How Private Prisons Trashed Decades of Reform Work
It took years to build bipartisan momentum for criminal justice and prison reform – and it looked like the time had finally come. Public opinion was there. The political will was there….
Your Weekly Corruption Run-Down: Opioid Lobbying, Pay-to-Play, and Illegal Campaign Contributions
With the merry-go-round of Senate hearings and the whirlwind NBA Finals, you might have had a busy week. You could be thinking to yourself, “Gosh, I’ve just been so focused on weighing…
South Dakota GOP uses emergency powers to repeal anti-corruption act passed by voters
In a plan backed by the billionaire Koch Brothers network, lawmakers in South Dakota are using emergency powers to bypass normal checks and balances and repeal America’s first statewide Anti-Corruption Act. Using…
What Corruption Cleanup Looks Like: South Dakota Lobbyists Complain, Resign, Freak Out
Have you ever seen cockroaches scurry when a light turns on? That’s exactly what South Dakota lobbyists and political establishment look like following passage of America’s first statewide Anti-Corruption Act. The Act…
The 2016 Race Against the Political Establishment
The result of the 2016 presidential election was widely regarded as a shock – but a recent Vox article says there’s at least one reason we should have predicted a Donald Trump…
New Study: Political Donors Prefer to Donate in Secret
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the number of dark money ads decreased in this election cycle once reporting requirements kicked in and donors had to disclose their contributions. In other…
Conflict of Interest for Michigan Lawmakers
“Michigan legislators potentially can be bought and sold.” That’s the latest analysis from Jane Briggs Bunting, the president of the Michigan Coalition for Open Government, following an investigation by MLive and the…
Record Haul for Super PACs
The election is not over yet, but super PACs already broke their fundraising record. They’ve collected over $1 billion in contributions, shattering the 2012 total of merely $853 million. These super PACs…
No Cop On the Block
Remember when Federal Election Commission Chair Ann Ravel said the FEC is as useless as men’s nipples? Turns out she was right. A joint investigation between NBC Bay Area and WRC (NBC4)…