force. Trump's DOJ retracted that. Since then: 22 shootings. www.aclu.org/press-releas...

Education Dept is shifting core civil rights enforcement, incl. Title IX, to DOJ. OCR lost half its staff in 2025's RIF; resolved 112 cases all year, fewest in a decade: www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

House passed party-line cuts to the Ed Dept: 10% overall, nearly $2B less for Title I, $890M for English learners eliminated. The committee went deeper than Trump asked. @k12dive www.k12dive.com/news/house-c...

The Fair Sentencing Act cut the crack-powder ratio from 100:1 to 18:1. New research on how prosecutors apparently got around the new rules: academic.oup.com/restud/advan...

“When somebody wants us to lose funding, we’re going to lose it anyways. The difference is, did we lose it while bending the knee, or did we lose it while standing up for our values?” hechingerreport.org/this-school-... in @hechingerreport

More than 1/3 of the federal education research budget may go unspent because the Trump admin froze the grant pipeline, per an advocacy group analysis: hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

New CA data: the Black-white gap in police stops fell 57% 2019–2023. But Black and Latino residents still more likely to be searched than white residents & their searches less likely to turn up contraband. www.ppic.org/publication/...

Are companies really leaving California? Perception and reality, my latest for Comstocks Mag:

Renee Good’s widow can’t get the car back: www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/ne...

On the businesses are fleeing California meme. My latest for Comstock’s Mag:

Trump pardons have cost the Crime Victims Fund at least $113 million: www.thetrace.org/2026/04/trum...

This: Our job is not to paint a sympathetic victim. Our job is to show the totality of a person. The wholeness of a person includes achievements and flaws and mistakes. re: <<victim>> or anyone a journo is covering, really. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/15/i...

The Imprint is an #INNYs2026 finalist for Best Investigative Journalism and Breaking Barriers Award for Sara Tiano’s “State-Sponsored Abandonment,” earning both nominations.

gpt’s/@OpenAI’s move apparently making links internal (below) was the final push I needed to ditch a company that signs Pentagon surveillance contracts no q’s asked. The air is hopefully a little cleaner over here at @claudeai.

Former prosecutor: We were wrong. I have seen people change behind bars in ways the criminal justice system did not anticipate. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/14/o...

NH Gov and prosecutors applaud big increases in the no. of non-convicted people in NH locked up: www.newsfromthestates.com/article/ayot...

where there is no doctor (ICE version): www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/u...

Well this is an interesting NIMBY subsidiary:

If you live in the DC area this is the weekend to go to the arboretum. Any weekend is a good one to go to Panda Chinese (super authentic Chinese restaurant a block from the arboretum)

Brown U agreed to spend $50 million on workforce training to restore federal funding after Trump administration pressure. Meanwhile the new Trump admin budget cuts workforce training at community and tech colleges. In @hechingerreport:

NY State spent $10 million to retrain teachers in reading instruction. But literacy experts say the course relies on flawed methods the state pledged to replace. My latest for @hechingerreport.org:

“We’ve spent $10 million on this? Can I get a refund?” asks one expert after reviewing NY State’s science of reading teacher training course. Its critics say it could undermine the state’s literacy overhaul. My latest for @hechingerreport.org:

Teachers and education experts are sounding alarms over South Dakota’s math standards overhaul. Critics say the changes simplify content at the expense of rigor. My latest for @hechingerreport.org:

Reformers wanted kids under 12 out of the justice system. But in several New York cases, the response has been to jail moms. My latest for The Imprint:

From social studies to math, conservative groups are reshaping state standards. South Dakota’s math rewrite could influence other states next. My latest for @hechingerreport.org:

A little used child endangerment law is now being used in a new way: prosecuting parents for their young children’s alleged crimes. Public defenders say they’ve never seen it applied like this. My latest for The Imprint:

Small banks hold just 10% of U.S. banking assets but make more than half of loans under $1 million. Their survival increasingly depends on niche lending. My latest for Comstock’s Mag:

Small banks aren’t trying to beat Wall Street at scale. They’re beating it with specialization. My latest for Comstock’s Mag:

Alabama poured millions into improving elementary math instruction and scores are rising statewide. But students in the poorest districts still lag far behind wealthier peers in proficiency. My latest for @hechingerreport.org:

Summer math programs, high‑quality curricula and coaches have helped some Ala. students catch up. But optional attendance and resource disparities threaten long term gains. My latest for @hechingerreport.org:

Kids & immigration enforcement: One child asked her mom to teach her how to cook so she’d be able to feed herself if her mom was deported. In @hechingerreport: hechingerreport.org/parents-chil...

"Never before has there been a need to beg for lawyers to work for the DoJ": blog.simplejustice.us/2026/02/07/w...

Rarely used felony vandalism charges against Palestinian protestors.... filed by Calif. Dem prosecutors: boltsmag.org/stanford-san...

A publisher who lays off a reporter whose pen is freezing because she's covering a frigid war zone while dodging missiles is not an editor you want to work for, in a more perfect world

California farm exports are collapsing under retaliatory tariffs, with wine and rice shipments plunging and growers forced to destroy long-term crops. My latest for Comstock’s Mag:

Tariff hikes are squeezing small distributors who depend on imports: soaring costs and tight margins making it hard to pass higher prices to customers. My latest for Comstock’s Mag:

In the least surprising follow up to Trump's invasion of Venezuela, Chevron now prowling, reportedly granted sole export authorization of oil. www.infobae.com/venezuela/20...

"A newly unredacted FTC complaint shows that PepsiCo and Walmart worked together to rig grocery pricing, drive up pricing at competitors and protect Walmart’s dominance": www.forbes.com/sites/errols...

What in the Gestapo is going on in Grand Rapids? Watch this activist get arrested *mid-interview* for speaking out against U.S. action in Venezuela.

The question on the left is a valid inquiry into a matter of public opinion, whether the regime's illegal invasion is popular. The one on the right implies that Americans have the right to opine on deciding who leads a separate sovereign nation. We don't.

Principal to parent of Black child called a monkey: “Would you be offended if they called him a cat?” “Open season” on Black students in Lubbock TX: hechingerreport.org/probes-into-..., new from @hechingerreport.org

NC prison officials raise the markup on the wholesale cost of canteen goods from 20 to 25 percent in order to “adapt to shifting economic conditions”: boltsmag.org/north-caroli...

NYS legislators reopening debate on Raise the Age yet again. Maybe fix this: A tiny fraction of the prevention $ that were part of the RTA have been spent on prevention: ny1.com/nyc/all-boro... and context: drive.google.com/file/d/16e0K...

New York has no statewide rules limiting police from handcuffing children under 12. Most upstate departments leave it up to officer discretion, and lawmakers’ attempts to change that have failed. My latest for The Imprint:

Children as young as 8 and 9 have been handcuffed by police in upstate New York. Few agencies track when it happens. Most have no rules against it. My latest for The Imprint:

A two mile stretch of track near the Ashokan Reservoir has become a flashpoint in a fight over tourism in Ulster County. Death threats. Alleged sabotage. Community meetings boiling over. My latest for @chronogram_:

A threat to kill multiple people. Reports of tampering with railroad equipment. Angry public meetings. In the Hudson Valley a fight over a scenic corridor has turned toxic as residents debate rail versus trail. My latest for The Chronogram:

Way easier to find takes on what Kimmel said than a transcript of what he actually said. Here: people.com/what-did-jim...

Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People seems to come in handy these days: