Nearly half of adults with disabilities live in households in which someone has been involved in a court case, according to a recent national poll by The Pew Charitable Trusts. This is the first known data on the prevalence of this population’s court interaction, which is significantly higher than for those without disabilities.

On December 18, nine individuals walked out of Department 26 in the San Francisco Hall of Justice with big smiles and heads held high. Their families and friends looked on proudly as they celebrated their remarkable achievements—graduating from the Young Adult Court (YAC) program and having their criminal records forever sealed.

(Subscription required) For Horan, the contrast between criminal and family court is structural. Criminal cases arrive after devastation. Family cases arrive while there is still time to stop it. 

The future of mail-in voting — in particular, the power of states like California to count votes that are mailed by Election Day but received afterward — will soon be in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court.