This week the courts finally blocked Alabama from executing someone with nitrogen, a grisly new method that experts say likely causes immense suffering
My colleague @laurengill.bsky.social witnessed one of the first nitrogen executions, describing here how the man gasped and thrashed for minutes
Alabama said Alan Miller’s execution by lethal gas would be “more humane.” He writhed and gasped for air in his final moments.
more on this week's news alabamareflector.com/2026/06/11/u...
North Carolina's last governor started reviewing sentences of people condemned to die in prison for crimes they committed as children. But that pathway to freedom has closed as politics in the state is now once again dominated by tough-on-crime rhetoric and harsh punishment.
Milwaukee is one of those places where an officer used Flock cameras to stalk a romantic partner— but efforts to cut ties with Flock have hit a wall:
After the state’s previous governor created a board to consider clemency for people sentenced to lengthy prison terms as minors, a new administration closes their pathway to freedom.
boltsmag.org
Latinos have been a majority in Whittier for decades, but they've rarely had representation in city government — until now. A groundswell of political engagement & immigrant activism sparked by ICE raids last year has ousted 3 conservatives and elected Whittier's first ever majority-Latino council
Michael Barajas
Michael Barajas
“I live in constant fear that I will be subjected to further baseless detentions just for going about my daily life."
On May 2, Leonardo Garcia Venegas, a Florida-born US citizen, was detained by ICE in Alabama for the third time (!) in the span of a year. And he's suing the federal government.
Pascal Sabino
“I only wish to live my life in peace,” Leonardo Garcia Venegas said in a declaration.
The sheriff in Wisconsin’s capital county will stop using dozens of AI surveillance cameras posted up across Madison and surrounding towns, after the Dane County Board of Supervisors pulled funding......
The decision Thursday evening for now ended a short but intense legal battle over Alabama’s execution methods.
alabamareflector.com
When it formed in 2021, many saw NC's Juvenile Sentence Review Board as a real pathway to freedom for juvenile lifers and others sentenced to long prison terms for crimes they were convicted of committing as teens. It turns out, most were denied.
for @boltsmag.org
boltsmag.org/north-caroli...
also more context here about the secrecy surrounding the death penalty in Alabama, as well as accusations of violence and misconduct against guards tasked with carrying out executions there boltsmag.org/alabama-exec...
On Monday, a NM judge affirmed juvenile sentencing reforms passed in 2023 and ordered the release of a man sent to prison as a minor who's already served three decades behind bars
@laurengill.bsky.social reported last year how officials have tried to block some people from getting a second chance
Michael Barajas
Michael Barajas
Some really crazy cases in here
- cop looked up ex-girlfriend and family in Flock 100+ times
- cop stalked wife giving "test" as reason
- cop searched one plate 395 times in 10 months; was later fired
Cops keep getting arrested for using Flock to stalk people
www.404media.co/cops-keep-ge...
There have been more than a dozen cases around the country where police use Flock to obsessively and illegally stalk people.
the ACLU of NM on the ruling www.aclu-nm.org/press-releas...
jacob biba
Michael Barajas
As Alabama keeps details around the death penalty hidden, an investigation into its execution team raises questions about how incarcerated people are treated in their final moments.
New Mexico lawmakers banned life without parole for juveniles. But an opinion by the attorney general and parole board decisions could keep some from getting a second chance.
After the state’s previous governor created a board to consider clemency for people sentenced to lengthy prison terms as minors, a new administration closes their pathway to freedom.
A state district court ordered the New Mexico Adult Parole Board to release Jesse Tooker to the community, ruling that New Mexico’s landmark 2023 second chance law requires that people sentenced to pr...
The California city of Whittier swung to Democrats this spring, spurred by ICE raids and by anger toward election rules that long dampened turnout among Latinos and kept them out of city government.
