A Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by the Brennan Center and Data for Black Lives revealed that Washington, DC, police have spent years quietly monitoring people’s social media data and First Amendment–protected activities. Internal records show that the police used tools from private vendors that they claimed could predict extremism, keep tabs on protesters and their networks, and identify persons of interest in an investigation. This window into the secret world of social media monitoring demonstrates why we need to establish robust guardrails around law enforcement’s use of online surveillance tools.

Four years after the tumultuous 2020 election, large numbers of election officials continue to experience unacceptable levels of threats, abuse, or harassment for doing their jobs, according to the latest edition of the Brennan Center’s annual survey of local election officials. Many report being concerned about the safety of their staff and colleagues and the possibility of political interference in the upcoming election. But there is cause for reassurance — more than 90 percent of surveyed officials said they have taken steps to ensure that elections are safe and secure for everyone. Supporting their efforts is crucial to allowing voters and election workers to participate safely in the democratic process.

As the Brennan Center’s AI and Democracy series has highlighted, artificial intelligence tools stand to create new dangers and amplify long-standing threats to our elections. Tech titans’ modest pledges to address these risks don’t go far enough. To protect voters from AI-assisted misinformation, wrongful purges, and other harms in the upcoming election, companies must strengthen their policies for identifying AI-generated content and boosting authentic and accurate election information.

Despite the spread of misleading statements about crime and public safety, the most recent FBI data and city-level reports have brought promising news: violent crime dropped significantly in 2023. This decline, coming on the heels of decreases in violent crime over the previous two years, undercuts attempts to blame criminal justice reform for spikes in violence. A new Brennan Center explainer breaks down the best information we have available, common criticisms of the data, and notable trends.

Hundreds of thousands of people are detained for months or even years before standing trial because they can’t afford bail. Efforts to repair this unfair system are often stymied by lobbying by the multibillion-dollar bail bond industry. Our new analysis takes a deep dive into the workings of the industry and its campaign to kill bail reforms. Changes to the system should center on fairness and public safety — not the bail industry’s bottom line.