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Virginia’s Felony Disenfranchisement Provision Faces a New Legal Challenge Under This 150-Year-Old Law
By Rachel Selzer On July 21, 2023 Over 150 years ago, in the midst of the Reconstruction era, Congress enacted the Virginia Readmission Act, a federal statute that enabled the Commonwealth of Virginia to gain federal representation in Congress following the Civil War. As a former Confederate state, Virginia’s entitlement to congressional representation was contingent on…
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Texas Republicans Push New Voting Restrictions Aimed at Houston
By J. David Goodman On May 10, 2023 The bills propose limits on polling places, tougher penalties for illegal voting and a way for the Republican-led state to order new elections in its largest city. HOUSTON — Across Harris County, an emerging Democratic stronghold in reliably red Texas, roadside signs posted last November urged harried…
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Louisiana electoral map: Supreme Court boosts black voters in gerrymandering case
By Kayla Epstein On June 25, 2023 The US Supreme Court has opened the door to the creation of a new majority-black district in the state of Louisiana in a closely watched voting rights case. The top court lifted a hold on a lower court case that could result in Louisiana redrawing its electoral map.…
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The Aging Prison Population: Causes, Costs, and Consequences
By Emily Widra, August 2, 2023 New Census Bureau data show the U.S. population is getting older — and at the same time, our prison populations are aging even faster. In this briefing, we examine the inhumane, costly, and counterproductive practice of locking up older adults. New data from the Census Bureau reveals that the U.S.…
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Plaintiffs in High-Profile Redistricting Case Urge Judges to Toss Out Alabama’s Controversial Congressional Map
By Fredreka Schouten, CNN Published 12:22 PM EDT, Sat July 29, 2023 Civil rights groups representing plaintiffs in a high-profile congressional redistricting case are urging a federal court in Alabama to reject a controversial new map crafted by the Republican-dominated legislature, saying it perpetuates a violation of the nation’s landmark voting rights law. In a late-night court filing Friday, the…
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Albany Police Block Misconduct Investigations, Neutering Landmark Oversight Law
By Chris Gelardi and Naina Purushothaman On August 2, 2023 Albany empowered its community oversight board. But the police department and the city’s top attorney are stonewalling. AT A JUNETEENTH celebration in Albany last year, a city cop allegedly threw a 12-year-old to the ground so hard his shoe flew off. The next day, local police shot a man in…
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NOPD use of facial recognition leads to zero arrests in nine months
By Michael Isaac Stein On July 26, 2023 Facial recognition technology that has been touted as an important tool to reduce violent crime in the city was used by the New Orleans Police Department only 13 times from Oct. 1, 2022, to July 1, 2023, resulting in zero arrests, according to a new report from…
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Blacks and Latinos Are Half of L.A. Population—but 80 Percent of Arrests
By Tori Otten On July 27, 2023 A new study sheds light on the disproportionate rate of arrests in the second-biggest city in America. Los Angeles city police arrest a Black or Latino person nearly eight out of every 10 times, despite the fact that those two communities only make up about half the city’s…
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Court strikes down limits on filming of police in Arizona
On July 22, 2023 PHOENIX (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that an Arizona law limiting how close people can get to recording law enforcement is unconstitutional, citing infringement against a clearly established right to film police doing their jobs. The ruling Friday from U.S. District Judge John J. Tuchi permanently blocks enforcement of…
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