Piper French

Staff writer

Piper French is a staff writer for Bolts. She lives in Los Angeles. Her freelance work can be found in publications like New York Review of Books, New York magazine, The Drift, and The Nation.

Articles by Piper French

March 26, 2025

“Some of These Kids Are Already Lost When They’re Two Years Old”

March 20, 2025

The Human Cost of Jeff Landry’s Drive to Resume Executions

February 28, 2025

The Curious Case Against a Los Angeles Sheriff Watchdog

November 19, 2024

On Solitary Confinement, California Officials Side With the Prison System—Again

November 8, 2024

Voters Dismiss Two of California’s Leading Progressive Prosecutors

August 30, 2024

In Oakland, a DA’s Vision for Youth Justice Collides with a Recall Movement Leery of Second Chances

August 8, 2024

The Epidemiologist Running for Mayor to Bring Public Health to Sacramento Politics

July 15, 2024

Public Defenders Look to Grow Their Presence on the Bench in Los Angeles

A handwritten sign created for a gathering of the Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition in 2023. (photo courtesy of Courtney Hanson, Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition)

June 27, 2024

“What’s More Extraordinary and Compelling?”

May 3, 2024

How Do You Repurpose a Closed Jail? Competing Visions Clash in St. Louis

April 10, 2024

Beyond Crimmigration

March 8, 2024

“We’re Going to Be Overwhelmed”: How Louisiana Just Ballooned Its Jail Population

February 23, 2024

In Pursuit of Harsher Punishments, San Francisco Courtwatchers Target Judges

February 9, 2024

Faced with ‘Cop City’ Referendum Push, Atlanta Changes Up Its Election Rules

January 24, 2024

Under the Shadow of the Extreme Case

January 10, 2024

Louisiana Organizers Brace for Landry

December 19, 2023

As Los Angeles Politicians Trade Barbs, Jail Deaths Keep Mounting

October 31, 2023

If Abortion Measure Fails, Ohioans on Parole And Probation Could Face Graver Restrictions

October 13, 2023

Boston Mayor Backtracks on Ending Controversial Police Surveillance Center

September 28, 2023

Refugee Organizing Helps Spur Noncitizen Voting in Vermont Cities

August 31, 2023

Jeff Landry’s Bid for Louisiana Governor Has Been a Crusade Against Its Cities

August 18, 2023

Brutality and Deaths Inside East Baton Rouge Jail Spark Uphill Battle for Reform

July 17, 2023

The Death Penalty on Trial in Louisiana

June 23, 2023

North Carolina GOP Is Cracking Down on the Black Sheriffs Who Stood Up to ICE

May 24, 2023

Survivors of Solitary Confinement Face the California Governor’s Veto Pen

May 19, 2023

California AG Ends San Francisco’s First Prosecution for an On-Duty Police Killing

May 4, 2023

France Enables AI Surveillance Ahead of 2024 Paris Olympics, Alarming Privacy Activists

April 18, 2023

“Our Voices Don’t Matter”: Tennessee Moves to Gut Police Oversight

April 3, 2023

“A Weapon by the State to Silence Our Voices”

March 16, 2023

Oregon Tries Again to Restore Voting Rights in Prisons

February 24, 2023

How the State Sanctions Police Violence

February 9, 2023

The New DA of Memphis Wants to Break with the Past, to a Point

January 26, 2023

In Oregon’s Prisons, Terminally Ill People Are Left with Little Recourse

January 13, 2023

Oakland’s “Riders” Scandal and the Fraught Road to Police Reform

December 16, 2022

New Progressive Bloc on LA Council Wants to Reshape How City Responds to Homelessness

November 21, 2022

With Oakland DA Win, Reformers Rebuild Strength in the Bay Area

November 18, 2022

Los Angeles Voters Ousted Their Sheriff—and Then Just Kept Going

November 5, 2022

In San Francisco, “No Intention to Seek Justice”

November 1, 2022

The Anti-Carceral Feminist Who Wants to Be DA

October 27, 2022

California’s 10 Most Critical Elections for Criminal Justice and Policing

Piper French, , Daniel Nichanian,

October 17, 2022

Sacramento Ballot Measure Pushes Policing to Address Housing Crisis

September 22, 2022

All the Governor’s Men

September 2, 2022

California Passes Bill to Expand Prison Releases for Terminally Ill People

August 17, 2022

Auditing the Status Quo in Los Angeles

August 10, 2022

Reform Prosecutor Wins After Police Union Attacks in Vermont

July 25, 2022

For Thousands of Georgians, Freely Traveling Across State Lines for an Abortion Is Not an Option

July 18, 2022

A Vermont Prosecutor Expanded Restorative Justice. Now She’s Defending It At the Polls.

June 16, 2022

Oakland’s Sheriff Is Ousted After a Long Tenure Leading Deadly Jail

June 8, 2022

San Francisco Ousts a Prominent Criminal Justice Reformer

June 3, 2022

Meet the Other Two Northern California DAs Facing Law Enforcement Blowback

May 31, 2022

“Fool Me Once”: Scandals and Abuses Fuel Unease Toward ‘Reform’ Talk in Los Angeles Sheriff Race

May 24, 2022

Ducking Racism Scandal, Orange County DA Turns to Dog Whistles

May 5, 2022

A Future for Susanville

April 29, 2022

Deaths and Neglect Behind Bars Magnify Oakland’s Sheriff Race

April 6, 2022

The Movement to Decarcerate Los Angeles Targets Judicial Elections

March 4, 2022

Abolitionist Organizer Wants to Fill Los Angeles Power Vacuum

February 10, 2022

Longstanding Grievances Between Prosecutor and Public Defender Boil Over in California DA Race

April 9, 2021

Oregon’s Tough-on-Crime D.A. Association Faces a Reckoning

February 17, 2021

California Bill That Promotes Alternatives to Policing Is Back Despite Governor’s Veto