Why states and counties keep suing oil companies over climate claims
A New Jersey county's new lawsuit is the latest test of whether state courts can hear climate deception cases at all.
Devon Clarke · October 21, 2026News Bay 71
Union renewal: what the numbers say about organized labor today
Membership is down overall, but the private-sector gap and the legal right to organize explain where new drives are looking.
Devon Clarke · October 18, 2026
AI and the labor market: which tasks get absorbed, and which skills gain value
Automation tends to take tasks, not whole jobs. That distinction decides who is exposed — and what to build next.
Devon Clarke · October 13, 2026
Religion in America statistics: how surveys track a shifting picture
Affiliation patterns are changing, and the way researchers count them shapes what public institutions see.
Aarya Kapoor · October 10, 2026
Restitution orders: how courts calculate what a convicted person owes
A restitution order is entered at sentencing, but collecting it is a separate fight — and full recovery is rare.
Monica Cummings · October 1, 2026
How cash bail actually works — and who stays in jail before trial
Money release is the default in most US counties, and the Bureau of Justice Statistics counts who that leaves behind.
Monica Cummings · August 26, 2026How federal compassionate release works, and what the Supreme Court just narrowed
A judge can shorten a federal sentence already being served, but only through a specific statutory door. Two rulings on May 28, 2026 moved its frame.
Monica Cummings · August 15, 2026Clemency explained: how pardon decisions are actually made
Thousands of petitions reach governors' and the president's desks, nearly all decided — or ignored — through advisory processes no court can review.
Monica Cummings · July 21, 2026
Unemployment Numbers Explained: Reading the Jobs Report
The monthly jobs report moves markets within minutes, but its numbers rest on strict definitions. Here is what the unemployment rate does and does not tell you.
Colin Reyes · October 8, 2026Explainers
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How Tariffs Work: Winners, Losers and Prices
A tariff is a tax a government places on imported goods, paid by the importer. Here is who wins, who loses, and why prices move when tariffs change.
Colin Reyes · October 6, 2026
GDP Explained: What It Measures and What It Misses
GDP is the standard yardstick of economic growth, but it has blind spots. This guide explains what it measures and what it leaves out.
Colin Reyes · October 2, 2026
Inflation explained: why prices rise and what it means for you
The basket of goods behind the headline number, and how to read it.
Monica Cummings · September 20, 2026
What qualified immunity actually covers — and what it doesn't
The doctrine shields officials from damages lawsuits unless they violated "clearly established" law — a test that has frustrated courts across the political spectrum.
Colin Reyes · August 28, 2026Society
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Suburbanization explained: how commuting, zoning and schools redraw the map
Three quiet rules — a car, a zoning code, an attendance line — decide where American neighborhoods grow.
Aarya Kapoor · October 2, 2026
How census data shapes your neighborhood, from funding to planning
A once-a-decade headcount, plus quieter yearly surveys, decide where money, seats and services flow.
Aarya Kapoor · September 26, 2026Why communities trust local news: the evidence and the gap it leaves
When a hometown paper closes, what disappears is not just coverage. It is a shared record that residents, courts, and councils could all check.
Aarya Kapoor · September 22, 2026What qualified immunity covers, and where it stops
The doctrine shields officials from most civil rights lawsuits unless the right they violated was already "clearly established" — a standard that has grown narrower since the Supreme Court adopted it in 1982.
Aarya Kapoor · August 21, 2026Rights News
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Press Freedom Around the World: A Comparative Explainer
Press freedom differs sharply from one country to the next. This guide explains what it means, how it is measured, and how nations compare.
Colin Reyes · October 4, 2026
Digital privacy rights: what data companies can legally collect
Consent, not prohibition, is the legal default in most places. Here is where the line sits, and which tools actually move it.
Devon Clarke · October 1, 2026Voting Rights Explained: Registration, ID and Access Rules
Registration deadlines, early voting windows, and polling place rules, explained in plain words from official state election sources.
Colin Reyes · September 29, 2026The Grants Pass ruling reshaped homeless encampment policy — and litigation moved to the states
One year after the Supreme Court upheld camping bans, the fight has shifted to state constitutions and city inventories of shelter beds.
Devon Clarke · August 24, 2026Business News
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How franchising works: the buy-in costs and the real returns
What you actually pay for, what you keep paying, and what the record shows about who profits.
Colin Reyes · September 29, 2026
How the Labor Department recovers stolen wages, and how much workers get
Federal wage-theft enforcement hit a five-year high in 2025, but the recovery process, and its limits, are less understood than the headline number.
Colin Reyes · August 10, 2026Community benefit agreements: when developers negotiate with neighborhoods
CBAs trade community support for enforceable commitments — local hiring, affordable housing, anti-displacement funds — and the enforceability question is their whole story.
Colin Reyes · August 3, 2026Ban-the-box laws: what employers can ask, and when
Most states and many cities now delay criminal-history questions until after a conditional offer — and the fair-chance rules that replaced the checkbox come with process requirements.
Colin Reyes · July 12, 2026