Last week, voters in 41 states cast their ballots on a range of hot-button issues, from reproductive rights and election reform to redistricting and workers’ rights. Some of the most closely watched results were those involving new protections for abortion access in seven states, while measures on marijuana legalization failed to gain traction. These ballot measures are a powerful reminder of how direct democracy can shape policy at the state level, but they also highlight the crucial role of state courts, which will ultimately interpret the scope of these new state constitutional amendments.

Voters in 29 states elected justices to 69 seats on their state supreme courts, which have become battlegrounds over issues such as abortion and redistricting. As has become the norm in the post-Dobbs era, both conservative and progressive groups poured money in record amounts into these campaigns, particularly in states like Michigan, Montana, and Ohio, where the ideological balance of the courts was at stake. State Court Report covered the results of these races and explained what the shifts on these high courts could mean for the future.

Countries in northern Europe have shown that incarceration doesn’t have to be punitive and dehumanizing. In recent years, some states (including Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington) have started to shift their corrections cultures toward more constructive and humane models. We explore these innovative efforts and the significant challenges to adopting such approaches nationwide.

Wealthy donors giving $5 million or more to super PACs backing presidential candidates more than doubled their spending from the 2020 election, new data from the Federal Election Commission shows. Much of the increase is driven by Trump-affiliated super PACs, which have raised nearly three times as much from megadonors compared with his last campaign. A new Brennan Center analysis dives into the numbers, highlighting the glaring flaws in our campaign finance system that allow this flood of big money to shape the presidential race.