Silent Strength: My Time as A Prisoner’s Wife Turned Advocate
Friday, December 29, 2023

Regular view point contributor Jodie Sinclair discusses the stigma around marrying someone incarcerated through her marriage with journalist Billy SInclair who was on death row when they met. Jodie dives into the challenges, sacrifices, and victories in her battle to help get her husband out of p... .. read more..

Reclaimed Identity: Keith Jesperson’s Sixth Murder
Thursday, December 28, 2023

“In my head there was a possibility that it could happen, but I wasn’t looking forward to—it wasn’t my intention to do so … but I knew I had the potential [to kill],” Keith Jesperson, also dubbed the Happy Face Killer, explained over the phone from Oregon State Penitentiary. .. read more..

Death of “Parasite” Actor Highlights South Korea’s Hardline Drug Policies
Thursday, December 28, 2023

The recent death of “Parasite” actor Lee Sun-kyun highlights South Korea’s crackdown on drugs, one which draws a hard line against anything other than total abstinence, John Yoon reports for the New York Times. The policies have come under criticism from treatment experts who say that the authori... .. read more..

Mississippi Regularly Fails to Investigate Rampant Abuses by Sheriff’s and Th...
Thursday, December 28, 2023

In Mississippi, allegations of jailhouse rape, brutal beatings and corrupt acts by sheriffs and their deputies regularly go ignored by the state, even despite ample evidence, Ilyssa Daly, Jerry Mitchell and Rachel Axon report in an investigation for the New York Times. Out of dozens of publicly a... .. read more..

Congress Put Independent Prosecutors In Charge of US Military Cases of Sexual...
Thursday, December 28, 2023

The U.S. military has decided to put independent lawyers in charge of how it investigates and prosecutes cases of sexual assault and other major crimes, sidelining commanders after years of pressure from Congress, Lolita C. Baldor reports for the Associated Press. The change was forced by members... .. read more..

DC Officials Announce Reaccreditation of Scandalized Crime Lab
Thursday, December 28, 2023

D.C.’s long-troubled crime lab has won back a key accreditation two years after losing it following a 2021 scandal in which an independent panel of forensic experts concluded, among other concerns, that the lab made an error in testing ballistics evidence in two 2015 homicide cases and then refus... .. read more..

Georgia Department of Corrections Resists Releasing Info on Prison Abuses
Thursday, December 28, 2023

Georgia Department of Corrections has tightened its efforts to impede the release of information about its prisons as it faces record numbers of deaths from homicides, suicides and drug overdoses since 2020, Lois Norder reports for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. With little notice, state priso... .. read more..

Mayors of Chicago, Denver, and New York City Join Forces, Demand Greater Aid ...
Thursday, December 28, 2023

In a first-time joint appearance The mayors of Chicago, New York City, and Denver renewed their collective call for the federal government to step up resources as the cities near a “breaking point” in coping with the crisis, Caroline Kubzansky reports for the Chicago Tribune. Chicago Mayor Brando... .. read more..

Gypsy Rose Blanchard Released From Prison
Thursday, December 28, 2023

The Missouri woman who persuaded an online boyfriend to kill her mother after she had forced her to pretend for years that she was suffering from leukemia, muscular dystrophy and other serious illnesses, was released Thursday from prison on parole, Heather Hollingsworth reports for the Associated... .. read more..

Colorado Authorities, FBI Investigate Possible Threats Against Judges Who Sid...
Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Colorado authorities, along with the FBI, are investigating possible threats against state Supreme Court justices, one week after the court barred former President Donald Trump from the state’s presidential primary ballot, Keith Coffman reports for Reuters. The Denver Police Department also... .. read more..

Florida Teen Shoots and Kills Sister During a Fight That Exemplifies Need for...
Wednesday, December 27, 2023

A 14-year-old boy shot and killed his sister in Florida on Christmas Eve after she attempted to break up a fight between him and his brother, Jennifer Hassan reports for the Washington Post. The brothers were each in possession of a gun and during the argument the 14-year-old took out his gun and... .. read more..

Black Man faces Hate Crime Charges for Stabbing Two Sisters Christmas Day
Wednesday, December 27, 2023

A man in New York City has been charged with attempted murder and assault as hate crimes after using an anti-white slur and then stabbing two teenage sisters at a restaurant in Grand Central Terminal on Christmas day, Ed Shanahan and Chelsia Rose Marcius report for the New York Times. Steven Hutc... .. read more..

Study: Criminal Justice Involvement of Parents Has Negative Generational Effe...
Wednesday, December 27, 2023

A study from the Health Policy Institute of Ohio on the generational effects that can impact children of incarcerated parents in the state found that the incarceration of a household member can cause serious and long-lasting health and economic harms across generations and for individuals, famili... .. read more..

Investigation Finds Reports Analyzing the Police Response to a Mass Shooting ...
Wednesday, December 27, 2023

While active shooter training varies widely across the country and that law enforcement officers make similar mistakes in mass shooting after mass shooting, those failures are not always clearly identified in reports dissecting the incidents, adding to the difficulty of learning from past misstep... .. read more..

Why Does Legacy Food Media Ignore Prison Food?
Wednesday, December 27, 2023

The season is upon us, the annual fetishization of prison food, public discussions of what prisoners will eat on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's. It’s become so standard that TMZ has a template for it now: “Celebrity Prisoners Thanksgiving Meals Revealed” has been the headline for the pas... .. read more..

New York Governor Vetoes Bill Allowing People to Challenge Their Convictions
Wednesday, December 27, 2023

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed a bill just before Christmas that would have made it easier for people who have pleaded guilty to crimes to challenge their convictions, Maysoon Kahn reports for the Associated Press. The bill would have expanded the types of evidence that could be considered pro... .. read more..

US Immigration Court Case Backlog Swells to Over 3 Million Amid Historic Rise...
Wednesday, December 27, 2023

The nation’s immigration-court backlog swelled by more than a million cases in 2023, rising from 1.9 million cases in September 2022 to surpass 3 million cases in November, Lauren Villagran reports for USA Today. There are now more immigrants in the U.S. with a pending immigration case than... .. read more..

Georgia Lawmakers Push for More Competitive Pay for Attorneys, Judges
Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Georgia prosecutors and judges are urging lawmakers to provide more competitive pay in the judicial system in order to better retain experienced attorneys and judges who are needed to clear a backlog of court cases across the state, Stanley Dunlap reports for the Georgia Recorder. The majority of... .. read more..

Viewpoint: It’s Easier To Get A Gun Than A Job At Dominos
Tuesday, December 26, 2023

Two weeks after the funeral for Amerie Jo Garza, 10, the first of the Robb Elementary School students to be interred following the Uvalde mass shooting, I phoned the manager of my local Domino’s to inquire about a delivery job. Though I’ve never driven professionally and have been out of the job ... .. read more..

Past Week Sees Major Surge in Reported Anti-Semitic Plots
Friday, December 22, 2023

In the past week, there were almost 200 swatting incidents on Jewish organizations, and several children were arrested for planning attacks on synagogues, exemplifying the ongoing surge in antisemitism in North America, Mack Lamoureux reports for Vice. The Secure Community Network, an organizatio... .. read more..

Migration Advocates Warn of Surge in Sexual Violence at Major Route Hot Spots
Friday, December 22, 2023

As migration from South America to the US-Mexico border once again surges, advocates warn that sexual violence is likewise expected to rise, particularly among women and girls, Alícia Fàbregas reports for Al Jazeera. In 2023, the humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF) treated 397... .. read more..

England Charities Warn of Rise in Domestic Violence During Christmas
Friday, December 22, 2023

Rising numbers of women in England are experiencing domestic abuse at Christmas, with Refuge, the leading support service in England, saying that calls and contacts to the national domestic abuse helpline in 2023 were still far higher than pre-pandemic, with 171,490 calls in the year ending March... .. read more..

Biden Pardons Thousands Convicted of Non-Violent Drug Offences
Friday, December 22, 2023

President Joe Biden is pardoning thousands of people who were convicted of use and simple possession of marijuana on federal lands and in the District of Columbia and granting clemency to 11 people serving what the White House called “disproportionately long” sentences for nonviolent drug offense... .. read more..

Authorities Search for Motive, Details in Prague Mass Shooting
Friday, December 22, 2023

Investigators in Prague are working to establish a motive for a deadly gun rampage that killed 14 people and wounded 25 others at Charles University in the center of the city, Andrew Higgins and Jenny Gross reports for the New York Times. The gunman also fatally shot himself when the police surro... .. read more..

Pornhub Parent Company to Pay Damages to Trafficked Women Filmed and Posted o...
Friday, December 22, 2023

Aylo Holdings S.A.R.L., the company that operates Pornhub and other adult websites, acknowledged in federal court that it had profited for years from pornographic content that depicted sex trafficking victims, but pleaded not guilty to a charge of engaging in unlawful monetary transactions involv... .. read more..

COVID-19 Reminds Me of 1994 Report, ‘Prisoners of Time’
Tuesday, April 20, 2021

We’ve all experienced COVID-related events and circumstances we never predicted. We’ve had to change everything, and the stresses and strains are not over yet. Parents and students have a very understandable and very intense desire to go back to their pre-COVID education system. They ... .. read more..

Upkey Opens Summer Virtual Internship for 10,000 Students
Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Upkey, a Chicago-based ed tech startup, will now offer its summer Virtual Internship Program (VIP) to 10,000 student applicants looking to build their professional networks through a variety of career readiness resources, according to a Tuesday news release . According to the announcement, the pr... .. read more..

Texas Department Seeks Second Cyber Insurance Policy
Tuesday, April 20, 2021

In response to two recent cyber incidents that affected the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) , state Sen. César Blanco has proposed a bill that would allow TxDOT to purchase an additional cyber insurance policy. In February 2019, Anomali, a cybersecurity solutions company, identi... .. read more..

120Water Releases Tools to Help Utilities Find Lead Pipes
Tuesday, April 20, 2021

How many lead water pipes are there in the U.S. nobody knows — but we’re about to get a pretty good idea. The federal government is currently in the process of revising the 30-year-old Lead and Copper Rule, creating a dramatic expansion of responsibility for water utilities across the... .. read more..

Self-Driving Shuttles Find New Uses During Pandemic
Tuesday, April 20, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic pumped the brakes on some autonomous shuttle projects last year, while others reimagined their projects to serve more immediate community needs. The AV shuttle program in Columbus, Ohio , set up to serve a 2.7-mile route in an underserved community with four stops, was trans... .. read more..

Biden Infrastructure Plan Boosts Broadband and a Lot More
Monday, April 19, 2021

With Congress heatedly debating President Joe Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal , members of the public, private and research sectors came together recently to discuss its game-changing potential. In a recent Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program-hosted panel , &ldqu... .. read more..

Ginkgo and Helix Partner on Pooled COVID Testing for Schools
Monday, April 19, 2021

As millions of K-12 students return to in-person learning, school districts across the country have looked to pooled testing as a cost-effective means of monitoring the deadly virus. The method – which minimizes the number of tests by using combined samples, and only testing indiv... .. read more..

Cheyenne, Wyo., to Create Technology Advisory Council
Monday, April 19, 2021

After taking office on Jan. 4, Patrick Collins, mayor of Cheyenne, Wyo., acknowledged his need for technology expertise as the city looks to improve its broadband infrastructure and advance its technology environment for business. To help, the city council recently adopted a resolution creating a... .. read more..

Idaho CISO Shares Experience from Public, Private Sectors
Saturday, April 17, 2021

There are only a small number of current public-sector chief information security officers who have served as the top cybersecurity leader in multiple states. Add if you consider those with both state and local government experience, as well as time in a federal government role, and top that all ... .. read more..

Is It Time to Pull Back the Curtain on AI in Hiring?
Friday, April 16, 2021

Artificial intelligence-powered hiring processes may be overdue for a government intervention, according to speakers at a recent Brookings Institution webinar. The movement toward AI allows predictive models to weigh in on hiring decisions, but the proprietary nature of such algorithms shrouds th... .. read more..

Philadelphia Uses Innovation Fund to Inspire Agencies to Take Action
Friday, April 16, 2021

For years, the city of Philadelphia, Penn., has worked to foster innovation among government agencies to facilitate delivery of improved services. A key factor in this effort has been the Innovation Management Team (IMT), which uses the Innovation Fund (IF) to create low-barrier opportunities for... .. read more..

West Virginia Bill Sets Sights on Social Media Censorship
Friday, April 16, 2021

A new West Virginia bill  proposes regulations against censorship of information by social media companies during an election, with some “criminal and civil penalties" depending on the nature of the violation.  Known as House Bill 3307 , the legislation looks to create two th... .. read more..

Opinion: Tips for Starting a Drone Program for K-12
Friday, April 16, 2021

There has been a rise in K-12 schools introducing drones to the classroom as experimental use cases have shown their educational potential in science, technology, art, mathematics and engineering skills. As students become interested in the prospect of flying robots in their classrooms, teachers ... .. read more..

Arkansas Computer Science Program a Model for Other States
Friday, April 16, 2021

In 2014, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson – then a gubernatorial candidate – announced his vision to make Arkansas the first state in the country to offer computer science courses in all its public and charter high schools. The announcement marked the genesis of the Arkansas Computer Scie... .. read more..

Gov Tech Biz Quarterly Roundup: Q1 2021 With Jeff Cook
Friday, April 16, 2021

Over the last year, it’s been hard to find a week that goes by without a transformational investment or acquisition in the gov tech space. Already in 2021, there has been a record-setting pace of activity in the gov tech market, and the number of transactions, size of transactions and valua... .. read more..

Many Thought COVID Would Derail Smart Cities Work — It Didn’t
Thursday, April 15, 2021

Smart city technologies to support efforts like fleet management or remote work may have been a tough sell at times in the pre-pandemic world, but not so much anymore. Those familiar with the space say new technologies and partnerships are helping navigate the unprecedented times.   Whe... .. read more..

How Virtual Reality Training Can Help Combat Racial Bias
Thursday, April 15, 2021

Achieving a just, inclusive society takes hard work and deep soul-searching by institutions, their leaders and employees, whether they operate within government, academia, the nonprofit world or the private sector. To advance that goal, it is critical that we address issues around racial equity h... .. read more..

What’s New in Civic Tech: USDS Admin Stepping Down in April
Thursday, April 15, 2021

Matt Cutts, the current administrator for the United States Digital Service (USDS), announced via Twitter this week that he will step down from his position in April. Cutts elaborated on his decision — as well as his time with the USDS — in a subsequent Medium post , noting that the g... .. read more..

CivicPlus, SilverSky Partner on Cyber as Security Risks Rise
Thursday, April 15, 2021

With hacks and data leaks happening left and right , cybersecurity is only becoming more important as time goes on. That applies even moreso in government, where a breach could mean anything from citizens not receiving desperately needed help to foreign adversaries meddling in elections . CivicPl... .. read more..

Opinion: Cybersecurity Is a Marathon
Thursday, April 15, 2021

When we think of cybersecurity pre-COVID, during a pandemic and post-pandemic, there are a myriad strategies, practices and processes to consider. Since COVID-19 spread worldwide, the FBI reported a 300 percent increase in cyber crimes. Whatever aspect of cybersecurity you are considering, thinki... .. read more..

Former FCC Chair on Building Back Better Under Biden
Thursday, April 15, 2021

One of the most sweeping agencies of the federal government is the Federal Communications Commission (FCC): Its regulatory authority over the nation’s networks covers approximately one-sixth of the domestic economy. Of even greater relevance, however, is how the remainder of the economy rel... .. read more..

Can Dig-Once Policies Hasten the Close of the Digital Divide?
Wednesday, April 14, 2021

As local areas and states keep slugging away at the digital divide, time and money may separate the winners from the losers in the broadband infrastructure game. One potential way to save time and money is through a “dig-once” approach, which refers to the idea of minimizing “th... .. read more..

CitizenLab Goes Open Source to Encourage Participation
Wednesday, April 14, 2021

Platforms like CitizenLab offer solutions for government entities to make data-driven decisions with greater transparency. CitizenLab has expanded its reach in recent years to better serve U.S. cities, and now it is open to all civic organizations. A  blog  post written by co-founder an... .. read more..

The FCC Needs Your Internet Speed to Improve Broadband Data
Wednesday, April 14, 2021

It's not every day that using an application on one's phone can potentially help public policy. The Federal Communications Commission is now promoting its speed test apps  so that it can improve the information in its high-speed Internet coverage maps, which are used to distribute broadband ... .. read more..

Kinsa FLUency Program Helping Schools Monitor for COVID-19
Wednesday, April 14, 2021

Since COVID-19 first hit the U.S. a little over a year ago, research has been somewhat mixed about whether a fever is a reliable metric for determining if someone is infected with the virus. Though many patients can carry the illness with little to no symptoms, the Centers for Disease Control and... .. read more..