Jay covers courts, judges, elections, and politics. Previously, he worked as a staff writer at GQ magazine, and as a lawyer at firms in Washington, D.C. and Seattle. His writing has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Slate, Deadspin, and more. Jay studied social welfare and public policy at Berkeley and received a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
The intense backlash to his recent comments criticizing $2,000 stimulus checks signal the growing momentum for guaranteed income programs—and the emerging power of voters who care more about substantive results than partisan skirmishes.
Jay Willis Jan 22, 2021
By appointing a reformer to replace the outgoing Xavier Becerra, Newsom has the chance to begin dismantling a sprawling, bloated system of prisons and jails that incarcerated nearly a quarter-million people as of 2018.
Jay Willis Jan 14, 2021
By winning a narrow majority in the upper chamber, Democrats could at last stop the Republican assault on voting rights—if its centrist members have the courage to do so.
Jay Willis Dec 18, 2020
In North Carolina, Attorney General Josh Stein’s Republican opponent painted him as soft on crime. Voters re-elected him anyway.
Jay Willis Nov 18, 2020
A Democratic president who politely listens to progressive rhetoric while failing to act on it is one who just watches the planet burn a little more slowly.
Jay Willis Nov 12, 2020
Law enforcement organizations have long treated mass incarceration as a job creation program. In 2020, the tide began turning against them.
Jay Willis Nov 10, 2020
Members of The Squad are already among the Democratic Party’s most influential voices.
Jay Willis Nov 04, 2020
If Democrats win control of the Senate, allowing this archaic tradition to survive will make everything of significance the party hopes to accomplish virtually impossible.
Jay Willis Nov 02, 2020
In a presidential election likely to take weeks or months to decide, the race to name a winner on Nov. 3 could do tremendous damage to the integrity of the vote-counting process.
Jay Willis Oct 14, 2020
Mayors of liberal cities love to criticize the president’s incendiary law-and-order rhetoric, but do precious little to check police violence and bloated budgets in their own backyards.
Jay Willis Sep 30, 2020
Rebalancing the nation’s highest court is a reasonable, proportionate response to a system that failed a long time ago.
Jay Willis Sep 25, 2020
The stakes could not be higher following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Jay Willis Sep 18, 2020
Prosecutors across the country are rethinking their membership in professional organizations that oppose a meaningful reform agenda.
Jay Willis Sep 15, 2020
California just made it a tiny bit easier for formerly incarcerated people to become civilian firefighters. But the law still leaves many obstacles in their path.
The president’s fearmongering over mail-in ballots is part of a long history of politicians denying members of marginalized communities, and particularly Black people, the right to vote.
Jay Willis Sep 02, 2020
Enabling widespread voter suppression is shaping up to be the Roberts Court’s most consequential accomplishment, because every other aspect of the Republican agenda depends on it.
Jay Willis Jul 24, 2020
COVID-19 is disproportionately putting Black and Latinx people at higher risk of eviction, fueling a housing crisis that is already in progress.
Jay Willis Jul 14, 2020
In a moment of crisis, the state Senate and House are slated to be in recess until January.
Jay Willis Jul 10, 2020
For decades, the Court has been carving out generous exceptions and crafting new rules that limit the Miranda warning’s real-world impact.
Jay Willis Jun 23, 2020
The cuts will defund a controversial gang policing unit and end the city’s policing partnership with TriMet, the regional transit agency.
Jay Willis Jun 17, 2020
Breonna Taylor was killed nearly three months ago during a no-knock raid. All 26 members of the Metro Council have signed on as co-sponsors to “Breonna’s Law,” which would ban them.
Jay Willis Jun 11, 2020
The move follows the police killing of George Floyd and more than a week of uprisings, where hundreds of thousands of people around the world have protested against police violence, and abusive police responses to the protests.
Jay Willis Jun 07, 2020
A president who openly endorses police brutality struggles with a nation rejecting it.
Jay Willis Jun 03, 2020
The poster boy of Republican voter suppression is using loopholes in state law to cancel key Supreme Court and district attorney races in 2020.
Jay Willis May 13, 2020
Using language evoking pernicious stereotypes about immigration and crime, the Court’s conservative majority clears the way for the Trump administration to deport legal permanent residents for crimes committed long ago.
Jay Willis Apr 29, 2020
A trio of cases in Wisconsin and Texas illustrates how Republican judges are feigning helplessness in the face of a public health crisis while furthering their own ends.
Jay Willis Apr 22, 2020
Ramos v. Louisiana is a long-overdue affirmation of the constitutional rights of criminal defendants—and sets the stage for dramatic Supreme Court fights in the years ahead.
Jay Willis Apr 20, 2020
People are dying in jails and prisons because elected officials hesitated at the worst possible moment.
Jay Willis Apr 09, 2020
In Austin and across the country, service providers are dealing with spikes in demand, new logistical challenges, and mounting uncertainty about the months ahead.
Jay Willis Apr 06, 2020
There are no good reasons for the president to keep vulnerable people behind bars any longer.
Jay Willis Mar 31, 2020
Advocates for the area’s homeless residents say the pandemic will worsen the crisis they have already been living through.
Jay Willis Mar 26, 2020
She withstood challenges from two of her former assistant district attorneys who wanted to reform the office and reduce prosecutions of low-level offenses.
Jay Willis Mar 04, 2020
Jones is challenging incumbent Kim Ogg in the 2020 election.
Jay Willis Feb 13, 2020
Mistaken identifications have been involved in nearly 70 percent of post-conviction exonerations based on DNA evidence.
Jay Willis Feb 11, 2020
A lawsuit alleges Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office created bogus "subpoenas" to secure reluctant witnesses' cooperation—and even used them to jail crime victims.
Jay Willis Feb 05, 2020
Advocates warn that the cuts could push an already overburdened system to the breaking point.
Jay Willis Jan 22, 2020
The move is made possible by a Texas law that legalized the production of hemp last year.
Jay Willis Jan 10, 2020
The former deputy public defender promised that his office would immediately end cash bail and stop seeking three-strikes sentencing enhancements.
Jay Willis Jan 08, 2020
