October 2023 Archive
Western States Opposed Tribes’ Access to the Colorado River 70 Years Ago. History Is Repeating Itself.
Records unearthed by a University of Virginia professor shed new light on states’ vocal opposition in the 1950s to tribes claiming their share of the river. Today, many are still fighting to secure water.
When Foster Parents Don’t Want to Give Back the Baby
In many states, adoption lawyers are pushing a new legal strategy that forces biological parents to compete for custody of their children.
Local Newspapers Are Vanishing. How Should We Remember Them?
As smaller newspapers shrink or disappear, it’s easy to romanticize the role they played. But one reporter’s memories of the heyday of local journalism reveal a much more complicated reality.
How a Maneuver in Puerto Rico Led to a $29 Billion Tax Bill for Microsoft
In the largest audit in U.S. history, the IRS rejected Microsoft’s attempts to channel profits to a small factory in Puerto Rico that burned Windows software onto CDs.
Legislation to Support Stillbirth Prevention Heads to House After Unanimous Senate Approval
Following ProPublica’s reporting on the nation’s stillbirth crisis, a bipartisan group of senators reintroduced a bill to fund prevention. After the Senate passed the legislation unanimously in September, the House is expected to take it up next.
We Don’t Talk About Leonard
The conservative legal movement in the United States is more powerful than ever. One largely unknown man has played a significant role in pushing the American judiciary to the right: Leonard Leo.
These Men Say Their Utah Therapist Touched Them Inappropriately During Sessions Paid for by the LDS Church
A spokesperson for the church said it does not vet the therapists its bishops recommend and pay for, saying “it is up to church members” to “make their own decisions.”
Columbia University Deals With Revelations About Its Decadeslong Failure to Stop a Predator
Medical students have protested and survivors have expressed outrage following ProPublica’s investigation into how Columbia ignored warnings that former OB-GYN Robert Hadden was abusing patients.
U.S. Senator Expands Call for Crackdown on Philips Respironics
Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s letter to two federal agencies comes after a ProPublica and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found Philips kept secret thousands of warnings about its tainted breathing machines.
Book Bans in Texas Spread as New State Law Takes Effect
As Texas enters its third straight school year of coordinated book banning activity, a growing number of districts are targeting library books. Caught in the dragnet: books featuring a “naked” crayon and one with a cartoon butt.
Police Resistance and Politics Undercut the Authority of Prosecutors Trying to Reform the Justice System
After major American cities began electing prosecutors who campaigned on the promise of systemic reform, law enforcement unions labeled these DAs as soft on crime while lawmakers made legal and legislative efforts to remove them from office.
We Don’t Talk About Leonard: The Man Behind the Right’s Supreme Court Supermajority
The inside story of how Leonard Leo built a machine that remade the American legal system — and what he plans to do next.
Democratic Rep. Clyburn’s Role in Redrawn Congressional Maps Becomes Key in Supreme Court Redistricting Case
The court will hear a case about whether South Carolina Republicans illegally took race into account when they created the current voting districts.
Texas Took Over Its Largest School District, but Has Let Underperforming Charter Networks Expand
The state took over Houston ISD after one of its schools continuously failed to meet academic standards. But an analysis of records shows it’s been more generous with underperforming charter schools, waiving expansion requirements at least 17 times.
A Detective Sabotaged His Own Cases Because He Didn’t Like the Prosecutor. The Police Department Did Nothing to Stop Him.
Across the country, police have undermined and resisted reform. To protest a prosecutor, one detective was willing to let murder suspects walk free, even if he’d arrested them and believed that they should be behind bars.
A Racist Harvard Scientist Commissioned Photos of Enslaved People. One Possible Descendant Wants to Reclaim Their Story.
The images are among the oldest known photographs of enslaved people in America. Tamara Lanier’s fight to gain control of them shows there is no clear system in place to repatriate remains of captive Africans or objects associated with them.
A Lab Test That Experts Liken to a Witch Trial Is Helping Send Women to Prison for Murder
The “lung float” test claims to help determine if a baby was born alive or dead, but many medical examiners say it’s too unreliable. Yet the test is still being used to bring murder charges — and get convictions.
Senator Calls for DOJ Action Against Philips for Keeping CPAP Machine Complaints Secret
The FDA also said it is “unsatisfied” with the company’s response to the crisis. Share prices dropped in early trading.
It’s Not Personal: Why Clarence Thomas’ Trip to the Koch Summit Undermines His Ethics Defense
Even by Thomas’ own permissive interpretation, the justice’s recently revealed travel to Palm Springs and the Bohemian Grove appear to violate the disclosure law, experts explained.
Southeast Asian Casinos Emerge as Major Enablers of Global Cybercrime
A growing number of casinos in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar are engaging in large-scale money laundering, facilitating cyberfraud that is costing victims in America and abroad billions of dollars, according to new research by the United Nations.
