Hernandez D. Stroud

happy birthday @boltsmag.org and congratulations @taniel.bsky.social @michaelbarajas.bsky.social. such great content! thank you for the fabulous handiwork.

Today is a cool day: it’s our fourth birthday at Bolts!

🎂🎂🎂🎂

That’s right, @boltsmag.org launched exactly four years ago: it was just me & @michaelbarajas.bsky.social that day.

We’ve grown so much, and done so much, since! Thanks to everyone who has supported, read, & sustained us since: ❤️!

The 1803 finger emoji is impeccable work

Massachusetts Could Be the Next State to Give Abuse Survivors a Pathway Out of Prison - Bolts The Massachusetts Survivors Act emulates recent resentencing reforms across the country that allow for reduced sentences for people with convictions related to their abuse.

Massachusetts is considering a bill that could shorten prison terms for domestic violence survivors whose convictions stem from their abuse.

Other states -- OK, NY, GA -- have recently enacted similar reforms. boltsmag.org/massachusett...

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) — Punxsutawney Phil is said to have seen his shadow, predicting 6 more weeks of winter weather.

YouTube video by Brennan Center for Justice Impermissible Punishments: How Prison Became A Problem For Democracy (with Judith Resnik)

Check out this fascinating conversation with Yale Law Prof Judith Resnik about her book, Impermissible Punishments, which traces the history of power & punishment w/in prisons. She spoke with my @brennancenter.org colleagues @lbeisen.bsky.social & @stroud.bsky.social. www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnlV...

Mamdani names new Department of Correction commissioner Stanley Richards will become the first formerly incarcerated person to lead the city’s jails.

Congratulations to the new head of the NYC jail system, Commissioner Stanley Richards. He was president of the Fortune Society.

The first formerly incarcerated person to ever lead the jails (!), Richards will bring a variety of talents and experiences to the role. ny1.com/nyc/all-boro...

BREAKING: Judge dismisses murder, weapons charges against alleged UnitedHealth CEO killer Mangione reut.rs/45Fin56

DUCKWORTH: If it's true that we are not at war with Venezuela, will you advise the president to rescind his invocation of the wartime Alien Enemies Act?

RUBIO: That was a mechanism to remove people from our country that present great danger

D: It's a wartime act. Are we currently at war?

R: No

DUCKWORTH: The administration has acknowledged that the vast majority of the men it rounded up and deported to torture under this law had no criminal record

RUBIO: We didn't torture anybody. Who did we torture?

Philip Glass pulls world premiere from Kennedy Center The pioneering composer announced that “the values of the Kennedy Center today are in direct conflict with the message” of his Symphony No. 15: “Lincoln.”

Breaking news: Composer Philip Glass withdrew his highly anticipated Symphony No. 15 from its scheduled Kennedy Center performance, saying “the values of the Kennedy Center today are in direct conflict with the message of the Symphony.”

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

NEW: Chief U.S. District Judge Laura T. Swain has picked Nick Deml, former CIA officer and Vermont prison head, as the receiver for the New York City jail system. Deml's primary task will be reining in extreme violence that has long plagued the institution. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/n...

Taking a break from playing.

Construction to Start on Chinatown Jail Despite Fierce Community Opposition The long-delayed Manhattan facility, the final piece of the city’s Rikers closure plan, is slated for completion in 2032.

Although city law now says Rikers Island can’t be used for incarceration past 2027, the $3.9B Manhattan jail in Chinatown won’t be built and ready for use until 2032. www.thecity.nyc/2026/01/23/c...

Tribeca Citizen | New plans and an alternative proposal for the White Street jail <p>The city is hosting a construction kickoff meeting tonight for the $3.8 billion facility. Welcome to Chinatown has a better plan.</p>

The city’s ambitious plan to close Rikers Island is now scheduled to be finished by 2032 at the earliest. The new, smaller lockups are required by law to be completed in 2027 when the city will be legally prevented from using Rikers as a jail. tribecacitizen.com/2026/01/22/n...

Vital City | Trump’s Unconstitutional Coercion The president cannot constitutionally threaten to withhold funds from so-called sanctuary cities.

Does President Trump have the right to withhold federal funding from so-called sanctuary cities? @ucberkeleylaw.bsky.social dean Erwin Chemerinsky says the legal and constitutional answer is clear.

www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/tru...

"It's Time": Virginia Lawmakers Ask Voters to Repeal Jim Crow-Era Lifetime Ban on Voting - Bolts Voters will decide this year whether to end Virginia’s uniquely harsh felony disenfranchisement rules. They'll also vote on abortion, gay marriage, and redistricting.

NEW: Virginia lawmakers adopted a constitutional amendment that would get rid of rules that strip people of voting rights for life for any felony conviction.

Now state residents must vote on the amendment to make it official. boltsmag.org/virginia-con...

What the Incoming Mayor Must Do About New York City Jails Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani can harness the federal court’s historic intervention in the local jail system to durably improve it.

Violence. Deception. Chaos.

The latest monitor’s report is clear: Rikers Island is still broken and it’s hardly getting better.

Mayor @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social has a rare chance to deal with the NYC jail crisis & @brennancenter.org outlined ways to do so. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

Governor Pritzker signs Clean Slate Act Illinois is giving residents an opportunity to clear their criminal records.

Congratulations to Illinois, which today became the 13th state to sign clean slate legislation into law. Clean slate laws allow people with criminal convictions in their past to more easily obtain housing, employment, and more by sealing some criminal records after a certain amount of time.

New friend. ⛄️

Totally!

"Children as young as 12 are regularly held in small barren rooms for weeks and months on end across five facilities. The lawyers claim that youth are often held in solitary conditions to alleviate “dangerously low” staffing levels, and are forced to go to the bathroom in trash cans in their cells."

Join the Data Collaborative for Justice and us on January 15th at 1pm for our webinar exploring findings from our joint report on "Rikers Island and Mental Health".

We will explore strategies capable of advancing de- carceration, data and more! #ShutRikers

RSVP:
us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

New York Punishes 12-Year-Olds With Solitary Confinement, Lawsuit Claims

Per a new lawsuit: New York state officials punish children *as young as 12* with solitary confinement for "minor misbehavior, including manifestations of youth's disabilities."

If adults have called solitary "worse than death," how do you think it affects kids? www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/n...

Paper to Pixels: DOC Tests Digital Logbooks Years After Watchdog Rebuke The New York City Department of Correction has begun piloting an electronic record system after investigators found handwritten logs masked hundreds of violent incidents.

Investigators found that handwritten jail logbooks masked hundreds of violent incidents. Years later, the Department of Correction says it’s finally piloting an electronic record system. A 🧵 www.thecity.nyc/2026/01/13/r...

ICE Opening Huge Lockup 50 Miles North of New York City The coming “processing facility” is already triggering protests upstate.

"The Department of Homeland Security appears to be moving ahead with a new immigrant detention facility to hold as many as 1,500 detainees in Chester, New York — just over an hour from New York City." — @gwynnefitz.bsky.social reports
www.thecity.nyc/2026/01/14/c...

“It’s monumental,” Stackhouse told Bolts. “If I am sent a letter saying I should come in for a jury, I am excited to go through the process. I’ve been telling family and friends that when they get a letter and they try to get out of jury duty—no, you should be excited to be involved. I am.”

2️⃣ New Jersey just expanded the rights of *350,000 people* by removing the lifetime ban they faced to serving on juries.

This was massively distorting the jury pools & outcomes for defendants.

In a Final Act, New Jersey Governor Opens Jury Service to Thousands with Convictions - Bolts On Sunday, coming up on his last full week in office, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy stood at the lectern of the New Hope Baptist Church in East Orange to... Read More

Remarkable final act by outgoing Gov. Phil Murphy: 350,000 New Jerseyans with criminal convictions can now serve on juries. In an egalitarian society, justice demands the full participation of folks who’ve paid their debt. boltsmag.org/new-jersey-g...

LISTEN LIVE: Supreme Court considers whether states can ban transgender students from sports The justices are hearing arguments Tuesday in two cases over whether the sports bans violate the Constitution or the landmark federal law known as Title IX that prohibits sex discrimination in educati...

This morning (9CT/10ET), the Supreme Court is hearing arguments in two trans rights cases. Do bans on trans girls playing girls sports violate Title IX of the Education Amendments? Do they violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment? (Or are trans people protected by the EP at all?)