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Bolts
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With no reentry support, Phillip Vance Smith was released from prison into homelessness. His story echoes thousands of others, writing in Bolts that 1 in 6 people left North Carolina prisons last year “as hopelessly as I did” with nowhere to turn.
Bolts
On His Way Out, North Carolina Governor Expands Support for People Leaving Prison  - Bolts
An executive order directs state agencies to improve reentry services and fix a broken system that failed me and thousands of others released from ...
The ‘no’ to repealing ranked-choice voting in Alaska did well in blue areas, while outpacing Kamala Harris’ share of the vote by nearly 9 percentage points statewide. It did best relative to Harris in areas with large Native populations.
Bolts
Powered by Native Voters, Ranked-Choice Voting and Open Primaries Survive in Alaska - Bolts
Alaska’s predominantly Native regions delivered huge margins against repealing the state’s new elections system, despite facing continued logis...
In New Jersey, 25% of Black adults are barred from ever serving on a jury. “We’re whitewashing a space that’s disproportionately affecting Black and brown communities,” said one lawyer. “Which calls into question: who is getting a jury of one’s peers?”
Bolts
New Jersey May Open Juries to Most People with Criminal Convictions - Bolts
New Jersey has one of the nation's harshest jury exclusion laws. A bill championed by formerly incarcerated people would walk that back, and m...
Despite accusations of neglect and abuse by Wexford Health Sources, Illinois inked a 5-year, $4 billion contract with the prison healthcare company, raising fresh questions about the state’s commitment to improving quality of care for incarcerated people.
Bolts
In Illinois, a Private Prison Company's Long Trail of Deaths and High-Dollar Contracts - Bolts
This year, Illinois again picked Wexford Health Services for prison health care despite longstanding claims of neglect. A judge has since extended ...
With a conservative hold on federal courts, state supreme courts are now where voting rights, abortion, and other critical issues will be fought. @npub1skvn...dfdf explains how last week's elections set the stage:
Bolts
How Supreme Court Elections Set the Stage for Coming Battles, from Voting to Abortion - Bolts
More than before, progressives working to protect people’s rights will need state supreme courts to be hospitable to lawsuits that are increasing...
California voters last week ousted two of the boldest reform DAs to hold office since the “progressive prosecutor” movement began: George Gascón in LA and Pamela Price in Alameda County.
Bolts
Voters Dismiss Two of California's Leading Progressive Prosecutors - Bolts
Los Angeles' George Gascón and Oakland's Pamela Price sought to use their offices to redress the harms and disparities of the criminal l...
Prop 134 and 136 would have restricted direct democracy in Arizona by making it prohibitively difficult to qualify a measure for the ballot. “It is heartening that these measures went down pretty solidly,” said an attorney on last week’s results.
Bolts
Arizonans Defeat Three GOP Measures That Would Have Restricted Their Voting Power - Bolts
The measures would have largely ended judicial elections and squashed future citizen-led initiatives, which progressives have used to pursue priori...
Republicans have lost their supermajority in the North Carolina House. This means that they will not be able to use party-line votes to override vetoes by Josh Stein, the Democratic Governor-Elect.
Democrats break Republican supermajority in North Carolina General Assembly
Voters in Nevada approved a ballot measure on Tuesday banning the use of “involuntary servitude” as punishment for a crime. The results of a similar amendment in California are still to come. Our preview story explains what's at stake:
Bolts
The California Ballot Measure That Could End Forced Prison Labor - Bolts
Prop 6 would amend California's constitution to ban “involuntary servitude” and prohibit state prisons from punishing incarcerated people ...