Finally talking about election integrity at #PresidentialDebate2020. Our @electionland team has been on this topic, like this, about Ohio officials consulting a promoter of voting fraud fears before limiting ballot drop boxes to 1 per county: propublica.org/article/before…
This same purveyor of the debunked fraud claims has been holding secret meetings on the topic with state election officials: propublica.org/article/no-dem…
In July, @JessicaHuseman reported on how the Election Assistance Commission has neglected key responsibilities or ceded them to other agencies, and how 2 of its 4 commissioners were parroting Trump’s unfounded warnings about vote by mail. propublica.org/article/how-vo…
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THREAD: Under a new law, thousands of prisoners in Louisiana have been cut off from ever getting a chance at parole.
Why?
Because an algorithm said so. 1/
2/ The algorithm, called TIGER, focuses on immutable factors from a prisoner’s past — work history, age at first arrest, prior drug convictions — to assess risk of reoffending.
Yet it fails to take into account anything a prisoner has done to rehabilitate themselves.
3/ What’s more, the algorithm removes humans almost entirely from the decision-making process.
If TIGER gives a prisoner a moderate or high risk rating, they are automatically barred from pleading their case before the parole board.
THREAD: Last year, ProPublica started receiving tips from an unusual kind of source: flight attendants.
They said they'd worked on deportation flights for ICE, and they could tell us what it was really like on board. 1/
Most of the flight attendants hadn't knowingly signed up to help deport people. When they took their jobs, they’d expected to fly VIPs to glamorous locales.
Then the airline started working for ICE, and many or most of their passengers were detainees, people in chains. 2/
We spoke with 7 current and former Global Crossing Airlines crew members. Their accounts were consistent with one another and aligned with what’s in legal filings and other records about ICE Air—important because neither GlobalX nor ICE answered any of ProPublica's questions. 3/
2/ @AnnieWaldman has recently reported on:
• The life-saving work fired HHS workers are leaving behind
• How NCI employees now need approval to write about topics like vaccines and autism
3/ FDA workers, our reporters @debbiecenziper and @MegMcCloskey would like to hear from you. On Signal, you can reach Debbie at 602-848-9613 and Megan at 202-805-4865.
🧵 THREAD: In the second Trump administration, we’re devoting a significant part of our staff to detailing dramatic changes in the role of the federal government in the lives of Americans.
Here are some of the issues we’re watching — and how you can inform our work.
2/ Why trust us? We take your privacy extremely seriously, and we acknowledge the difficult situations people weigh as they decide whether to reach out.
3/ In November, we introduced you to 14 of our reporters and the topics they’re digging into — from immigration to foreign affairs to the environment. In case you missed it, start here:
1/ Formaldehyde is a chemical that causes an inescapable cancer risk for everyone in America.
It’s in the air we breathe. And it’s in our homes: our couches, our clothes, even babies’ cribs.
So what can you do to reduce your exposure? THREAD 🧵
2/ First, furniture.
Composite wood is a material that essentially contains a mix of wood fibers glued together. The glues are the issue: They can contain formaldehyde that then gets released into the air over time.
3/ One thing you can do is look at an item’s packaging for a label showing it is compliant with the standards set under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Caveat: Compliance does not mean it’s formaldehyde free; it just means emissions are low enough to meet requirements.
This year, you’ve helped us hold power accountable and produce stories that made an impact, like these: 👇 (1/5)
Texas lawmakers proposed new exceptions to the state’s strict abortion bans after the deaths of two women. (2/5) propub.li/4eBEI53
In response to a ProPublica investigation, Sen. Richard Blumenthal demanded answers from the gun industry about its “covert program” to collect information on gun owners for political purposes. (3/5) propub.li/3Z4WIQK