Bolts
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A publication that covers the nuts and bolts of political change: Boltsmag.org
Long hours and heavy caseloads make it tough for Champaign County’s public defender office to compete with private firms and better-resourced government jobs. A new law could provide more support to public defenders.
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This Illinois Reform May Bring Relief to Overworked Public Defenders
Public defenders have "nowhere to go for help," at the mercy of floundering local budgets and local prosecutors’ policy swings. Illinois is creating a statewide office to change that.
https://boltsmag.org/illinois-public-defenders-fair-act/
about 4 hours ago
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When formerly incarcerated people are able to obtain work, it tends to be a low-paying position, keeping them well below the poverty line. “The No. 1 contributor to recidivism is poverty,” says a spokesperson for the Prison Policy Initiative.
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Budget Cuts Threaten Oregon Program for Helping People Get Jobs After Prison
The state had recently expanded the novel program for providing one-on-one career coaching, job fairs behind bars, and support for people after release.
https://boltsmag.org/oregon-prison-work-reentry/
about 5 hours ago
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A local attorney criticized the Erie County’s sheriff’s office lack of transparency. “If you live in a society where you can’t question or criticize law enforcement, you don’t have a democracy anymore.”
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There’s a New Sheriff in Town. But Buffalo Area Jails Remain as Dangerous as Ever.
Despite federal oversight, elections, and promises of reform from a new sheriff, little has changed for people detained in Erie County, New York, jails.
https://boltsmag.org/erie-county-jails-remain-deadly/
about 7 hours ago
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reposted by
Bolts
Sherrilyn Ifill
3 days ago
This is the kind of great work that
@boltsmag.org
does. Follow them. Support them. You can’t fight for power if you don’t understand where it sits. Include Bolts in your citizenship toolkit.
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Illinois abolished cash bail in the fall of 2023. Then, in 2024, it passed a law allocating millions to programs that provide services to people who are awaiting trial, with the idea of helping bail reform succeed.
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Illinois Ended Cash Bail. Now Reformers Want More Support for People on Pretrial Release.Â
Proposed legislation would expand community-based programs for people released from jail to improve their odds of success. Supporters call it a critical next step after abolishing bail.
https://boltsmag.org/illinois-pretrial-success-act/
about 8 hours ago
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Voting access advocates argue that Ohio’s ban on grace periods for mail ballots will be particularly harmful to those most likely to return ballots via the mail—namely, older and disabled voters who may lack mobility.
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Ohio Bans Grace Periods for Mail Ballots, Fulfilling Trump’s Wishes
Ohio is the fourth GOP-run state this year to ban ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but arrive after. A Supreme Court case could force that policy nationwide next year.
https://boltsmag.org/ohio-ends-grace-periods-for-mail-ballots/
about 9 hours ago
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A workforce development program inside prison has helped many people in Oregon find good-paying work after their release. But the program could end soon, since state lawmakers this summer failed to renew funding for it.
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Budget Cuts Threaten Oregon Program for Helping People Get Jobs After Prison
The state had recently expanded the novel program for providing one-on-one career coaching, job fairs behind bars, and support for people after release.
https://boltsmag.org/oregon-prison-work-reentry/
about 11 hours ago
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In New Orleans, the newly elected sheriff may preside over the construction of a new psychiatric jail that community advocates fear could be commandeered by ICE: “Once a carceral facility is built, there’s no control over what bodies are put there.”
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In New Orleans, a New Sheriff Will Take the Helm of a Jail Marred by Abuses
Michelle Woodfork unseated an outsider sheriff on Saturday, at a time when federal consent decrees barring ICE collaboration and lifting detention conditions may be ending.
https://boltsmag.org/new-orleans-sheriff-michelle-woodfork-wins/
about 13 hours ago
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Despite several attempts to export the idea, Seattle remains the only U.S. city with a democracy vouchers program, which provides money to residents to donate to the local candidates of their choice.
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Seattle Renews Its Unique Approach to Public Campaign Financing
The democracy vouchers program hands residents $100 to donate to local candidates and it’s credited with broadening civic involvement. Voters on Tuesday extended it by 10 years.
https://boltsmag.org/seattle-democracy-vouchers-renewing/
1 day ago
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Michael Broadway died from an asthma attack on a scorching day inside an Illinois prison. Witnesses said a nurse didn't want to climb the stairs to his cell. A friend in a nearby cell put it plainly: “staff in these prisons DO NOT see us as human beings.”
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In Illinois, a Private Prison Company’s Long Trail of Deaths and High-Dollar Contracts
This year, Illinois again picked Wexford Health Services for prison health care despite longstanding claims of neglect. A judge has since extended court monitoring of prisons.
https://boltsmag.org/illinois-prison-health-care-wexford/
1 day ago
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In 2006, the Supreme Court ruled that neither the federal constitution nor federal law ban mid-decade redistricting. But Congress has the authority to create a prohibition where then-Justice Anthony Kennedy found none.
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The Escalating Race to Redistrict: Your Questions Answered
How are the new maps changing the midterms? Would proportional representation help? Why are courts not doing more? You asked, and we’ve got answers about mid-decade redistricting.
https://boltsmag.org/mid-decade-redistricting-your-questions-answered/
1 day ago
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Shannon McChristian’s opposition to a new prison in her Arkansas community has changed her thoughts on incarceration generally. “As I’ve come to know more and more, I’ve just been horrified about our entire prison system.”
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The Prison Next Door
How Arkansas’ secretive plan for a new state lockup angered people in a deep red corner of rural America—and changed how some see incarceration.
https://boltsmag.org/arkansas-prison-franklin-county/
1 day ago
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Sharone Mitchell, Jr., the Cook County Public Defender, has championed bond reform in Illinois, and he is alarmed by President Trump’s demand that the state bring back cash bail.
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Chicago’s Public Defender on Why Illinois Should Fight Trump’s Threats on Cashless Bail
As the president tries to punish jurisdictions with bail reform, Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell, Jr., explains why Illinois ended cash bail—and what he hopes to see next.
https://boltsmag.org/chicago-public-defender-on-trump-executive-order-bail/
1 day ago
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People already released on parole under New Mexico’s Second Chance Act, which banned life without parole for juveniles, fear they could be sent back to prison because of a recent opinion by the state’s attorney general.
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New Mexico Officials Block a Pathway to Freedom for Juvenile Lifers Despite Reforms
State lawmakers banned life without parole for juveniles. But an opinion by the attorney general and parole board decisions could keep some from getting a second chance.
https://boltsmag.org/new-mexico-juvenile-life-without-parole/
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This year, Democrats gained 25 state Senate and House seats held by the GOP, out of 118 that were up for election. That’s a haul reminiscent of 2017, when Dems flipped 20 percent of GOP-held legislative seats in the run-up to the 2018 midterms.
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In 2025, Democrats Flipped 21 Percent of GOP-Held Legislative Seats
The party secured strong gains reminiscent of 2017, our annual review of state legislative results shows. They won multiple new seats in New Jersey, Virginia, Iowa, and Mississippi.
https://boltsmag.org/legislative-elections-results-2025/
1 day ago
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A fight over a prison closure in California in 2022 offered a window into the challenges of reducing incarceration when local economies are so tied with keeping the status quo, but it also offered glimpses of different possible futures.
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A Future for Susanville
Plans to shutter a California prison offer halting glimpses of a different world: an economy that doesn’t revolve around incarceration, a country where losing your job isn’t tantamount to ruin, and an opening for abolition.
https://boltsmag.org/susanville-prison-closure/
2 days ago
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The Hawaii Constitution "offers safety to Hawaii’s people that exceeds the federal constitution’s suddenly fluid protections,” Hawaii Justice Todd Eddins wrote in a recent ruling, taking a shot at the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Hawaii Supreme Court Expands Rights of Defendants, and Once Again Rebukes SCOTUS
The justices ruled that Hawaii’s constitution requires police to record interrogations. And they vowed to protect due process for Hawaii residents—unlike, they said, the Roberts Court.
https://boltsmag.org/hawaii-supreme-court-police-interrogations/
2 days ago
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Earlier this year, a Florida law that guts the powers of civilian oversight boards went into effect. “They’re making it seem un-American to question policing," said one critic.
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Police Oversight in Florida Is Already Weak. The State Is About to Gut It Further.
A bill headed to the governor’s desk would bar civilian oversight boards from investigating instances of police misconduct, further restricting their limited powers of accountability.
https://boltsmag.org/florida-weaken-civilian-police-oversight-bodies/
2 days ago
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“It’s a solution to a non-existent problem. I don’t see where this is doing anything to help voters. It’s only going to disenfranchise people,” says an Ohio election official about the state’s new ban on grace periods for mail ballots.
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Ohio Bans Grace Periods for Mail Ballots, Fulfilling Trump’s Wishes
Ohio is the fourth GOP-run state this year to ban ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but arrive after. A Supreme Court case could force that policy nationwide next year.
https://boltsmag.org/ohio-ends-grace-periods-for-mail-ballots/
2 days ago
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A citizen journalist joined the Massey Commission to address what he saw as a pattern of disrespect from local police. “I signed up to be on the commission because my thought process is that we have to change things right now for the future generation.”
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A Police Killing Drew National Protests. At Home, a Commission Struggles with How to Make a Difference.Â
More than a year after Sonya Massey was killed by police in Illinois, a namesake commission has wrestled over changes that would prevent future tragedies.
https://boltsmag.org/sonya-massey-commission-springfield-illinois-police-reform/
2 days ago
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Recent research found that traffic stops by police in Hillsborough County, Florida reduced voter turnout in 2014, 2016, and 2018 federal elections.
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A Police Stop Is Enough to Make Someone Less Likely to Vote
New research shows how the communities that are most heavily policed are pushed away from politics and from having a say in changing policy.
https://boltsmag.org/a-police-stop-is-enough-to-make-someone-less-likely-to-vote/
2 days ago
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“Solitary 100 percent makes it harder to return to society as productive members. It creates a deep-seeded hate and distrust for the system and all connected to it,” says Kwaneta Harris, who has experienced the practice in a Texas prison.
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“Designed to Break You:” Two Incarcerated Writers on the Heavy Toll of Solitary Confinement
The authors of a new book on solitary answer your questions about their experiences with isolation and the movement to end the torturous practice.
https://boltsmag.org/designed-to-break-you-two-incarcerated-writers-on-the-heavy-toll-of-solitary-confinement/
2 days ago
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“Expanding community oversight of policing has been an uphill battle for decades,” says state Senator Angela McKnight, who represents Jersey City. She is a sponsor of a bill that would strengthen investigatory powers for civilian oversight boards.
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New Jersey Cities Are Pressing Resistant State Officials for Civilian Police Oversight
Local officials in Newark, Jersey City, and Trenton want civilian agencies that can investigate police and issue subpoenas. But they keep running into the state’s Democratic leaders.
https://boltsmag.org/new-jersey-civilian-police-oversight-and-subpoena-power/
3 days ago
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Chicago’s chief prosecutor has removed protections that civil rights advocates say could prevent wrongful convictions. She has pared back her office’s lists of police with serious credibility issues.
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Exonerations Grind to a Halt Under Chicago’s New Prosecutor
Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke has weakened her office’s already broken system for freeing the innocent, even as allegations of coercion mount against a former Chicago detective.
https://boltsmag.org/chicago-cook-county-conviction-review-forberg/
3 days ago
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Lorelei Cloud was born 3 years before Native Americans living on tribal lands in Colorado were guaranteed the right to vote. She is now vice chair of the Southern Ute Tribe. “I don’t want future generations to have to deal with any of what we’ve had to.”
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On Native Land, a New Push to Expand Voting Meets the Long Tail of State Violence
Ongoing negotiations between tribal leaders and Colorado officials may chart a new path for automatically registering Native voters and growing voter rolls nationwide. But first the state is having to confront a legacy of mistrust.
https://boltsmag.org/automatic-voter-registration-native-tribe-members/
3 days ago
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📬 Did you know that Bolts has a weekly newsletter? Sign up for updates on local elections and a list of our latest deep-diving stories about criminal justice and voting rights, along with other local news stories that our team is talking about.
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Join our newsletter - Bolts
If you have any trouble signing up here, try our Google form instead.
https://boltsmag.org/newsletter/
3 days ago
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“One of the few things that people have when they’re behind bars is hope, and everything that crushes it is a heartbreak,” says an attorney who has represented prisoners applying for parole.
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New Mexico Officials Block a Pathway to Freedom for Juvenile Lifers Despite Reforms
State lawmakers banned life without parole for juveniles. But an opinion by the attorney general and parole board decisions could keep some from getting a second chance.
https://boltsmag.org/new-mexico-juvenile-life-without-parole/
3 days ago
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A judge has tossed the racketeering charges filed by the Georgia attorney general against activists who protested against Atlanta's Cop City facility.
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Fulton judge dismisses RICO charges against training center protesters
In his order issued Tuesday, the judge said Attorney General Chris Carr did not have the authority to bring RICO charges.
https://www.ajc.com/news/2025/12/fulton-judge-dismisses-rico-charges-against-training-center-protesters/
3 days ago
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Shane Sherman was released from prison in June and got a job at a construction company in Central Oregon, but didn’t have winter workwear. A state workforce development program gave him clothes. Now, that program is set to run out of money.
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Budget Cuts Threaten Oregon Program for Helping People Get Jobs After Prison
The state had recently expanded the novel program for providing one-on-one career coaching, job fairs behind bars, and support for people after release.
https://boltsmag.org/oregon-prison-work-reentry/
3 days ago
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State supreme courts are a battlefield for pressing issues, from abortion rights to ballot access. But do you know how your court works? Our guide breaks down the structure and procedures of every single state’s highest court.
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Your State-by-State Guide to Every State Supreme Court - Bolts
Bolts breaks down the structure, selection procedures, and functions of each state’s highest court.
https://boltsmag.org/whats-on-the-ballot/state-supreme-courts/
3 days ago
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One of our most-read stories in 2025: In a string of rulings, Hawaii Justice Todd Eddins has rebuked the originalist approach preferred by the conservative U.S. Supreme Court, calling it "white noise." “A constitution adapts,” he wrote. “Due process is agile.”
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Hawaii Supreme Court Expands Rights of Defendants, and Once Again Rebukes SCOTUS - Bolts
The justices ruled that Hawaii’s constitution requires police to record interrogations. And they vowed to protect due process for Hawaii residents—unlike, they said, the Roberts Court.
https://boltsmag.org/hawaii-supreme-court-police-interrogations/
3 days ago
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In the wake of Ohio’s ban on grace periods for mail ballots, Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, a Republican, offered his advice to voters: “Don’t vote by mail, because there are too many bad things that can happen. Do it in person if you can.”
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Ohio Bans Grace Periods for Mail Ballots, Fulfilling Trump’s Wishes
Ohio is the fourth GOP-run state this year to ban ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but arrive after. A Supreme Court case could force that policy nationwide next year.
https://boltsmag.org/ohio-ends-grace-periods-for-mail-ballots/
3 days ago
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A 1967 federal law currently requires that states use single-member districts. Advocates for multi-member proportional representation would love to see Congress revisit this.
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The Escalating Race to Redistrict: Your Questions Answered
How are the new maps changing the midterms? Would proportional representation help? Why are courts not doing more? You asked, and we’ve got answers about mid-decade redistricting.
https://boltsmag.org/mid-decade-redistricting-your-questions-answered/
4 days ago
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One of our most-read stories this year: A Pennsylvania county stopped charging people 'lodging fees' for detaining them in jail. Then it forgave $65 million in these fees. “What a light of hope this has been,” said one woman whose son owed $17,000.
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This Pennsylvania County Wiped Out Millions in Jail Debt
After Dauphin County ended the practice of charging people while they’re detained in jail, Commissioner Justin Douglas pushed it to forgive more than $65 million in lodging fees.
https://boltsmag.org/jail-debt-and-pay-to-stay-in-dauphin-county-pennsylvania/
4 days ago
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Missouri’s referendum on minimum wage and paid sick leave last year won by a margin of 58 to 42 percent statewide. Under a proposal advanced by the GOP, it would have failed because it didn’t win more than 50 percent in every congressional district.
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Under this GOP Measure, All of Missouri’s Recent Popular Initiatives Would Have Failed
Lawmakers just advanced a constitutional amendment to drastically raise the bar for approving citizen ballot measures. Voters get to weigh in on the scheme next year.
https://boltsmag.org/missouri-amendment-on-ballot-initiatives/
4 days ago
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We've entered the final hours of our fundraising drive. If you value Bolts—if you read us to understand the forces shaping the country, or rely on our election night cheat sheets—this is your chance: Support us today to sustain us into 2026!
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Support Bolts
We are a nonprofit publication that covers the nuts and bolts of political change, from the local up, and we need reader support to build our journalism.
https://boltsmag.org/donate-page/donate/
4 days ago
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What have we been up to in 2025? Here's a thread by our editor-in-chief on some of our team's favorite stories on the nuts and bolts of local politics, criminal justice, and voting rights this year.
add a skeleton here at some point
4 days ago
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Leaders of Ohio’s association of election officials scrambled to provide feedback before state legislators approved a ban on grace periods for mail ballots. “There wasn’t enough time to even have a meeting.”
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Ohio Bans Grace Periods for Mail Ballots, Fulfilling Trump’s Wishes
Ohio is the fourth GOP-run state this year to ban ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but arrive after. A Supreme Court case could force that policy nationwide next year.
https://boltsmag.org/ohio-ends-grace-periods-for-mail-ballots/
4 days ago
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Last month, Maine voters rejected a measure with restrictions on voting, 64 to 36 percent. “It sends a strong message that Mainers agree: We should not be making it harder for people to have their voices heard,” the Maine secretary of state told Bolts.
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Five Ways Tuesday’s Results Will Affect Voting Rules and Democracy
From felony disenfranchisement and mail voting to mid-decade gerrymanders, Tuesday delivered verdicts on election law across these five states.
https://boltsmag.org/five-ways-2025-elections-affect-voting-rules-and-democracy/
4 days ago
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Today is the last day of our year-end fundraising drive: Help us reach our end-of-year goals! Reader support will allow us to hit the ground running in 2026 and continue reporting, editing, and fact-checking the journalism you value. Donate today:
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Support Bolts
We are a nonprofit publication that covers the nuts and bolts of political change, from the local up, and we need reader support to build our journalism.
https://boltsmag.org/donate-page/donate/
4 days ago
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North Carolina raising the cost of products sold in state prisons by five cents is a significant increase to incarcerated workers who typically earn between forty cents and $1.25 per day.
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North Carolina Prison Officials Raise Prices for Those Who Can Least Afford It
An increased markup on canteen goods adds to the financial burden on incarcerated people and their families, highlighting how prison systems squeeze them for revenue.
https://boltsmag.org/north-carolina-prisons-canteen-markup/
5 days ago
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New Mexico officials granted Jesse Tooker parole on the life sentence he received when he was 17. But they didn’t agree to release him, saying an opinion issued by the state’s attorney general is keeping him behind bars.
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New Mexico Officials Block a Pathway to Freedom for Juvenile Lifers Despite Reforms
State lawmakers banned life without parole for juveniles. But an opinion by the attorney general and parole board decisions could keep some from getting a second chance.
https://boltsmag.org/new-mexico-juvenile-life-without-parole/
5 days ago
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An Alabama prison guard who left incarcerated people unsupervised in outdoor cages for hours was suspended for three days. But he was still allowed to participate in executions as part of the team of officers who administer the death penalty:
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In Alabama, Prison Guards Accused of Violence and Misconduct Carry Out Secretive Executions
As the state keeps details around the death penalty hidden, an investigation into its execution team raises questions about how incarcerated people are treated in their final moments.
https://boltsmag.org/alabama-execution-team/
5 days ago
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Did you know? Last year, Minnesota eliminated prison gerrymandering. The law, signed by Tim Walz in the spring, ended the practice of counting incarcerated people where prisons are located, which skews political power within the state.
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Minnesota Just Became The Latest State to Eliminate Prison Gerrymandering
A new law will end the practice of counting incarcerated people where prisons are located, which skews political power within the state.
https://boltsmag.org/minnesota-ends-prison-gerrymandering/
5 days ago
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reposted by
Bolts
Taniel
6 days ago
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!) 🧵
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Survivors of domestic violence who went to prison for crimes related to their abuse have for years asked California lawmakers to make courts take that abuse into consideration. For the third year, California killed such a reform.
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For Third Year, California Kills Bill to Help Incarcerated Domestic Violence Survivors
Advocates in California have pushed for relief for people convicted of harming their abuser, hoping to build on states across the political spectrum that have adopted such reforms.
https://boltsmag.org/california-justice-for-survivors-bill/
5 days ago
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A voting rights advocate says Ohio's new ban on grace periods for mail ballots could cause major problems for voters. “Where is the sense that our lawmakers are protecting our right to vote?”
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Ohio Bans Grace Periods for Mail Ballots, Fulfilling Trump’s Wishes
Ohio is the fourth GOP-run state this year to ban ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but arrive after. A Supreme Court case could force that policy nationwide next year.
https://boltsmag.org/ohio-ends-grace-periods-for-mail-ballots/
5 days ago
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Six states adopted new congressional maps this year, and a few more have started the process. So where does that leave the count of the overall partisan shift? You asked, we answered:
boltsmag.org/mid-dec...
5 days ago
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Contributing to Bolts helps us produce all the stories, reporting, and election guides you seek us out for. Now we're preparing to cover this critical election year. Consider a year-end donation or subscription to support our work.
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Support Bolts
We are a nonprofit publication that covers the nuts and bolts of political change, from the local up, and we need reader support to build our journalism.
https://boltsmag.org/donate
5 days ago
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From the legacy of the internment of Japanese Americans, to who profits from jailing immigrants, you asked us critical questions about the network of immigrant detention. Here’s what you wanted to know:
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The Past and Present of Immigration Detention: Your Questions Answered
A historian of migrant detention responds to questions from <em>Bolts</em> readers on the vast network of local lockups that jail immigrants, and how it
https://boltsmag.org/the-past-and-present-of-immigration-detention-your-questions-answered/
5 days ago
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