Alex Burness

Another effort to track ICE raids was just taken offline People over Papers was removed by Padlet, the platform it was built on, yesterday.

Identifying public officials isn't "doxing." People have the right to know who is working for their government. Nor, for that matter, is it "radical left-wing terrorism." So it's frustrating to see platforms caving to these bad faith characterizations. www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/06/1...

Cook County’s new prosecutor has weakened an already broken system for freeing the innocent State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke’s Conviction Integrity Unit hasn’t exonerated anyone in her 10 months on the job, and she has done little to confront more than a dozen coercion allegations…

Eileen O'Neill Burke made it harder for people to have their innocence claims investigated by the Cook County Conviction Integrity Unit — one of several ways her office is weakening review of wrongful convictions. Read the latest from us and @boltsmag.org:

A little-known part of Jane Goodall’s legacy is that she helped place Roots + Shoots chapters inside jails in the U.S. and Italy. Some of the participants went on post-incarceration to careers in environmental protection. I met her in 2015 at the Boulder jail—still my all-time favorite assignment.

Bid to Renew Federal Grant Sparks Concern Boston May Help Trump’s DHS on Immigration - Bolts The grant helps fund a law enforcement center that’s drawn criticism over privacy and over data-sharing with ICE. It would also come with new strings to spend money on border control.

Boston's Michelle Wu has attracted notice for standing up to Trump on ICE raids. But her stance is undermined by the city's fusion center, which civil liberties advocates have warned abt for yrs: "The whole purpose of it is federal & local law enforcement collaboration."
boltsmag.org/boston-polic...

Camden had zero homicides this summer. City and county leaders credit the 2013 disbandment of its police department. As of Monday, the city has seen a 43% decrease in homicides compared to this time last year. And violent crime has reached a 50-year low.

Camden had zero homicides this summer. City and county leaders credit the 2013 disbandment of its police department.

Violent crime is at a 50-year low.

This is amazing.

www.inquirer.com/news/camden-...

It’s Election Day tomorrow!

1. Dems favored to win a congressional special in Arizona.
2. A Dem is vying to flip mayorship of Mobile, Alabama; she’d be city’s first Black woman mayor.
3. GOP defends red-leaning state legislative district in Georgia.

Details on each: boltsmag.org/whats-on-the...

Missouri Republicans are asking voters to surrender virtually all their direct democracy power. A major, fascinating ballot issue to watch in 2026.

“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-...

we wrote about this WH tactic recently. they’re asking journalists for expert source names and then using them to look up political donations in FEC records to try to discredit those sources as biased.

www.npr.org/2025/08/18/n...

Under this GOP Measure, All of Missouri’s Recent Popular Initiatives Would Have Failed - Bolts Republicans have dominated Missouri’s legislature for over two decades, but they haven’t entirely controlled state lawmaking, in large part because Missouri empowers citizens to petition for ballot re...

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...

This article is so good, it truly makes me angry that I didn't write it.

Worth your time today.

Under this GOP Measure, All of Missouri’s Recent Popular Initiatives Would Have Failed - Bolts Republicans have dominated Missouri’s legislature for over two decades, but they haven’t entirely controlled state lawmaking, in large part because Missouri empowers citizens to petition for ballot re...

NEW: Republicans have advanced a constitutional amendment to basically kill direct democracy in Missouri.

Since 2020, citizens have used initiatives to increase minimum wage, expand Medicaid, protect abortion.

All those measures would have failed under the GOP rules:

Deep dive on what's happening with Maine ballot measure, including funders by @burness.bsky.social at @boltsmag.org

boltsmag.org/maine-questi...

The Prison Next Door - Bolts How Arkansas’ secretive plan for a new state lockup angered residents in a deep red corner of rural America—and changed how some see incarceration.

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...

“Crackdown” is not an appropriate word for what Trump is doing in DC. Nor is it appropriate to call it a crime-fighting initiative. Media should not carry his water by using this language.

The Prison Next Door - Bolts How Arkansas’ secretive plan for a new state lockup angered residents in a deep red corner of rural America—and changed how some see incarceration.

This new, deeply reported @laurengill.bsky.social story on prison construction will open your eyes to a whole lot. Very worth your time: boltsmag.org/arkansas-pri...

Holding local elections off-cycle seriously depresses turnout. A super underrated factor in American politics, and one of our favorite topics at @boltsmag.org. Great new @taniel.bsky.social story out on NYC election timing: boltsmag.org/new-york-cit...

His Shock Win Flipped a Pennsylvania County. Now He Vows to Raise Hell over Its Lethal Jail. - Bolts Pastor and activist Justin Douglas will soon be plunged into an insider role, helping run the state’s capital county. Can he leverage his new power to change Harrisburg's deadly facility?

Justin Douglas, the progressive Harrisburg pastor who pulled one of the biggest local election upsets of 2023, has announced he’s running for Congress in PA10. It’s one of the most flippable GOP-held seats in the country.

Good time to read this @boltsmag.org profile:

boltsmag.org/dauphin-coun...

The Past and Present of Prison Labor: Your Questions Answered A historian answers <i>Bolts</i> readers’ questions on the deep roots of forced labor in U.S. prisons, how it operates today, and efforts to challenge it.

The U.S. prison labor system has deep historical roots. After the Civil War, states criminalized Black people through "vagrancy laws" and sent them into forced labor through convict leasing. Historian Robert Chase explains:

Your Guide to the 2025 Prosecutor Elections - Bolts Key races will shape the politics of criminal justice from Philly to Seattle—plus a wild card in New Jersey. But most of November’s 66 prosecutor races feature just one candidate, as usual.

Analysis by @boltsmag.org shows "how rarely elected prosecutors face any contestation at all—a trend Bolts has covered for years, which neither the rise of “progressive prosecutors” nor any pushback has changed"

Only 15 of the 66 prosecutor races we ID'ed are contested!
boltsmag.org/2025-prosecu...

A Ballot Measure Targets Mail Voting in Maine - Bolts Question 1, on the November ballot, would set up a barrage of new restrictions on absentee ballots that would considerably affect older voters and people with disabilities.

Among the proposed changes in this conservative-backed Maine ballot measure: limiting towns/cities to 1 ballot dropbox apiece and banning them covering postage costs for people returning ballots in the mail.

Much more here on a measure that deserves your attention:

boltsmag.org/maine-questi...

Question 1’s leading backers have openly said that their mission is to elect Republicans. Unclear that this ballot measure would help them do that: many in Maine expect the measure would making voter harder for rural folks and for those 65+, who overwhelmingly (61% last year) prefer to vote by mail.

Essential deep dive into an under-the-radar, but important, election this fall in Maine.

A Ballot Measure Targets Mail Voting in Maine - Bolts Question 1, on the November ballot, would set up a barrage of new restrictions on absentee ballots that would considerably affect older voters and people with disabilities.

Maine has the oldest population of any state and a high rate of disability. Question 1, on the November ballot, figures to make voting (especially by mail) much harder for many, and particularly for older folks and people with disabilities.

New in @boltsmag.org: boltsmag.org/maine-questi...

America Tips Into Fascism Today is different than before.

The scariest thing about this @vermontgmg.bsky.social post is how sober and un-hyperbolic it is. All points of fact are supported with links to reporting. No claims are exaggerated or twisted to meet his thesis. He just lays out where we are and what this country looks like right now.

Your Guide to the 2025 Prosecutor Elections - Bolts Most of November's prosecutor races feature just one candidate, as usual. But key races will shape the politics of criminal justice, from Philly to Seattle — plus a wild card in New Jersey.

I decided to look at all 66 prosecutor elections this fall.

Why? Prosecutors have huge power over sentencing, charging, second chances, and even immigration implications.

Here's everything you need to know, from East to West Coast. New from me:

A Friend’s Death to Mourn, and to Serve Time for An Alabama teen was shot alongside his friend, then prosecuted for his killing. His case highlights a particularly harsh doctrine in American criminal punishment: felony murder.

NEW in Bolts: An Alabama teen was shot alongside his friend, then prosecuted for his killing. His case highlights a particularly harsh doctrine in American criminal punishment: felony murder.

boltsmag.org/alabama...

A New Cycle of Texas Gerrymandering: Your Questions Answered - Bolts The Texas legislature began meeting in a special session last week to adopt a new congressional map that will, they hope, provide additional seats to the GOP in next year’s... Read More

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-...

The 20 Elections to Watch in August - Bolts Out of 40 special elections for congressional and legislative seats so far in 2025, only two have seen flips; both were Democratic gains. That’s to be expected: Nationwide, most districts... Read More

NEW: July was quiet but election schedule picks up in August!

There are four legislative districts that have some potential of flipping in special elections; mayoral elections galore from Detroit to Seattle; a major prosecutor race; and more.

My guide to 20 August elections you should know about:

This Bay Area County Says It Cut Ties with ICE. This Program Says Otherwise. A widespread data-sharing program highlights financial ties between local police and immigration enforcement—and how even sanctuary jurisdictions still feed “the deportation machine.”

A widespread data-sharing program with ICE supports local and state budgets nationwide—even in so-called sanctuary cities and states that forbid certain law enforcement cooperation and information sharing with ICE. Learn more: boltsmag.org/alameda...