Political Report

Washington, D.C., is joining Maine and Vermont in allowing incarcerated people to vote.

Hundreds of thousands will gain access to public health insurance in Oklahoma, and will avoid having their licenses suspended over debt in Oregon.

José Garza makes the case for why he would not prosecute low-level drug cases, and how he would hold police accountable in Travis County, in a Q&A.

The Snohomish County sheriff is among a string of officials nationwide who have combined a refusal to enforce lockdown orders with broader policies of increased policing and arrests.

Candidates are sparring over their attitudes toward the police in Tompkins and Westchester counties, which hold DA elections on Tuesday.

Voting rights groups want states to stop requiring that voters get a witness or notary to sign their ballots, at least during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prince William County has forged a close partnership with ICE. But a local board opted to end its 287(g) contract on Wednesday.

John Williams, the winner in Athens, pledged to not assist ICE and not take donations from the bail bond industry. Georgia will host other heated sheriff’s races in the fall.

When people are arrested and booked into a local jail, they often end up on ICE’s radar. Sheriffs are a major reason why.

Juliet Hooker, a scholar of Black political thought, discusses Black Lives Matter, asymmetrical perceptions of violence, and the role that images play in our politics.

“These changes won’t be made unless we demand them loudly and relentlessly,” says state Senator Julia Salazar.

In states that restored people’s voting rights, many public agencies aren’t doing enough to assist, and the pandemic slowed grassroots plans to pick up the slack.

The agency is pursuing contracts with private detention providers to circumvent state and local efforts to curtail and regulate immigrant detention.

“Multnomah County has just embraced the most progressive DA platform that this state has ever seen,” said Mike Schmidt, who credited grassroots organizers for his win.

Advocates stress that automating the expungement process will help protect people with past charges or convictions from the economic devastation of COVID-19.

Brett Phelps, a public defender who is running for DA in the June Democratic primary, makes the case that rural areas are crucial for criminal justice reform.

The June primaries may give reform advocates new allies for ideas they have championed, for instance on drug policy, parole, and voting rights.

The Political Report talks to the two DA candidates in New Mexico’s First Judicial District. They share similar views on drug policy, part ways elsewhere.

The poster boy of Republican voter suppression is using loopholes in state law to cancel key Supreme Court and district attorney races in 2020.

DAs keep resigning in election years, and governors keep appointing deputy prosecutors who then get to face voters as incumbents. It happened again this year.

Matt Toporowski, up against the former head of the DA’s association, says he would “walk down the halls with advocates and lobby for progressive reform.”

“The solution to the problem of mass incarceration is certainly not more mass incarceration,” said Charmaine McGuffey, who won. In neighboring Greene County, voters rejected a tax increase to build a bigger jail.

New law changes where incarcerated people are counted for redistricting. Advocates vow to push against felony disenfranchisement next year.

What newly-appointed G. Helen Whitener does next will shape whether Washington State moves in a more progressive direction.

New initiatives are helping thousands from Boston to San Jose. But low funding and poor protections have advocates worried programs are falling short.

The algorithms states are rolling out to ration scarce resources during the COVID-19 pandemic may ensure that white patients and wealthy patients are more likely to receive life-saving care.

Ending the suspension of driver’s licenses over court debt will spare hundreds of thousands each year. Advocates call for more action against fines and fees, especially during COVID-19.

The state will no longer require an excuse when voters request an absentee ballot. Advocates say public authorities need to devote enough resources to facilitate mail-in voting and preserve alternatives.

Jill Karofsky ousted a conservative Supreme Court Justice in an election marred by the COVID-19 pandemic, poll closures, and missing absentee ballots.

“When we look back on this time, what we’re going to be judged by is how we protected those who are most vulnerable,” Alessandra Biaggi said.

Michael Schmidt, who is running for DA in May in Oregon’s largest county, shares his views on criminal justice reform during and beyond the pandemic.

But one candidate wants voters to forget the beliefs and career record driving his jurisprudence, with criminal justice at issue.

In several states, supreme courts issued direct orders to reduce arrests and release people over the past week.

An expert in election procedures unpacks how states should scale up mail voting, and how they should make sure no one is left behind.

Nationwide efforts against the death penalty and against prison gerrymandering have gained considerable momentum just over the past two years.

Foxx claimed a mandate for criminal justice reform after securing the Democratic nomination in Cook County tonight. She will be favored in the general election.

Ohio advocates are resisting proposals to expand the jail and local cooperation with ICE. In the primary on Tuesday, the sheriff and his challenger disagree on both fronts.

“In some cases we need the Illinois Supreme Court to use its policy making powers to make criminal justice reform real,” said Daniel Epstein, a candidate in Tuesday’s election.

Austin, Houston, and Los Angeles voted on Super Tuesday, with stakes for incarceration and criminal justice reform.

“This incentivizes them once again to underfeed people in their custody if they know the extras can be used on bells and whistles or guns,” warns an Alabama advocate.