This fall, Hawaii's supreme court rejected an argument that recording interrogations is burdensome for police: “If children can record everyday events with ease, law enforcement cannot claim hardship to record perhaps its most consequential investigative act.”
Bolts
Hawaii Supreme Court Expands Rights of Defendants, and Once Again Rebukes SCOTUS - Bolts
The justices ruled that Hawaii’s constitution requires police to record interrogations. And they vowed to protect due process for Hawaii resident...
Katie Wilson, Seattle’s newly elected mayor, has embraced a city-owned startup designed to emulate Vienna’s social housing model, which involves a public developer building housing designed to be permanently affordable.
Bolts
Progressives Win in Seattle, Changing Directions on Public Safety - Bolts
Voters ousted a mayor who oversaw a surge in encampment sweeps, and a Republican prosecutor who pursued punitive policies toward homeless people an...
Rejon Taylor was granted clemency by President Biden and taken off of federal death row last year. Trump officials are now sending him to a notoriously harsh supermax prison and Taylor says he wishes he was never granted clemency to begin with.
Bolts
Death Row Prisoners Granted Clemency by Biden Brace for "Living Hell" Under Trump - Bolts
Trump officials are retaliating by imposing the harshest conditions in the entire federal prison system, including near total isolation.
Chicago police are required by law to document every time they pull someone over. But an investigation by Bolts and Injustice Watch last year revealed the department failed to report hundreds of thousands of stops.
Bolts
Chicago Police Made Nearly 200,000 Secret Traffic Stops Last Year
Chicago police are required by law to report every traffic stop. But a new investigation found one-third of traffic stops went unreported.
Advocates in New Jersey are asking lawmakers to enshrine into law a state directive restricting cooperation with ICE. “It’s in the hands of the current legislature and the current governor, and you know, we need them to step up and get it passed.”
Bolts
Immigration Protections Are Uncertain in New Jersey even as Democrats Keep Governorship - Bolts
Advocates want to promptly codify the limits on immigration enforcement put in place by the outgoing governor. Mikie Sherill, Tuesday’s winner, h...
Three Democratic justices prevailed last week in Pennsylvania. Justice David Wecht told Bolts, “We all campaigned on the basis of vindicating the Pennsylvania constitution’s free and equal elections clause.”
Bolts
Democrats Retain Control of Pennsylvania's Supreme Court with Three-Seat Sweep - Bolts
The GOP mounted an unusual push to oust three supreme court justices and erase Democrats’ majority on the court. All three prevailed easily in Tu...
The charge of “felony murder” allows defendants to be charged with the death of an accomplice, even when the killing was committed by someone else. Between 2009 and 2017, 83 percent of people charged with felony murder in Alabama were Black.
Bolts
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 crimi...
In case you missed it: The GOP mounted an unusual push to oust three supreme court justices in Pennsylvania and erase Democrats’ majority on the court. In yesterday's retention elections, all three prevailed easily.
Bolts
Democrats Retain Control of Pennsylvania's Supreme Court with Three-Seat Sweep - Bolts
The GOP mounted an unusual push to oust three supreme court justices and erase Democrats’ majority on the court. All three prevailed easily in Tu...
RESULT: Democrat Mikie Sherrill is elected governor of New Jersey, per the AP. She defeats Republican Jack Ciattarelli, who aligned himself with Trump and campaigned to end state protections for immigrants.
Andre Dickens has been re-elected mayor of Atlanta. Aftab Pureval and Justin Bibb won second terms in Cincinnati and Cleveland. Corey O’Connor will be the mayor of Pittsburgh. All are Democrats.