Nicole D. Porter (she/her)

13 Jan 2025

Likely, the next two years will be a "laboratory of autocracy" within the United States. Count me in to join the meetings and help with the fight. Strategy sessions are beginning.

Last week, I was honored to join the We the People Conference hosted by the 14th Amendment Center at Howard Law and the Gibson-Banks Center at UMD Carey Law.

3️⃣ End prison warehousing: Stop using incarceration to hide social failures, housing instability, and mental health needs.

Recent voting rights restoration victories in Missouri and Virginia prove momentum is on our side. ⚖️✨

Last week, I was honored to join the We the People Conference hosted by the 14th Amendment Center at Howard Law and the Gibson-Banks Center at UMD Carey Law.

1️⃣ Disentangle accountability from punishment: True accountability is active and relational, not passive punitive isolation.

2️⃣ Proactively dismantle structural racism: Implement racial impact statements, state racial justice acts (see California), and factor systemic trauma into sentencing, and expand post-conviction remedies.

Last week, I was honored to join the We the People Conference hosted by the 14th Amendment Center at Howard Law and the Gibson-Banks Center at UMD Carey Law.

During my comments, I shared that we are at a critical crossroads and that now is the time to be bold. To build genuine fairness in our legal system, we must commit to three core interventions:

npr.orgIn Virginia, voting rights restoration is tough. A ballot measure could change thatVirginia has been one of the toughest places for someone convicted of a felony to get their voting rights back. An amendment to the state constitution -- on November's ballot -- would change that.

As the midterms near, there is good news about expanding voting rights to persons with felony convictions. Virginians have a chance next month to undo the Jim Crow-era voting ban. Latest via @npr.org 1/ www.npr.org/2026/10/05/n...

tulsaflyer.orgCan Oklahomans with felony convictions vote? New law offers clarity.A new Oklahoma law aiming to clear up confusion about when people with felony convictions can vote again takes effect Nov. 1, two days before the election.

This time of year, journalists do a service by explaining voting eligibility for voters impacted by the criminal legal system. Here is the latest report out of Oklahoma following a new law adopted this year. tulsaflyer.org/2026/10/02/g...

fredericknewspost.comRestoring the vote: Maryland lawmakers expand access after incarcerationWhen Qiana Johnson was released from prison on theft charges after serving 2 1/2 years, voting or any kind of political engagement again wasn’t at the top of her mind.

Maryland lawmakers adopted legislation that automatically registers people to vote as they return home from prison. #ideasthatmakesense

sentencingproject.orgVoting Rights Restored for Over 41,000 Missourians Starting Today – The Sentencing Project

Missourians expanded voting rights this year. @sentencingproject.bsky.social estimates that over 41,000 residents are newly eligible to vote given the change www.sentencingproject.org/press-releas...

Nicole D. Porter (she/her) reposted

Chris Geidner

@chrisgeidner.bsky.social

Here's the best report — from @samtlevin.bsky.social at the Guardian — on Frank Strada, the Tennessee Department of Correction chief who Tenn. Gov. Bill Lee announced this morning is resigning following this week's failed execution of Christa Pike. Strada will leave by the end of October.

theguardian.comOutgoing prison chief in Christa Pike case oversaw five ‘botched’ executions, lawyers sayFrank Strada will leave role next month after uproar over execution attempt sent Pike to hospital in critical condition

No one’s mind should be boggled

Semafor@semafor.com

Visitors to the US are on track to drop by almost two million year-on-year. “We’re the only major country in the world losing visitation,” the head of the US Travel Association said. “It’s mind-boggling.” www.semafor.com/article/09/2...

theguardian.comTexas woman triumphs as court upholds acquittal in voting error caseCrystal Mason has spent nearly a decade fighting conviction for casting provisional ballot that ultimately wasn’t counted

Finally

Phil Lewis@phillewis.bsky.social

The nearly decade-long case of Crystal Mason, who was sentenced to 5 yrs in prison over a voting error, will end with an acquittal The wife of the current district attorney, who fought to keep her conviction in place, asked Crystal if she would consider voting for him

Nicole D. Porter (she/her) reposted

ProPublica

@propublica.org

6 Aug

NEW: Elvis Brooks was exonerated after 42 years in prison. Civil rights attorneys called his case an egregious example of a wrongful conviction. But the Louisiana Attorney General maintains he is guilty — and thus doesn’t qualify for any compensation from the state. with @veritenews.org

propublica.orgHe’s Eligible for Up to $480,000 After Being Wrongly Imprisoned for 42 Years. The State Says No.Elvis Brooks’ case was an egregious example of a wrongful conviction, civil rights attorneys said. But Louisiana’s attorney general maintains that Brooks and other exonerees are guilty — and therefore...

13 June

Watching the Kennedy Center feed right now 👀 #FDT

1 May

I got my Life Membership package yesterday. I gifted myself this bag and am planning to frame the certificate with one or both of these prints. I’m updating my resume too. @aka1908 #xitaumade #aka1908

19 Apr

I appreciated joining a discussion last week on civic engagement and community safety at the National Urban League’s Safe and Just Summit. Advocacy organizers are working to expand the franchise and guarantee ballot access to all residents regardless of conviction status. #votingrights

Today, I’m @naturbanleague.bsky.social Safe & Just Communities Summit to hear about national and local community safety strategies from the Urban League’s Equitable Justice Team

Also building out alternative community safety infrastructure including alternative public infrastructure outside of 911 & law enforcement to respond to community needs. And community violence intervention infrastructure to center prevention in the community. #SafeandJust Summit

What does it look like to priority public money for youth? - year round jobs programs - year round camp programs beyond sports to include computer science, arts, wellness Funded by challenging the misalignment of wealth. What does fully supporting youth look like? #SafeandJust

Today, I’m @naturbanleague.bsky.social Safe & Just Communities Summit to hear about national and local community safety strategies from the Urban League’s Equitable Justice Team

et to listen to one of my favorite Mayors - @chicagompo.bsky.social on local community centered solutions at the #Safe&Just Communities Summit hosted by the @naturbanleague.bsky.social

Several key solutions highlighted by @chicagompo.bsky.social including investing in Chicago’s youth through a jobs program among other community solutions mentioned.

Today, I’m @naturbanleague.bsky.social Safe & Just Communities Summit to hear about national and local community safety strategies from the Urban League’s Equitable Justice Team

“We all know from SINNERS, what happens when you invite them in.” Life lesson from Marquita Stephens of the Twin Cities Urban League at the @naturbanleague Safe & Just Communities Summit.

I’ll be bringing the perspective of civic engagement as a community city strategy at the #Safe&Just Communities Summit. Central Q to thinking so far: What if designating someone as “criminal” isn’t used as a pretext to marginalize someone from society and push them into the underclass?

Nicole D. Porter (she/her) reposted

Bob Libal

@blibal.bsky.social

sentencingproject.orgTestimony in Support of Jail-Based Voting in New York – The Sentencing Project

Replying to @blibal.bsky.social

I'm hoping to (virtually) testify on behalf of @sentencingproject.bsky.social. No eligible New York voter should lose their voice in our democracy because they are behind bars. 🗳️ Jails should not be a democracy dead zone. My written testimony 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼 www.sentencingproject.org/testimony/te...

@sentencingproject.bsky.social

9 Apr

Maryland lawmakers passed House Bill 115/SB 241, to authorize automatic voter registration as part of the reentry process #secondchancemonth #secondchances See the bill here: lnkd.in/ec7xRC2n

Nicole D. Porter (she/her) reposted

The Sentencing Project

19 Mar

"Expanding voting rights is not about partisan politics. It is about belonging, dignity and the fundamental understanding that communities are strongest when everyone has a say," writes @nicoledporter.bsky.social. #UnlockTheVote

bit.lyMaryland’s missed opportunity on voting rights | COMMENTARYOpinion: Maryland has made strides in advancing voting rights, but it’s next reform should be to extend the right to vote to people who are incarcerated with felony convictions.

atlanta.capitalbnews.orgWho Can Vote After a Felony Conviction in Georgia - Capital B News - AtlantaKareemah Hanifa hopes to be an example to other people who may be afraid to register or don’t know they’ve regained their voter eligibility.

15 Mar

Kareemah is a strong advocate and doing important work from a position of lived experience in Georgia. atlanta.capitalbnews.org/georgia-felo...

miamiherald.com‘Nazi heaven’: Inside Miami campus Republicans’ racist group chatThe chat is the subject of a Florida International University police investigation.

5 Mar

Black people don’t organize around hate.

Phil Lewis@phillewis.bsky.social

The secretary of Miami-Dade County’s GOP started a group chat for conservative students — and within 3 weeks, it was filled with over 400 instances of the N-word, Nazi rhetoric and writings of "dozens of ways of violently killing Black people"

Nicole D. Porter (she/her) reposted

Chris Uggen

@chrisuggen.bsky.social

5 Mar

The social infrastructure of protest art in Minnesota, how it wins hearts and minds and mobilizes action, and the public history projects to archive and preserve it. www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

mprnews.org‘Winning hearts and minds’: How protest signs shaped the anti-ICE movement in MinnesotaMinnesota has seen an explosion of art made in response to ICE’s presence. Perhaps more than any other art form, artists and designers have made protest posters and signs en masse. “There’s never been...

washingtonpost.comTop Democratic groups urge party to shed soft-on-crime image, hire policeThe Center for American Progress wants Democrats ‘on their front foot’ talking about crime, an issue where Republicans have long held the advantage.

29 Jan

The National Academy Sciences documented in its 2014 report, “The Growth of Incarceration in the United States: Exploring Causes and Consequences 2014” that increased police contact in the 1980s was a driver of mass incarceration 1/2

29 Jan

More here: www.nationalacademies.org/read/18613/c...

courthousenews.comcourthousenews.com

Anti Black racism “One leading member of the Convention said the 1902 Constitution aimed at “the elimination of every negro voter who can be gotten rid of, legally, without materially impairing the numerical strength of the white electorate.” www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/u...

protectdemocracy.orgFederal judge restores thousands of Virginians’ voting rights in historic ruling - Protect DemocracyA federal judge found that Virginia’s Constitution broke federal law by stripping the voting rights of every Virginian with a felony.

Okay Virginia (via a federal court decision) “I am overjoyed at today’s ruling and what it means for thousands of Virginians,” said Tati King, plaintiff in King v. Youngkin. “After so many years of fighting for my rights, I will finally be able to participate in our democracy ...”

courthousenews.comcourthousenews.com

Ruling here: www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/u...

Virginia lawmakers voted last week to place a measure on the November ballot this year to automatically restore voting rights to people when they exit prison.

Virginia’s felony disenfranchisement law was enshrined in the state constitution 124 years ago w/ the explicit intent to disenfranchise Black voters. If adopted by voters, this landmark ballot measure will eliminate the state’s lifetime felony voting ban, restoring the vote to over 230,000 citizens.

witn.comFormer inmate buys old state prison in Wayne County to create reentry campusThe state sold the facility that was once Wayne Correctional to Kerwin Pitt of Recidivism Reduction Education Program Services, Inc.

9 Jan

"According to a release, [Kerwin] Pittman is now the first formerly incarcerated person in U.S. history to buy a prison." www.witn.com/2026/01/08/f...

sentencingproject.orgTop Trends in Criminal Legal Reform, 2025 – The Sentencing Project10 states adopted criminal legal reforms in 2025 that may contribute to decarceration, expand voting rights, and advance youth justice.

30 Dec 2025

Here’s an overview of key trends in justice reforms from 2025. Reforms at least 10 states are summarized on decarceration, collateral consequences, and youth justice. The summary also highlights new prison construction projects and punitive policy changes.

kansasreflector.com‘Second Look Act’ could shorten sentences for Kansas prisoners • Kansas ReflectorA Kansas Senate bill would let inmates seek resentencing after a set period of time based on their age during the offense.

9 Dec 2025

“My youngest...was sentenced at just 23 years of age to a 38-year sentence,” ... “He has now served over 10 of those years. I am not here to say he’s innocent. He made mistakes ... His brain was still developing ... the young man who went into prison at 23 is not the same person ... today.”

Nicole D. Porter (she/her) reposted

Rattling the Bars

@rattlingthebars.bsky.social

8 Dec 2025

In this week’s Rattling the Bars, Nicole Porter (@nicoledporter.bsky.social) brings a sharp worldview to the U.S. debate on prison systems. Named a “new civil rights leader” by Essence, Porter’s insight guides a new generation pushing to stop prison expansion and end extreme sentencing.

The Real News Network@therealnews.com

“There really isn’t an issue with mass incarceration in other countries,” Nicole Porter of @sentencingproject.bsky.social tells us. “The United States by far is the world’s number one jailer.”

therealnews.comNicole Porter: The US is ‘by far the world’s number one jailer’“There really isn't an issue with mass incarceration in other countries,” Nicole Porter of The Sentencing Project tells us. “The United States by far is the world's number one jailer.”

youtube.comUS is “by far the world’s number one jailer”: Nicole PorterYouTube video by The Real News Network

8 Dec 2025

I welcomed the opportunity to connect with Mansa Musa at the Real News Network to discuss efforts to challenge new prison construction in 2025. It's unfortunate that state policymakers from Arkansas to Vermont are looking to build new prisons in this moment. www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKm7...