Virginia is currently the only state to strip people of their voting rights for life for any felony. A constitutional amendment would change that, but hinges on November’s legislative races.
Bolts
Virginia Democrats Advance a Measure to End Lifetime Voting Ban. Now It Gets Complicated. - Bolts
Alonzo Bland Jr., of Richmond, did everything the state asked of him following his felony conviction: He served time in state prison, completed a t...
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders campaigned in 2022 on putting more people behind bars. After taking office, she spearheaded a bill limiting parole and bail. Her announcement of a new state prison has sparked fierce opposition in one rural county.
Bolts
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 incarcerat...
After over 500 hearings, lawyer Douglas Jennings quit representing clients before the South Carolina Parole Board, citing the board's consistent rejections. "I just couldn’t justify taking somebody’s money," he told Bolts.
Bolts
Parole Plunges in South Carolina as Governor-Appointed Board Issues Denial After Denial - Bolts
People familiar with South Carolina’s parole process describe a secretive panel that downplays rehabilitative efforts and ignores applicants’ a...
Maine’s Question 1 comes as President Trump has called to eliminate mail voting and many red states have restricted access to mail voting. If the practice is banned, he said, “you’re not gonna have many Democrats get elected.”
Bolts
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 ...
A ballot measure in Maine that would add new restrictions on mail voting would have an outsize effect in this state, where the average age is the highest of any state in the country and there is a high incidence of disability.
Bolts
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 ...
Connecticut lawmaker Josh Elliott was “horrified” to learn that a local company supplied chemicals for federal executions. His office was flooded with calls urging action, and this year he is pushing to ban execution drug sales for good.
Bolts
Connecticut Could Ban Its Businesses from Helping Carry Out Executions Elsewhere - Bolts
Connecticut lawmakers are considering legislation to make it illegal to participate in the death penalty, following news that a local company helpe...
Our weekly newsletter will keep you up to date on the local politics and policies of criminal justice and voting rights. We outline news you need to know and share behind-the-scenes views of some of our biggest stories. Join us:
Bolts
Join our newsletter - Bolts
If you have any trouble signing up here, try our Google form instead.
The New Orleans police is currently constrained from partaking in almost all immigration enforcement activities by a federal consent decree. But in January, a judge granted a request to wind down this monitoring.
Bolts
New Orleans May Hand Its Police Live Facial Recognition Tech. Critics Warn It'll Help ICE. - Bolts
The cameras are mounted across downtown New Orleans: hanging from balconies on Bourbon Street, bolted to the exterior walls of bars and four-star h...
JUST IN: Democrats have defended two legislative seats today in special elections. They easily prevailed in an election for Rhode Island's state Senate, and narrowly prevailed in an election for Delaware's state House.
In Virginia, people leaving prison automatically regained the right to vote under the previous governor. But Governor Youngkin ended that policy and now decides who gets to cast a ballot.
Bolts
The Virginians Who Can’t Vote Because of Glenn Youngkin - Bolts
George Hawkins had a long to-do list when he left the Greensville Correctional Center on May 3, a free man for the first time in his adult life: st...