Lakeidra Chavis

Dear Katrice and Geraldine, We are deeply concerned about the manner in which The Marshall Project has been treating our members and approaching the bargaining process. Recently, The Marshall Project leadership has betrayed our organization’s values and compromised our position in the industry and the journalism we pursue. It’s time for that to change. The guild has worked tirelessly and in good faith on proposals that would keep high-quality health care affordable for Marshallers. We have also been steadfast in asserting that all recognized members deserve due process and fair treatment required under the law. The organization, in turn, has increasingly taken anti-worker stances that have eroded trust and created a culture that makes it difficult to do the work that makes us proud. Since the organization has taken such a hardline stance, refusing to work with the guild on the items listed below, we will be filing unfair labor practices with the National Labor Relations Board and stepping up our public efforts to make it clear that we demand fair treatment.

The following recent actions by the organization have taken an immense toll on the workers of The Marshall Project: 1. The organization has repeatedly denied steward representation to a member facing a Performance Improvement Plan and possible termination, as well as denying another member representation in their termination meeting last week. This denial is illegal, egregious, and completely out of line with standards across our industry and the labor movement going back decades. We are shocked that the organization would take such a hypocritical and prohibitive stance on this, given our mission. The union has filed an Unfair Labor Practice about this illegal violation of members’ Weingarten rights and demands that members be allowed steward representation in any meeting they feel is appropriate. 2. The organization has caused a retaliatory ripple effect with its actions against one employee that has touched an entire newsroom in Cleveland with negative effects that go against the stated purpose of collaboration with local media and our ability to make good on promises we made to readers. When the organization recognized members it had a duty to follow the law and not proceed with layoffs without bargaining. We have filed an Unfair Labor Practice for the illegal layoff of employees and management retaliation.

3. The organization made a unilateral change to our outside employment policy without bargaining, changing expectations to require managerial approval. We have always maintained a workplace where outside work is permitted and the organization’s sudden termination of Chris Vazquez without a steward, without an opportunity to stop the freelancing project, and without severance is unjust and defies our values. 4. The organization is employing a strategic erosion of status quo through small changes to past practice while we bargain our first contract, including erasure of our cost-of-living adjustment, a significant change to our health insurance, and modifying the evaluation process. The organization has inconsistently complied with requests for information, which does not reflect good faith in bargaining. The Marshall Project, in retaining union-busting law firm Kauff McGuire & Margolis, is willingly participating in the erosion of worker protections across our industry, a project that takes advantage of the current anti-worker political environment. When The Marshall Project voluntarily recognized our union last year, it touted a “longstanding commitment to a fair, equitable and inclusive workplace, with generous benefits.” We are demanding a return to these values.

Today, we sent a letter to @themarshallproject.org‬ leadership expressing concern about their denial of bargaining obligations. Management has repeatedly denied members Weingarten rights, engaged in an illegal layoff, and more — we need your help to demand that management bargain in good faith.

‘Sinners’ Is Set in Clarksdale, Where There’s No Theater. Locals Are Asking for a Screening. The Mississippi Delta town launched a petition in hopes of bringing director Ryan Coogler and his team to the community that helped inspire the hit film.

"Sinners" has made $161 million at the box office, but residents of Clarksdale, Mississippi, where the film is based, are unable to see it because there are no open theaters in town. The Mississippi Delta town launched a petition in hopes of hosting a screening. capitalbnews.org/clarksdale-r...

In North Carolina, Juvenile Lifers See a Pathway to Freedom After the state’s previous governor granted clemency to people sentenced to life in prison as minors, others with juvenile life sentences are hoping the new administration also believes in second chances.

April Barber Scales was 15 when she was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. She received clemency in 2022, and was released after 31 years in prison. “More women serving long sentences should have the opportunity for freedom,” she said.
boltsmag.org/north-c...

Google Is a Monopolist in Online Advertising Tech, Judge Says The ruling was the second time in a year that a federal court had found that Google had acted illegally to maintain its dominance.

Breaking News: Google acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in some online advertising technology, a federal judge ruled.

Mother of 11-year-old boy fatally stabbed while protecting her in Edgewater home files lawsuit Laterria Smith claims the state ignored the danger posed by her ex-boyfriend, who is charged in the 2024 attack, and released from prison a day before it.

The mother of an 11-year-old boy fatally stabbed while protecting her has filed a lawsuit claiming the state ignored the danger posed by her ex-boyfriend, who is charged in the attack and was released from prison a day before it.

Cook County’s conviction integrity unit repeatedly denied freedom to prisoners who were later cleared Still in prison after 18 years despite the flimsy evidence of his guilt, Kevin Jackson tore open the letter from the Cook County conviction integrity unit

Cook County’s conviction integrity unit has been celebrated for exonerating more people than any comparable unit nationwide. But an Injustice Watch investigation found 21 people who were denied relief by the group before flawed evidence later led to their exonerations.

I don't know how to say this beyond standing up to authority is a muscle and some of you have never exercised it

US Dept of Justice Website redirects to Office of Justice programs notice "The department of justice's office of justice programs is currently reviewing its websites and materials in accordance with recent executive orders and related guidance. during this review, some pages and publications will be unavailable. we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause."

oh this is a great tragedy. the website to search the ncjrs.gov. abstracts database now redirects to a takedown message. seems like old docs are still online (if you have a direct address), but not searchable.

Are you a BOP employee? I'd like to hear from you about current issues inside the agency. I can be reached at signal below (which is more secure for privacy) Do not write me from work devices or emails/phone numbers.

More info about signal here, if you are unfamiliar: signal.org

My contact:

Trump's FCC chief opens investigation into NPR and PBS Brendan Carr, the new head of the Federal Communications Commission under President Trump, says the public broadcasters are being investigated for allegedly running commercials.

People! I'll be talking about FCC chief's investigation into PBS & NPR - and how it ties in to push to cut all federal funds for public broadcasting

Tune in at 5.44/7.44p tonight on All Things Considered

My earlier story:
www.npr.org/2025/01/30/n...

Illinois, largely considered a midwest safe haven for abortion, is losing clinics: "The affiliate said the influx of patients traveling to the state post-Dobbs and more patients needing financial assistance contributed to the decision."

How Popular YouTubers Pushed Young Male Voters Toward Trump How podcasters like Joe Rogan and Logan Paul turned young men, a once apolitical demographic, into a massively powerful voting bloc

NEW: My colleagues & I analyzed nearly 1.3k hours of footage (>2k videos) from nine wildly popular podcasters and streamers on YouTube to understand how they helped lift Trump to power. Now that he's back in office, the broadcasters are well-positioned to help build support for his political agenda.

this isn't quite right...cuts are impacting every part of the organization except the BEZ newsroom. So business side and Sun-Times newsroom will be offered buyouts.

Planned Parenthood of Illinois Closing 4 Health Centers, Including Englewood Location, Amid Financial Shortfall In an effort to minimize patient disruptions, Planned Parenthood of Illinois leaders said they plan to expand patient care at other locations as needed and through the PPDirect app.

Planned Parenthood of Illinois will be closing four health centers, including one in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood, due to a financial shortfall and an “uncertain patient care landscape” under the Donald Trump administration, the reproductive health care provider announced.

You Blamed DEI for Hurting Your Career. Now What? For people who pin their failures on diversity, corporate America’s DEI retreat removes a barrier—or maybe an excuse.

this confirms something i have long suspected, which is that certain people are told that their professional and academic failures are because of “affirmative action” or “DEI” as a way to avoid difficult conversations about their mediocrity www.wsj.com/lifestyle/ca...

Behind the scenes, the company was also quietly dismantling a system to prevent the spread of misinformation. When the company announced on Jan. 7 that it would end its fact-checking partnerships, the company also instructed teams responsible for ranking content in the company’s apps to stop penalizing misinformation, according to sources and an internal document obtained by Platformer. The result is that the sort of viral hoaxes that ran roughshod over the platform during the 2016 US presidential election — “Pope Francis endorses Trump,” Pizzagate, and all the rest — are now just as eligible for free amplification on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads as true stories.

NEW: Meta has quietly dismantled the system that prevented misinformation from spreading in the United States. Machine-learning classifiers that once identified viral hoaxes and limited their reach have now been switched off, Platformer has learned www.platformer.news/meta-ends-mi...

Illinois's convoluted process for allocating opioid settlement funds - Chicago Reader Questions about who reviews applications for opioid settlement money remain unanswered by the state.

illinois is set to get $1.3 billion in overdose prevention money from lawsuits settled w/ pharmacies + drugmakers.

how does the state decide where it gets spent? and who makes the decisions?

community orgs + lawmakers want to know—but the state’s not answering them or @katieprout.bsky.social.

Ex-Detective Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Black Women Found Dead Ahead Of Trial Roger Golubski, who allegedly threatened to jail women's relatives if they turned down his demands for sexual favors, was set to go on trial on Monday.

An ex-Kansas detective accused of sexually assaulting Black women is dead — his trial was set to begin Monday.

Quote is from 100 shooting review. Asked “when someone is arrested for gun possession how will we know who’s a future shooter?” — this was part of response.

Also analyzed what % of people arrested for gun possession are not later arrested for a shooting (apdx 15)

data.philadao.com/Research.htm...

Weapons scanner CFO, 4 others ‘terminated or resigned’ amid misconduct investigation The company first announced late last month that an internal committee had begun investigating the company’s sales practices and discovered that “certain sales… were subject to extra-contractual terms...

Many players in public safety tech sales are selling vapor. And some of them are unscrupulous about their sales practices. While details about Evolv are not publicly known, this doesn’t look good. Plus they have yet to pick out a single gun in the NYC subway.

www.nbcchicago.com/investigatio...

How Trump Plans to Seize the Power of the Purse From Congress The second-term president likely will seek to cut off spending that lawmakers have already appropriated, setting off a constitutional struggle within the branches. If successful, he could wield the po...

New from me: As they prepare to cut trillions in government services, Trump + team are planning to test a radical legal theory which claims the president can unilaterally choke off funding from programs he opposes. www.propublica.org/article/trum...

Under Fire, Mayor Brandon Johnson Reverses Deep Cuts to Police Reform Push and Restores 162 Now-Vacant Positions Mayor Brandon Johnson said he will ask the Chicago City Council to restore 162 now-vacant positions to the Chicago Police Department charged with implementing the court order known as the consent decr...

Mayor Brandon Johnson said he will ask the Chicago City Council to restore 162 now-vacant positions to Chicago Police charged with implementing the consent decree after AG Kwame Raoul and the monitoring team warned the cuts would make it impossible for the city to comply with the requirements.

How progressive prosecutors became scapegoats. Some believe progressive prosecutors have had their moment, but others argue that view misinterprets what’s happening across the country.

I wrote about the "progressive prosecutor" movement and how it's going. As you might've guessed, it's had its ups and downs

A Third Woman Died Under Texas’ Abortion Ban. Doctors Are Avoiding D&Cs and Reaching for Riskier Miscarriage Treatments. Thirty-five-year-old Porsha Ngumezi’s case raises questions about how abortion bans are pressuring doctors to avoid standard care even in straightforward miscarriages.

NEW: Porsha Ngumezi is the fifth case we've reported on in which a woman died after not receiving a D&C or its second-trimester equivalent in time, or at all.

Her case raises questions about how abortion bans are pressuring doctors to avoid standard care even in straightforward miscarriages.

Dad who flew to LAX to find missing daughter Hannah Kobayashi dies by suicide near airport Ryan Kobayashi, who flew to Los Angeles looking for his daughter, Hannah, after she was reported missing, 'tragically took his own life,' according to his family.

My god.

Dad who flew to LAX to find missing daughter Hannah Kobayashi dies by suicide near airport:

www.latimes.com/california/s...

In Five Years, Chicago Has Barely Made Progress on Its Court-Ordered Police Reforms. Here’s Why. Chicago police agreed to judicial oversight in 2019. Since then, a series of mayors and police chiefs let efforts languish and no one in a position of oversight has pushed forcefully to keep the proce...

NEW: Chicago police agreed to judicial oversight in 2019. Since then, a series of mayors and police chiefs let efforts languish and no one in a position of oversight has pushed forcefully to keep the process on track, @wttw.bsky.social and @propublica.org ‬⁩found

How the largest gathering of US police chiefs is talking about AI Officers training in virtual reality, cities surveilled by webs of sensors, and AI-generated police reports are all a sign of what’s to come.

At the Int'l Assoc of Chiefs of Police's meeting, "the message to police chiefs seemed crystal clear: If your dept is slow to adopt AI, fix that now. The future of policing will rely on it in all its forms."

My colleague James O'Donnell w/ a write-up: www.technologyreview.com/2024/11/19/1...

Politician pleads guilty in sexual assault case after being elected to Hancock County Council HANCOCK COUNTY, Ind. — A current central Indiana county commissioner has pleaded guilty in a Nevada sexual assault case, days after being elected to his local County Council. John D. Jessup – a cur…

A Trump supporting, anti-trans, anti-gay Republican was elected commissioner of the county where I grew up. He won despite being in jail on election night for a sexual assault in Vegas.

It’s now come out that the woman he assaulted was his daughter.

fox59.com/news/indycri...

Great job @corli.thetriibe.com!!

Sean Grayson, who killed Sonya Massey, committed misconduct at prior jobs. Another one of his cases just got dropped - IPM Newsroom Former Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson, who killed Sonya Massey, was accused of misconduct while employed at Central Illinois police departments. Some whose complaints were disregarded a...

NEW w/ @samstecklow.bsky.social
Chelsey Lowe sounded the alarm about Sean Grayson long before he shot and killed Sonya Massey.

Her arrest by Grayson led to a two-year-long case and felony conviction. But right before sentencing, her case was suddenly dropped.

ipmnewsroom.org/sean-grayson...