@bolts is the best magazine for keeping your eye on America’s local politics, and possibly detecting if a shift is happening (were we the only ones glued to the Omaha, NE mayoral elections earlier this week)? Alex Burness writes about judge elections in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, where a “slate of eight” progressive-endorsed candidates are running. Their supporters hope that the prospective judges, who come from public defender, social work and civil rights backgrounds, will have more understanding of the issues faced by criminal defendants. Check out the second list for @taniel’s list of elections to watch in May.

https://boltsmag.org/allegheny-county-judge-elections-2025/
https://boltsmag.org/whats-on-the-ballot/guide-to-elections-in-may-2025/

Through the administrations of 2 mayors & several correction commissioners, the #jails continued to devolve, acc/to prisoners’ rights advocates & the monitor’s reports. In November, the judge found #NYC in #contempt for failing to stem #violence & excessive #force at the facility, which is currently run by Correction Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie.

The class-action lawsuit that led to the takeover, known as Nunez v. City of New York, was settled in June 2015 & required that the jails, particularly #RikersIsland, be overseen by a court-appointed monitor who would issue regular reports on conditions there but would wield no direct power to effect change.

Through those reports, Judge Swain was given an extensive history of the cyclical nature of the #jail system’s problems.

A NYT investigation in 2021 found that guards are often stationed in inefficient ways that fail to protect inmates. And although the #jail system has consistently been the most well-staffed in the United States — there is roughly one uniformed officer for each inmate at Rikers, according to city data — an unlimited sick leave policy & other uses of leave have meant that staffing can drop to dangerous levels.

The order comes nearly a decade after #NYC’s jails, which include the #RikersIsland complex, fell under #federal #oversight in the settlement of a #ClassAction lawsuit. The agreement focused on curbing the use of #force & #violence toward both inmates & correction officers. A court-appointed monitor issued regular reports on the persistent mayhem.

The official, called a remediation manager, will work with the #NYC correction commissioner, but be “empowered to take all actions necessary” to turn around the city’s #jails, Judge Swain wrote.

“While the necessary changes will take some time, the court expects to see continual progress toward these goals,” she wrote.

In New Jersey, there’s no legal mechanism for judges to take into account whether a defendant suffered abuse that may have been a factor in their committing a crime. Seventy-two percent of first-time offenders imprisoned for a violent crime in the state’s women’s prison were abused by their victim. While Governor Phil Murphy has granted clemency to some people, The ACLU of New Jersey and other groups are now advocating for a legislative fix. @bolts takes a look at the issue.

https://boltsmag.org/new-jersey-clemency-and-sentencing-for-survivors-of-abuse/

One story we thought was great this week didn’t get enough attention: @ArtPhotosDesk shared an animation about an incarcerated artist and his mentor, which was published by the incomparable The Marshall Project. Take a look at it here.

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2024/11/01/animation-life-inside-prison-artist-mentorship