Piper French

This should be a front-page scandal.

Committee to Protect Journalists Reports a Record 129 Journalists Killed in 2025 For both 2024 and 2025, the Israeli military was responsible for two-thirds of all press killings.

A record 129 press workers were killed worldwide in 2025, more in one year than in any of the previous three decades. The previous record was set in 2024. For both 2024 and 2025, the Israeli military was responsible for two-thirds of all press killings.

great reporting on the DA's race in Buncombe County. Living here for so long, I'm struck by the fact that there's only been 2 DAs over the last 35 years. Whoever wins will not only have to deal with Iryna's Law, etc. but will have to contend with the problematic legacies of their predecessors

L.A. TACO Investigative Journalism Fund By L.A. TACO

Support Lex and @lataco.bsky.social's invaluable contributions to investigative journalism in LA: givebutter.com/la-taco-inve...

Inside ICE’s Only Contract with a Blue State - Bolts As part of a 287(g) contract between state officials and ICE, Massachusetts continues to release prisoners into deportation—even as state lawmakers look to ban other forms of ICE collaboration.

In MA, politicians & groups normally supportive of immigrants make exceptions for prisoners.

"People are more willing to talk about banning a hypothetical 287(g) with a hypothetical police department than they are a real 287(g) with the MA Department of Correction."

boltsmag.org/massachusett...

Update: the judge in the Stanford case has declared a mistrial, with jurors "hopelessly deadlocked" on both felony counts – a big embarrassment for the Santa Clara DA, who has already said he'll retry the case.

In Bay Area, Felony Charges Against Student Protesters Prompt Free Speech Concerns - Bolts German Gonzalez grew up about an hour south of Stanford University, in a dusty California farming town where the apples for Martinelli’s sparkling cider are juiced and packaged. In high... Read More

The most serious charges against pro-Palestine student protestors in the country have come from a Democratic DA in a blue state. In San Francisco & San Jose, prosecutors are using *felony conspiracy* charges to go after activists who aren't accused of any violence boltsmag.org/stanford-san...

In Bay Area, Felony Charges Against Student Protesters Prompt Free Speech Concerns Local prosecutors are seeking felony-level charges against pro-Palestine demonstrators. Even if they don’t stick, critics say the response is harsh and could chill protests.

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

In Bay Area, Felony Charges Against Student Protesters Prompt Free Speech Concerns - Bolts German Gonzalez grew up about an hour south of Stanford University, in a dusty California farming town where the apples for Martinelli’s sparkling cider are juiced and packaged. In high... Read More

As we witness the punishment of protest across the US, a timely lesson from the Palestine US campus movement: at Stanford, student protesters were not only arrested and suspended from school, some were charged with *felonies* by the Santa Clara DA—a chilling escalation.
boltsmag.org/stanford-san...

In Bay Area, Felony Charges Against Student Protesters Prompt Free Speech Concerns - Bolts German Gonzalez grew up about an hour south of Stanford University, in a dusty California farming town where the apples for Martinelli’s sparkling cider are juiced and packaged. In high... Read More

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...

In Bay Area, Felony Charges Against Student Protesters Prompt Free Speech Concerns - Bolts German Gonzalez grew up about an hour south of Stanford University, in a dusty California farming town where the apples for Martinelli’s sparkling cider are juiced and packaged. In high... Read More

In the Bay Area, local prosecutors have charged student protesters who participated in pro-Palestine demonstrations with felony-level charges that critics are warning are setting a dangerous template for law enforcement responses.

@psfrench.bsky.social reports on what's going on in this new piece:

Antifa used to unmask neo-Nazis, now it’s exposing ICE: ‘Predators don’t get anonymity’ Following in a long American tradition of identifying fascists, a network of leftists has set out to name and shame Trump’s immigration agents

New: Antifa unmasked a new generation of fascists in the Trump era. Now it's exposing ICE.

"Predators don’t get anonymity."

My latest for @us.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Fear of ICE is keeping pregnant immigrants in Minnesota from critical care Health care providers in Minnesota said pregnant patients are having more complications linked to stress. But fear of immigration agents is keeping them from prenatal care.

Citing fear of ICE, pregnant immigrants in Minnesota are

-skipping prenatal care
-requesting home births, even when not medically advised
-going w/o adequate food

Many are experiencing complications providers say can be stress-onset: diabetes, high blood pressure, and even water breaking early

The deputy who murdered Sonya Massey, Sean Grayson, was sentenced to 20 years in prison yesterday.

"The Mayor Is Not in Charge of the Jails Anymore" - Bolts Ten years after Kalief Browder’s death by suicide, his story lingers as a reminder of both the horrors of New York City’s Rikers Island and the cascading consequences of solitary... Read More

I wrote in May about the court's decision to appoint essentially a receiver to run Rikers - a very rare outcome signalling how bad things are there - and how this might paradoxically stymie longstanding efforts to end solitary confinement there: boltsmag.org/new-york-rik...

Some background from a Vermont Digger article about Deml's time heading up VT DOC - he took over in 2021, during the pandemic:

vtdigger.org/2025/07/28/v...

Judge Names Former C.I.A. Officer to Take Control of Rikers

The federal judge overseeing Rikers has finally chosen someone to run NYC's jails, wresting control from the city - a former CIA officer and former head of Vermont Department of Corrections:

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/n...

Jesus Christ

Dallas County Exonerates Black Man Who Was Executed in 1956

An officer said the dying woman said a black man attacked her - a claim disputed by several witnesses. Walker had an alibi: he was with his girlfriend, who was in labor. The PD homicide captain was a former KKK member; the DA "had overseen 20 wrongful convictions."
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/u...

Americans by Name, Punished for Believing It - Bolts In a small Alaska town, American Samoans face prosecution for voting in the only country they’ve ever known. They live in a limbo, created by colonial expansion, that now confuses even public official...

Alaska's AG is pursuing felony cases w serious prison time vs. American Samoans who accidentally voted - elderly women with cancer, pregnant moms - despite widespread official confusion about the rules.

Please read this beautiful & enraging @burness.bsky.social feature: boltsmag.org/prosecuted-f...

The FBI Is Already Obstructing the ICE Shooting Investigation. It Might Not Matter. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty can bring charges even without any arrest and is not one to back down from a case like this.

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...

Horrifying story on many levels. Amazing reporting.

'Active shooter' or ICE agent's victim? What happened in L.A. New Year's Eve killing Federal officials say an off-duty ICE agent was responding to an "active shooter" at his apartment complex when he gunned down Keith "Pooter" Porter in Northridge. Friends and advocates contend Porter...

A week before Renee Good was killed, an off-duty ICE agent fatally shot Keith Porter in L.A.

DHS called Porter an "active shooter," yet no one else was hurt. Porter's family says he was no threat.

What really happened? Latest w/ @liborjany & @cbuch03

www.latimes.com/california/s...

extraordinary reporting from @burness.bsky.social

please open it, and take some time when you can to read it

Americans by Name, Punished for Believing It - Bolts In a small Alaska town, American Samoans face prosecution for voting in the only country they’ve ever known. They live in a limbo, created by colonial expansion, that now confuses even public official...

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...

At Middlebury, She Hoped to Start Fresh. In Trump’s America, It Seemed Impossible.

"Lia’s father and friends say she was a casualty, in part, of the argument over transgender women competing in women’s sports, and a broader national climate that has been unwelcoming, and often vicious, to all trans people." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/u...

“What’s More Extraordinary and Compelling?” - Bolts Women who suffered sexual abuse at the hands of guards at a notorious federal prison in California are now seeking compassionate release.

If you want more backstory, I wrote about survivors of FCI Dublin - dubbed "the rape club" - and their quest for compassionate release in 2024: boltsmag.org/federal-pris...

ICE Wants to Reopen Notorious California Prison. Locals Are Fighting Back. FCI Dublin was shut down in 2024 after revelations of abuse against prisoners. Residents want it to stay closed.

Always read Victoria Law on prisons: truthout.org/articles/ice...