Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · 3d

A federal judge on Sunday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deploying any National Guard units to Oregon in response to ICE protests in Portland. Small protests have been going on nightly outside Portland’s ICE processing facility since Trump’s second term began in January.

Federal judge temporarily blocks Trump administration from sending National Guard troops to Oregon

A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deploying any National Guard units to Oregon, including the California National Guard.

apnews.com

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pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · 3d

Trump is sending California National Guard to Portland after a federal judge blocked his deployment Oregon National Guard over ICE protests that “did not pose a danger of a rebellion." California governor plans to sue over the deployment. “This is a breathtaking abuse of the law and power."

Trump is sending 300 California National Guard members to Oregon, Newsom says, after judge paused plan to deploy troops | CNN

Three hundred California National Guard members are on their way to Oregon on President Trump’s orders after a judge blocked his deployment of the Oregon National Guard to Portland, California Gov. Ga...

www.cnn.com

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pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · 10d

For the third year, California killed a bill to help incarcerated domestic violence survivors. “There are a ton of states that are far more conservative than California that passed more extensive legislation through Republican run legislatures."

For Third Year, California Kills Bill to Help Incarcerated Domestic Violence Survivors - Bolts

Advocates in California have pushed for relief for people convicted of harming their abuser, hoping to build on states across the political spectrum that have adopted such reforms.

boltsmag.org

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pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · 10d

The United Nations defines solitary confinement as torture. But our country’s prisons and jails continue to isolate people inside small, closet-like cells for weeks, months, and even years. "Solitary is never appropriate. Is torture ever appropriate?"

“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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pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · Aug 10

"A group of incarcerated transgender women and men have sued Georgia corrections officials, challenging a new law that prevents them from receiving gender-affirming medical care." This is cruel and unusual punishment.

Trans people in Georgia prisons are being forced to detransition. Now they’re suing. - The Current

A group of incarcerated transgender women and men have sued Georgia corrections officials, challenging a new law that prevents them from receiving gender-affirming medical care, arguing that it violat...

thecurrentga.org

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pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · Aug 10

Research has found that college-educated officers tend to use less force, have fewer complaints against them, and write better reports. But there is a trend of cities cutting education requirements for police in hopes of attracting more applicants.

Cities hope to attract more police officers by cutting education requirements

Some cities hope that relaxing education hiring standards may solve lingering staffing shortages. Is that a good idea?

www.usatoday.com

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pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · Aug 10

An Alabama teen was shot alongside his friend, then prosecuted for his killing. Felony murder laws allow prosecutors to charge defendants with the death of an accomplice, even when the killing was committed by someone else.

A Friend's Death to Mourn, and to Serve Time for - 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

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pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · Jun 17

NYC mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested at immigration court by masked federal agents while accompanying an immigrant out of the courtroom whose case was dismissed. This is “more evidence that ICE agents are flagrantly breaking the law."

New York City mayoral candidate Brad Lander arrested at immigration court

Lander, also the city’s comptroller, was ‘arrested for assaulting law enforcement’, says DHS

www.theguardian.com

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pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · Jun 3

Today is International Sex Workers' Day. The criminalization of sex work increases the risk of harm to sex workers -- including harm from arrest, jailing, conviction, stigmatization, violence, and exploitation. Sex work should be decriminalized.

Sex workers’ fight for decriminalization, explained

Sex workers have been fighting for decriminalization for generations. Now politicians are starting to listen.

www.vox.com

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pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · May 26

Amanda Cahill died in her cell in a Philly jail. Screaming for help for over an hour. Women jailed near her pleaded for medical attention, but nobody responded. Philly voters just approved a ballot measure to bolster oversight over the city’s deadly jails.

Philadelphia Measure Would Bolster Oversight for the City’s Deadly Jails - Bolts

On May 20, Philadelphia voters will choose whether to create an independent body to investigate dangerous conditions that have plagued the city’s jails for decades.

boltsmag.org

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pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · May 26

Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez announced this year her department has a “zero contact policy” with ICE. But last year received over $1 million from the federal government in exchange for sharing sensitive information about undocumented immigrants.

This Bay Area County Says It Cut Ties with ICE. This Program Says Otherwise. - Bolts

A widespread data-sharing program highlights financial ties between local police and immigration enforcement—and how even sanctuary jurisdictions still feed “the deportation machine.”

boltsmag.org

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pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · May 18

Temperatures reached 120 degrees outside Missouri’s Algoa Correctional Center during 2024. Now six people who are incarcerated there are suing. They describe the nearly 100-year-old prison without air conditioning, as a “coffin with a heat lamp.”

‘Trapped in a fiery kennel’: Lawsuit against Missouri Department of Corrections alleges extreme heat at one prison is a constitutional violation

The lawsuit alleges that those with certain medical conditions and those in solitary confinement are at increased risk in Algoa Correctional Center, which does not have central air conditioning.

thebeaconnews.org

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pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · May 15

"The same forces trying to criminalize immigrants are the ones who supported mass incarceration. The same people cutting food assistance are cutting access to housing and health care. This is a shared fight, and unity is our only path forward."

OPINION: We must reject the narrative that we were wrong for believing in unity and change • The TRiiBE

The people of Chicago made the right choice when we elected Brandon Johnson, and we’re seeing the results already, less than two years into his term.

thetriibe.com

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pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · May 14

Pittsburgh progressives are targeting local judge elections this year. “When we say we need less people in the jail, better outcomes for kids charged with crimes, for people to feel like their civil and human rights are respected—that all happens in the courtrooms."

Why Pittsburgh Progressives Are Targeting Judge Elections This Year - Bolts

Intense, sustained thunderstorms in Pennsylvania on April 29, featuring some of the mightiest winds ever reported in the region, made the morning of April 30 very messy in the Pittsburgh... Read More

boltsmag.org

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pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · May 12

LAWSUIT: Guards videotaped strip searches at Michigan women’s prison. "What these women continue to endure is nothing short of horrific. This case exposes a grotesque abuse of power that directly retraumatizes survivors of sexual assault."

Lawsuit seeking $500 million says guards videotaped strip searches at Michigan women’s prison • Michigan Advance

Body camera recordings by guards during strip searches at Michigan’s only women’s prison, Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility, has prompted a $500 million lawsuit against the Michigan Departmen...

michiganadvance.com

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pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · May 10

Anti-abortion legislation is moving through the Texas Legislature. "It is a vote to criminalize women, trap them within the borders of Texas, and to threaten anyone who tries to help them, regardless of whether the abortion occurs legally in another state." boltsmag.org/texas-1925-a...

“A Backdoor Effort” to Revive Texas’ Century-Old Abortion Law - Bolts

Abortion legislation moving through the Texas Legislature gives the attorney general power to enforce a pre-Roe law that could criminalize pregnant people.

boltsmag.org

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pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · May 4

A 40-year-old man died from dehydration after being detained for more than two months inside the Tarrant County jail in Texas, he was one of at least three people with documented mental illness to die of thirst in the jail’s custody in recent years.

Officials Play “Accountability Ping Pong” With Jail Deaths in Texas - Bolts

A bipartisan push for jail oversight comes after a North Texas sheriff flouted state law mandating independent investigations of deaths on his watch.

boltsmag.org

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pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · May 3

Chris Duncan has been on Louisiana’s death row for decades. A judge just vacated his conviction, which relied on the junk science of bite mark analysis. Nine people have been exonerated off Louisiana’s death row in the time that Duncan has been there.

He’s Been On Louisiana’s Death Row for Decades. A Judge Just Vacated His Conviction. - Bolts

Jimmie Christian Duncan has spent over 26 years on death row at Louisiana’s Angola prison for the rape and murder of his girlfriend’s toddler daughter—a crime he has always maintained... Read More

boltsmag.org

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pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · May 3

In Mississippi Sinatra Jordan spent 940 days in jail. A trial never came. Accused of firing at police and leading them on a chase. But he didn't have a gun. Officers were eventually charged with aggravated assault for shooting his friend and shooting at him.

A Mississippi man spent 940 days in jail waiting for a trial that never came

Sinatra Jordan was accused of firing at police officers and leading them on a chase through the streets of Jackson. Then the officers were arrested.

www.nbcnews.com

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pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · Apr 20

In a predominantly Black area of Chicago, police can now directly file gun charges without a prosecutor’s approval. This a police department with a long history of coercion, deception, and filing wrongful charges against innocent people.

New Chicago Prosecutor Empowers Police to File More Charges Without Review - Bolts

In the early evening on Feb. 19, two Chicago police officers arrested a 40-year-old man in the Englewood neighborhood. According to their report, the officers cited an odor of “raw... Read More

boltsmag.org

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pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · Apr 20

The Supreme Court issued an emergency order halting the Trump administration’s efforts to fly Venezuelan migrants to an El Salvador prison before they could challenge their deportation. This order was an extraordinary rebuke to Trump. And the court didn’t even wait to let Alito write his dissent.

The Supreme Court’s Late-Night Rebuke to Trump Is Extraordinary in More Ways Than One

The court didn't even wait to let Alito file his dissent.

slate.com

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pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · Apr 20

"Michigan’s supreme court ruled last week that it is unconstitutional to impose an automatic sentence of life without the possibility of parole on young adults up to age 20, saying they deserve an individual judgment specific to their circumstances."

Another State Restricts Life Sentences for Young Adults - Bolts

Michigan’s supreme court created new protections against life sentences for people up to 20, pushing the line for who gets second chances beyond age 18.

boltsmag.org

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pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · Mar 11

Jail voting soars in Colorado after the state mandates polling places in county jails. “People that are incarcerated are ready to have their voices heard."

Jail Voting Soars in Colorado After State Mandates Polling Places in County Lockups - Bolts

Local officials had claimed they were already giving detained people ballot access, but Colorado's first-in-the-nation mandate forced their hands and increased turnout across the state.

boltsmag.org

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pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · Mar 9

People behind bars work for often for just cents an hour or, in some states, nothing at all. Coerced labor inside of prisons has historical roots in slavery. After the Civil War, a network laws to criminalize formerly enslaved people created a system of prison labor.

The Past and Present of Prison Labor: Your Questions Answered - Bolts

A historian answers Bolts 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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pdx law grrrl @pdxlawgrrrl.bsky.social · Mar 2

Connecticut abolished the death penalty. But two Connecticut businesses have played a large role in U.S. executions in the past five years. A new bill would make it illegal for businesses in the state to participate in the death penalty elsewhere.

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 helped fuel a federal execution spree.

boltsmag.org

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