Piper French
@psfrench.bsky.social
reporting on prisons, jails, DAs for Bolts. freelance magazine work: NYRB, NYmag, Aperture, Lux, Drift, Nation
piperstrehlowfrench@gmail.com
-> psfrench.com
en/es/fr
piperstrehlowfrench@gmail.com
-> psfrench.com
en/es/fr
Pinned
Piper French
@psfrench.bsky.social
· Mar 20
The Human Cost of Jeff Landry’s Drive to Resume Executions - Bolts
Chris Duncan’s death sentence—built on the testimony of two discredited doctors—illustrates just how faulty the system can be.
boltsmag.org
In January 2024 I got a one-line email from a woman I didn't know: "Jimmie Duncan an innocent man on death row is looking to get into contact with you."
I've been working on the story ever since. Here it is, finally - a @motherjones.com / @bolts.bsky.social feature: boltsmag.org/the-human-co...
I've been working on the story ever since. Here it is, finally - a @motherjones.com / @bolts.bsky.social feature: boltsmag.org/the-human-co...
Always read Victoria Law on prisons: truthout.org/articles/ice...
ICE Wants to Reopen Notorious California Prison. Locals Are Fighting Back.
FCI Dublin was shut down in 2024 after revelations of abuse against prisoners. Residents want it to stay closed.
truthout.org
January 3, 2026 at 6:40 PM
Always read Victoria Law on prisons: truthout.org/articles/ice...
Reposted by Piper French
Chris is over halfway there! Sharing again in case anyone is trying to get rid of some $ before the end of the year...
Sharing a verified gofundme to help Chris get back on his feet after over 30 years of wrongful incarceration: gofundme.com/f/help-chris... Chris has helped the people around him - on death row and off - in a lot of ways, and it would be very cool if he reached his goal in time for Christmas!
December 10, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Chris is over halfway there! Sharing again in case anyone is trying to get rid of some $ before the end of the year...
Reposted by Piper French
The Massey Commission was established after Sonya Massey was killed by a sheriff's deputy in her own home. I followed along for 9 months as its members tried to enact real policing & mental health reforms – & grappled w/ the limits of these commissions to effect change: boltsmag.org/sonya-massey...
A Police Killing Drew National Protests. At Home, a Commission Struggles with How to Make a Difference. - Bolts
Part I: “I’m going to still try” On July 6, 2024, the morning after Sonya Massey was murdered by a Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy, a local citizen journalist named Calvin... Read More
boltsmag.org
December 11, 2025 at 8:21 PM
The Massey Commission was established after Sonya Massey was killed by a sheriff's deputy in her own home. I followed along for 9 months as its members tried to enact real policing & mental health reforms – & grappled w/ the limits of these commissions to effect change: boltsmag.org/sonya-massey...
Reposted by Piper French
Just in: Florida's supreme court today has UPHELD a recent state law that enables juries to sentence someone to death nonunanimously.
Bolts reported on FL's law a few years ago, amid huge concern that nonunanimous convictions have a high error rate, & are likelier to sideline Black jurors.
Bolts reported on FL's law a few years ago, amid huge concern that nonunanimous convictions have a high error rate, & are likelier to sideline Black jurors.
Exonerees Sound the Alarm on New Florida Law Allowing Death Sentences by Split Juries - Bolts
Herman Lindsey braced himself for news that he would be sentenced to death as he sat inside a courtroom in Broward County, Florida in 2006. A jury had convicted Lindsey... Read More
boltsmag.org
December 18, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Just in: Florida's supreme court today has UPHELD a recent state law that enables juries to sentence someone to death nonunanimously.
Bolts reported on FL's law a few years ago, amid huge concern that nonunanimous convictions have a high error rate, & are likelier to sideline Black jurors.
Bolts reported on FL's law a few years ago, amid huge concern that nonunanimous convictions have a high error rate, & are likelier to sideline Black jurors.
just what we need: fewer nurses
Woman comes to US at age 6. Graduates nursing school. Work permit. No criminal record. Snatched and imprisoned by ICE for 6 months now. About to be forced back to Honduras. A life destroyed and one less nurse. Merry Christmas.
www.nola.com/news/educati...
www.nola.com/news/educati...
December 21, 2025 at 12:00 AM
just what we need: fewer nurses
The Massey Commission was established after Sonya Massey was killed by a sheriff's deputy in her own home. I followed along for 9 months as its members tried to enact real policing & mental health reforms – & grappled w/ the limits of these commissions to effect change: boltsmag.org/sonya-massey...
A Police Killing Drew National Protests. At Home, a Commission Struggles with How to Make a Difference. - Bolts
Part I: “I’m going to still try” On July 6, 2024, the morning after Sonya Massey was murdered by a Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy, a local citizen journalist named Calvin... Read More
boltsmag.org
December 11, 2025 at 8:21 PM
The Massey Commission was established after Sonya Massey was killed by a sheriff's deputy in her own home. I followed along for 9 months as its members tried to enact real policing & mental health reforms – & grappled w/ the limits of these commissions to effect change: boltsmag.org/sonya-massey...
Reposted by Piper French
We have never seen anything like this year.
@isabelaalhadeff.bsky.social attempts to list the many, many, many ways the Trump administration punished immigrants in 2025—and delighted in their cruelty.
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
@isabelaalhadeff.bsky.social attempts to list the many, many, many ways the Trump administration punished immigrants in 2025—and delighted in their cruelty.
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
A year of hell for immigrants
In the first Trump administration, cruelty was the point. Now, it is the norm.
www.motherjones.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:07 PM
We have never seen anything like this year.
@isabelaalhadeff.bsky.social attempts to list the many, many, many ways the Trump administration punished immigrants in 2025—and delighted in their cruelty.
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
@isabelaalhadeff.bsky.social attempts to list the many, many, many ways the Trump administration punished immigrants in 2025—and delighted in their cruelty.
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Chris is over halfway there! Sharing again in case anyone is trying to get rid of some $ before the end of the year...
Sharing a verified gofundme to help Chris get back on his feet after over 30 years of wrongful incarceration: gofundme.com/f/help-chris... Chris has helped the people around him - on death row and off - in a lot of ways, and it would be very cool if he reached his goal in time for Christmas!
December 10, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Chris is over halfway there! Sharing again in case anyone is trying to get rid of some $ before the end of the year...
Reposted by Piper French
The police killing of Sonya Massey ignited protests throughout the country. In Illinois, a civilian commission met over the last year to debate changes—holding tense, difficult meetings.
This story follows the commission for months—and captures just how agonizing these processes can be.
NEW:
This story follows the commission for months—and captures just how agonizing these processes can be.
NEW:
A Police Killing Drew National Protests. At Home, a Commission Struggles with How to Make a Difference. - Bolts
Part I: “I’m going to still try” On July 6, 2024, the morning after Sonya Massey was murdered by a Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy, a local citizen journalist named Calvin... Read More
boltsmag.org
December 9, 2025 at 8:28 PM
The police killing of Sonya Massey ignited protests throughout the country. In Illinois, a civilian commission met over the last year to debate changes—holding tense, difficult meetings.
This story follows the commission for months—and captures just how agonizing these processes can be.
NEW:
This story follows the commission for months—and captures just how agonizing these processes can be.
NEW:
Reposted by Piper French
The Rikers crisis continues — a Brennan Center researcher on what he's hoping to see from Mamdani:
Since 2015, at least 116 people have died in the New York City jails — including the brutal Rikers Island complex.
Here are several ways Mayor-elect @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social can address the troubled institution. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
Here are several ways Mayor-elect @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social can address the troubled institution. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
What the Incoming Mayor Must Do About New York City Jails
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani can harness the federal court’s historic intervention in the local jail system to durably improve it.
www.brennancenter.org
December 6, 2025 at 5:55 PM
The Rikers crisis continues — a Brennan Center researcher on what he's hoping to see from Mamdani:
Sharing a verified gofundme to help Chris get back on his feet after over 30 years of wrongful incarceration: gofundme.com/f/help-chris... Chris has helped the people around him - on death row and off - in a lot of ways, and it would be very cool if he reached his goal in time for Christmas!
December 5, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Sharing a verified gofundme to help Chris get back on his feet after over 30 years of wrongful incarceration: gofundme.com/f/help-chris... Chris has helped the people around him - on death row and off - in a lot of ways, and it would be very cool if he reached his goal in time for Christmas!
Reposted by Piper French
You can help Bolts continue to provide crucial coverage of local elections. Here's how:
- Repost this = I donate $1.
- Follow @boltsmag.org = I donate $1.
- Donate (link below) + tell me how much = I match your donation.
(Donate monthly = I match a year's worth)
- Repost this = I donate $1.
- Follow @boltsmag.org = I donate $1.
- Donate (link below) + tell me how much = I match your donation.
(Donate monthly = I match a year's worth)
Support Bolts
We are a nonprofit publication that covers the nuts and bolts of political change, from the local up, and we need reader support to build our journalism.
boltsmag.org
December 3, 2025 at 6:20 PM
You can help Bolts continue to provide crucial coverage of local elections. Here's how:
- Repost this = I donate $1.
- Follow @boltsmag.org = I donate $1.
- Donate (link below) + tell me how much = I match your donation.
(Donate monthly = I match a year's worth)
- Repost this = I donate $1.
- Follow @boltsmag.org = I donate $1.
- Donate (link below) + tell me how much = I match your donation.
(Donate monthly = I match a year's worth)
People tend to associate law enforcement repression of black activism w/ the naked violence of Birmingham or the Panthers vs the FBI. That's not the whole story. I reviewed a new book abt local police surveillance of the civil rights movement for
@newrepublic.com:
newrepublic.com/article/2028...
@newrepublic.com:
newrepublic.com/article/2028...
How Police Harassed and Infiltrated Civil Rights Groups
Efforts to surveil and undermine activists went far beyond infamous operations such as Cointelpro.
newrepublic.com
December 3, 2025 at 6:54 PM
People tend to associate law enforcement repression of black activism w/ the naked violence of Birmingham or the Panthers vs the FBI. That's not the whole story. I reviewed a new book abt local police surveillance of the civil rights movement for
@newrepublic.com:
newrepublic.com/article/2028...
@newrepublic.com:
newrepublic.com/article/2028...
After 30 years in prison and 25 years on Louisiana's death row, Chris Duncan walked out of Angola today a free man.
"I'm cruising down a highway," he texted me. "Most glaring emotion is shock."
"I'm cruising down a highway," he texted me. "Most glaring emotion is shock."
November 27, 2025 at 1:02 AM
After 30 years in prison and 25 years on Louisiana's death row, Chris Duncan walked out of Angola today a free man.
"I'm cruising down a highway," he texted me. "Most glaring emotion is shock."
"I'm cruising down a highway," he texted me. "Most glaring emotion is shock."
Reposted by Piper French
Reposted by Piper French
This is exactly why this piece is so important. The national conversation has largely flattened the effects of the VRA -- and it's potential demise -- to which party controls Congress. There's so much more to the VRA than that, and so much more on the line
I, for one, have only really thought about the VRA through the prism of federal elections, not local elections.
But this well-reported piece reminds us that ending the VRA will have an impact on ALL levels of representative government.
Via @pascalsabino.bsky.social.
boltsmag.org/voting-right...
But this well-reported piece reminds us that ending the VRA will have an impact on ALL levels of representative government.
Via @pascalsabino.bsky.social.
boltsmag.org/voting-right...
Black Residents in West Tennessee Just Won Fairer Districts. Now Comes SCOTUS. - Bolts
The Supreme Court may further erode the Voting Rights Act in an upcoming decision. Beyond affecting Congress, that would reverberate across local governments nationwide.
boltsmag.org
November 22, 2025 at 10:40 PM
This is exactly why this piece is so important. The national conversation has largely flattened the effects of the VRA -- and it's potential demise -- to which party controls Congress. There's so much more to the VRA than that, and so much more on the line
Thrilled to share that Chris Duncan, whose conviction was vacated in April, was just granted bail today, after spending over 25 years on Louisiana's death row.
It's so rare to get good news when you're covering capital punishment, but this is one very real light in the darkness
It's so rare to get good news when you're covering capital punishment, but this is one very real light in the darkness
In January 2024 I got a one-line email from a woman I didn't know: "Jimmie Duncan an innocent man on death row is looking to get into contact with you."
I've been working on the story ever since. Here it is, finally - a @motherjones.com / @bolts.bsky.social feature: boltsmag.org/the-human-co...
I've been working on the story ever since. Here it is, finally - a @motherjones.com / @bolts.bsky.social feature: boltsmag.org/the-human-co...
The Human Cost of Jeff Landry’s Drive to Resume Executions - Bolts
Chris Duncan’s death sentence—built on the testimony of two discredited doctors—illustrates just how faulty the system can be.
boltsmag.org
November 22, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Thrilled to share that Chris Duncan, whose conviction was vacated in April, was just granted bail today, after spending over 25 years on Louisiana's death row.
It's so rare to get good news when you're covering capital punishment, but this is one very real light in the darkness
It's so rare to get good news when you're covering capital punishment, but this is one very real light in the darkness
Reposted by Piper French
A vote to sharply lower rent hikes for 1.5 million Los Angeles tenants caps years of wins for local activists and comes amid a national focus on affordability punctuated by Zohran Mamdani's victory in New York. www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Los Angeles limits rent hikes in historic vote
The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to cap rent increases for most apartments, a decision that continues a wave of tenant victories in the city and across the country.
www.politico.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:13 AM
A vote to sharply lower rent hikes for 1.5 million Los Angeles tenants caps years of wins for local activists and comes amid a national focus on affordability punctuated by Zohran Mamdani's victory in New York. www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Reposted by Piper French
"ProPublica’s reporting debunks the idea of a ’Tren de Aragua complex' taken over by a horde of terrorists. We found no criminal convictions for 18 of the 21 Venezuelans we identified. Three of the men had been charged with offenses ... but in each case the charges were dropped."
“I Lost Everything”: Venezuelans Were Rounded Up in a Dramatic Midnight Raid but Never Charged With a Crime
Authorities said Tren de Aragua “terrorists” had taken over the building. A ProPublica investigation found little evidence to back up the government’s claims. For the first time, the Venezuelans arres...
www.propublica.org
November 16, 2025 at 6:29 PM
"ProPublica’s reporting debunks the idea of a ’Tren de Aragua complex' taken over by a horde of terrorists. We found no criminal convictions for 18 of the 21 Venezuelans we identified. Three of the men had been charged with offenses ... but in each case the charges were dropped."
This is so cool. I interviewed Calvin Duncan - exoneree, and now Orleans Parish Clerk of Court - back in 2023 about his work as a jailhouse lawyer for the folks on death row in Louisiana. I remember being really struck by his words:
November 16, 2025 at 4:28 PM
This is so cool. I interviewed Calvin Duncan - exoneree, and now Orleans Parish Clerk of Court - back in 2023 about his work as a jailhouse lawyer for the folks on death row in Louisiana. I remember being really struck by his words:
Reposted by Piper French
I'm seeing people wonder why ICE is going after Charlotte.
ICE has been at war with Charlotte's sheriff ever since he won in 2018.
We'd covered this at Bolts back in the day; this quote is from that sheriff:
ICE has been at war with Charlotte's sheriff ever since he won in 2018.
We'd covered this at Bolts back in the day; this quote is from that sheriff:
“When the 8 African American sheriffs took over the largest counties in North Carolina, it became a threat to the good ol’ boy system,” says the sheriff of Charlotte. These new sheriffs broke ties with ICE.
But GOP lawmakers cracked down this week, overbidding the governor’s veto to adopt this law:
But GOP lawmakers cracked down this week, overbidding the governor’s veto to adopt this law:
North Carolina GOP Is Cracking Down on the Black Sheriffs Who Stood Up to ICE
Boosted by new supermajorities, Republicans are closing in on legislation to mandate more collaboration with ICE and preempt local policies hard-won by immigrants’ rights advocates.
boltsmag.org
November 15, 2025 at 10:43 PM
I'm seeing people wonder why ICE is going after Charlotte.
ICE has been at war with Charlotte's sheriff ever since he won in 2018.
We'd covered this at Bolts back in the day; this quote is from that sheriff:
ICE has been at war with Charlotte's sheriff ever since he won in 2018.
We'd covered this at Bolts back in the day; this quote is from that sheriff:
Reposted by Piper French
a big runoff last night, in New Orleans:
Calvin Duncan was exonerated after spending *28 years* in prison; he tried to get his own case records from the New Orleans city clerk—but the office dragged its feet.
So Duncan ran to become city clerk himself, and yesterday ousted the incumbent.
Calvin Duncan was exonerated after spending *28 years* in prison; he tried to get his own case records from the New Orleans city clerk—but the office dragged its feet.
So Duncan ran to become city clerk himself, and yesterday ousted the incumbent.
Calvin Duncan wins Orleans clerk of court race - Verite News New Orleans
Duncan, a political newcomer and former prisoner, defeated incumbent Darren Lombard by a wide margin in Saturday's runoff.
veritenews.org
November 16, 2025 at 4:09 PM
a big runoff last night, in New Orleans:
Calvin Duncan was exonerated after spending *28 years* in prison; he tried to get his own case records from the New Orleans city clerk—but the office dragged its feet.
So Duncan ran to become city clerk himself, and yesterday ousted the incumbent.
Calvin Duncan was exonerated after spending *28 years* in prison; he tried to get his own case records from the New Orleans city clerk—but the office dragged its feet.
So Duncan ran to become city clerk himself, and yesterday ousted the incumbent.
In July, an ICE agent told Orgullosa Pitillo: self-deport or risk losing your children. She knew it wasn’t an empty threat: in 2018 she was one of 1000s of parents separated from their kids at the border.
Now, Trump is coming for these families again. For
@nymag.com : www.thecut.com/article/fami...
Now, Trump is coming for these families again. For
@nymag.com : www.thecut.com/article/fami...
Separated, Reunited, Now Deported
The Biden administration tried to undo the damage of Trump’s border policies. Now the government is coming for the same families again.
www.thecut.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:52 PM
In July, an ICE agent told Orgullosa Pitillo: self-deport or risk losing your children. She knew it wasn’t an empty threat: in 2018 she was one of 1000s of parents separated from their kids at the border.
Now, Trump is coming for these families again. For
@nymag.com : www.thecut.com/article/fami...
Now, Trump is coming for these families again. For
@nymag.com : www.thecut.com/article/fami...
Reposted by Piper French
New data shows that the CCRB retroactively doctored public data for more than 10,000 misconduct allegations against NYPD officers.
hellgatenyc.com/ccrb-whitewa...
hellgatenyc.com/ccrb-whitewa...
The NYPD’s Watchdog Whitewashed More Than 10,000 Misconduct Allegations in Public Data, New Evidence Shows
Allegations of lying, sexual misconduct, bigoted statements, and racist policing were among those quietly reclassified by the Civilian Complaint Review Board.
hellgatenyc.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:46 PM
New data shows that the CCRB retroactively doctored public data for more than 10,000 misconduct allegations against NYPD officers.
hellgatenyc.com/ccrb-whitewa...
hellgatenyc.com/ccrb-whitewa...