Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Alex Burness @burness.bsky.social · 17h

Dispatch from Pennsylvania on a highly unusual state Supreme Court election—one of the few most consequential matters on the ballot anywhere in the country next month. New from me in @boltsmag.org: boltsmag.org/pennsylvania...

Inside the Clunky Elections to Control Pennsylvania's Supreme Court - Bolts

The GOP is making an expensive push to end Democrats’ majority on a court at the center of election lawsuits, sparking a fledging campaign season with little precedent or template.

boltsmag.org

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Reposted by Alex Burness

hannah gais @hannahgais.bsky.social · 1d

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...

Another effort to track ICE raids was just taken offline

People over Papers was removed by Padlet, the platform it was built on, yesterday.

www.technologyreview.com

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Reposted by Alex Burness

Injustice Watch @injusticewatch.org · 6d

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:

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…

buff.ly

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Alex Burness @burness.bsky.social · 6d

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.

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Piper French @psfrench.bsky.social · 7d

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...

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.

boltsmag.org

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Reposted by Alex Burness

Josh Sternberg @joshsternberg.com · 11d

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-...

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.

www.inquirer.com

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 15d

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...

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Alex Burness @burness.bsky.social · 18d

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

Pascal Sabino @pascalsabino.bsky.social · 19d

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...

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...

boltsmag.org

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Alex Burness @burness.bsky.social · 18d

“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-...

“Designed to Break You:” Two Incarcerated Writers on the Heavy Toll of Solitary Confinement - Bolts

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... Read Mo...

boltsmag.org

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Reposted by Alex Burness

Shannon Bond @shannonbond.bsky.social · 19d

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...

Amy Kristin Sanders @amykristinsanders.bsky.social · 19d

I had this exact same experience this morning. Same reporter as Heidi.

This is *not* normal.

I have spoken to the press on these issues for two decades. No government official has ever demanded to know my identity in order to give a comment on a story.

Heidi Kitrosser @heidikitrosser.bsky.social · 19d

I find this extremely chilling:
I spoke w a reporter this morning about Kimmel. (Reporter was / is great) They got back to me a short while ago to say they sought White House comment & WH demands to know first which experts they spoke with. I told reporter I'm happy to be quoted IN THE STORY but 1/x

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Pascal Sabino @pascalsabino.bsky.social · 19d

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...

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...

boltsmag.org

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Reposted by Alex Burness

Bryan Schott @schotthappens.com · 19d

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

Worth your time today.

Stephanie Mencimer @smencimer.bsky.social · 19d

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has been preaching calm in a violent moment—but there's something missing www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Gov. Spencer Cox has been preaching calm in a violent moment—but there's something missing

In Utah, the fight over gerrymandering shows how hard bridging divides really is.

www.motherjones.com

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Reposted by Alex Burness

Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 19d

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:

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...

boltsmag.org

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Reposted by Alex Burness

Joe Sudbay @joesudbay.bsky.social · 24d

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

boltsmag.org/maine-questi...

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Reposted by Alex Burness

Lauren Gill @laurengill.bsky.social · 26d

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...

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.

boltsmag.org

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Alex Burness @burness.bsky.social · 25d

“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.

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Alex Burness @burness.bsky.social · 25d

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...

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.

boltsmag.org

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Alex Burness @burness.bsky.social · 28d

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...

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Alex Burness @burness.bsky.social · 28d

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...

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?

boltsmag.org

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Bolts @boltsmag.org · Sep 4

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:

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.

boltsmag.org

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Reposted by Alex Burness

Piper French @psfrench.bsky.social · Aug 26

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...

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.

boltsmag.org

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Alex Burness @burness.bsky.social · Aug 28

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...

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.

boltsmag.org

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Alex Burness @burness.bsky.social · Aug 27

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.

Alex Burness @burness.bsky.social · Aug 27

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...

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.

boltsmag.org

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Reposted by Alex Burness

The Downballot @the-downballot.com · Aug 27

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

Alex Burness @burness.bsky.social · Aug 27

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...

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.

boltsmag.org

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Alex Burness @burness.bsky.social · Aug 27

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...

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.

boltsmag.org

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