Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and the attorneys general in Arkansas and Alabama filed a lawsuit Tuesday in the U.S. Supreme Court, suing California, Massachusetts and New York to invalidate the so-called “shield laws” that have allowed providers in those states to send abortion medication to people in states with abortion bans. The state officials, all Republicans…
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As abolitionists across the United States push for decarceration, a backlash has emerged in the form of new prison construction, demonstrating the resiliency of mass incarceration. Several new women’s prisons are being built despite a growing chorus of voices arguing that prisons only inflict more harm on women who have already endured abuse and trauma. Last year, a new prison to hold nearly…
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Kwaneta Harris is one of the thousands of Americans charged with supporting both her aging parent and her own children. Her mother is in her early 70s. She also has three children; the youngest is finishing high school. Harris is also incarcerated, which means that she relies on phone calls and electronic messages to stay on top of family responsibilities. Each month, she spends over $400 on…
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When East Coast members of Higher Education Labor United (HELU) got together in January, they set their sights on developing a national plan to improve working conditions for university and college faculty and staff, enhance learning conditions for students, and build lasting partnerships with local communities to promote the common good. Together, they drafted a document called the Amherst…
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A new Massachusetts state law passed in November 2025 will make records from state institutions for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities or mental health conditions accessible for the first time. Generations of disabled people lived and died in those institutions beginning in the mid-nineteenth century. Many experienced horrific abuse, and their histories have long been obscured.
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On November 18, 2025, Massachusetts advocates gathered for hours at the State House as they have, year after year, to beat back yet another legislative proposal for involuntary outpatient commitment, or IOC. Involuntary outpatient commitment laws create a layer of specialized courts that use the so-called “Black Robe Effect,” which uses a judge’s authority to compel people with diagnoses of…
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