Posts Tagged: coding

News

Enter the programmer: Lobbying, money and data

California's state Capitol in Sacramento, home of the goverrnor's office and Legislature (Photo: Shutterstock)

A huge piece of political spending involves the payments by well-heeled interest groups to lobbyists – there are about 1,800 lobbyists registered in California — who represent their clients before the Legislature and state government. In 2017, these groups spent about $339 million. Dave Middleton, a local programmer and former political operative has created what he says will be a useful, open-source tool to help researchers and journalists to follow the money.

Analysis

San Quentin puts on a happy face

San Quentin prison, as seen from San Francisco Bay. (Photo: San Quentin News, prison newspaper)

ANALYSIS: What if, instead of building prisons in remote locations, we put them near cities, accessible to family members and to the resources — educational, vocational, therapeutic, recreational, cultural — that are scarce in most prison towns?

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