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States put criminal justice, marijuana policies before voters in 2026

Police officers exit a polling station in New York City. Voters in nine states will decide on 11 ballot measures this fall addressing a variety of criminal justice and drug policies. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Voters in nine states will weigh changes to their criminal legal systems and drug policies this fall. The Nov. 3 ballot measures include questions about pretrial release, fentanyl and human trafficking penalties, immigration enforcement, traffic cameras, drug cartels and marijuana regulation. The measures reflect a recent increase in ballot proposals that would expand criminal penalties or limit opportunities for pretrial release, according to Ballotpedia, a nonpartisan election research organization. From 2012 through 2020, measures proposing to reduce penalties or bail restrictions outnumbered those proposing increases, 11 to five.  Since 2022, all 16 statewide measures in those categories have moved in a more punitive direction, according to Ballotpedia’s analysis...
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Millions of dollars of waste found in Trump administration push for immigration detention

The watchtower of CoreCivic’s former Prairie Correctional Facility, in Appleton, Minn., which will now be used as an ICE detention center, on Aug. 20, 2026. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer) WASHINGTON — Government investigators Thursday released a report that found the Department of Homeland Security wasted more than $20 million in federal funding in its rapid expansion of immigration detention, including warehouse purchases strongly opposed in numerous U.S. communities. The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office found that millions were wasted  because DHS began expanding detention operations without putting a plan in place to meet U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s goal of detaining up to 100,000 immigrants.  As the second Trump administration aims to deport 1 million immigrants a year, DHS has rapidly increased the numbers of people in immigration detention after congressional Republicans last year approved roughly $175 billion for immig...
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Democrats gain 4 in US Senate GOP on Iran war resolution, but vote falls short

The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — Despite skyrocketing fuel prices and sinking approval ratings for President Donald Trump’s conflict in Iran ahead of the November midterms, Senate Republicans blocked Democrats’ efforts Thursday to check the president’s unfettered military action in the Middle East. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., joined Democrats in supporting the House-approved Iran War Powers Resolution.  But the number of Republicans who wanted to curb Trump’s prolonged military action in the Islamic Republic fell short in the final tally of  49-50. While Collins, Murkowski and Paul have supported Iran War Powers Resolutions over the past several months, Thursday’s vote marked the first time the retiring Tillis crossed the aisle on the issue.  The North Carolina Republican announced he would not seek reelection after Trump publicly ...
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Alabama commission approves compensation increases for violent crime victims

The entrance to the Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Commission as seen on Sept. 24, 2026. The agency Thursday approved increases to compensation for violent crime victims. (Ralph Chapoco/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Commission Thursday voted to increase the payouts on some claims from victims of violent crimes. Under the administrative code change approved by members at a special meeting, payouts will go up for financial losses, lost wages, and funeral and medical expenses. “I am so excited to do so because we had needed these changes for a long time,” said Darlene Hutchinson, commissioner with ACVCC. The board voted to approve the changes for public comment with the Legislative Services Agency during the meeting in May. The changes will take effect next week. The payouts will increase in steps based on a specified time frame the claims are filed, according to the filings on the Legislative Services Agency website. Victims or their families who fil...
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Judge skeptical of White House ban of 3 news outlets but holds off on ruling for now

The White House, south facing, early on the morning of June 11, 2026. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — U.S. District Court Judge Timothy J. Kelly indicated during a Wednesday hearing he may order the Trump administration to reinstate White House press passes for reporters from three news organizations who had their credentials revoked this weekend.  Kelly, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said at the beginning of a 45-minute hearing that he is largely bound by circuit court rulings that ensure journalists with White House press passes have due process rights before their access to the complex could be rescinded.  “The government says those cases … were wrongly decided,” Kelly said. “Maybe they were, maybe they weren’t. But certainly as a district judge I have to apply them and I think it is fair to say that the processes that the Circuit Court laid out in those two cases … (weren’t) followed here.” Kelly said at the end of the he...
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Voters to decide fate of state taxes this fall

Canvassers in Denver received petition packets as they prepared to gather signatures in support of a graduated income tax measure that will appear on the Colorado ballot in November. Colorado is one of at least nine states that will decide whether to cut, cap or raise taxes this fall. (Photo by Chase Woodruff/Colorado Newsline) This fall, voters in at least nine states will decide whether to cut, cap or raise taxes through ballot measures that will give them a direct hand in steering state tax policy in a conservative or progressive direction. Some states, such as California, will weigh whether to tax — or untax — their wealthiest residents. Others, such as  Florida, are considering a myriad of mostly conservative-backed measures to cut property or income taxes. “The California wealth tax is part of a broader conversation regarding the wealthy having to pay their fair share,” said Janelle Fritts, senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan tax analysis and research org...
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US Senate Republicans spotlight trans athletes issue as midterms approach

U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, Republican of Alabama, seen at an event in Montgomery in November 2023, was among the Senate Republicans at a hearing on Sept. 23, 2026 pressing for more action to bar transgender athletes from women's sports. (Photo by Alander Rocha/Alabama Reflector) WASHINGTON — Republicans on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee used a hearing Wednesday to continue voicing opposition to transgender athletes competing in women’s sports, which the top Democrat on the panel called a distraction from cost-of-living issues voters are more concerned about. Republicans, vying to defend their majority in the House and Senate in the midterm elections less than six weeks away, have pursued a broad anti-trans agenda alongside President Donald Trump’s administration. Republicans on  Wednesday framed the issue as protecting women’s sports.  “Biological women should not be asked to accommodate men who, for reasons of identity or otherwise, choose to compete in (the) women’s categ...
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