April 27, 2018 -
A federal appeals court recently ruled that Florida can keep its harsh re-enfranchisement system in place. But a November ballot referendum there could lead to reforms, which have also recently come to states including Alabama and Virginia.
April 27, 2018 -
Armed with a new study documenting the deadly poverty that plagues the U.S., coalitions in at least 40 states — including every state in the South — are preparing for 40 days of direct action to demand an end to public policies that hurt the most vulnerable.
April 26, 2018 -
This week the Environmental Protection Agency held a public hearing in Virginia on a proposal to roll back federal coal ash regulation. Among those who weighed in was a newspaperman from a rural Georgia community that's been targeted for coal ash dumping.
April 25, 2018 -
The first peer-reviewed study of ads bought on Facebook to influence the 2016 election is renewing calls for Congress to pass the Honest Ads Act, which would close disclosure loopholes for political ads on social media. The stalled bill is opposed by groups including Americans for Prosperity and an anti-regulatory think tank with a connection to Senate leader Mitch McConnell.
April 20, 2018 -
A lawsuit filed this week against a Tennessee-based private prison corporation that operates an immigrant detention center in Georgia is the latest in a series of such suits challenging prison companies' practices under human trafficking laws — but a group of Republican lawmakers wants the government to defend the companies.
April 19, 2018 -
A law targeting white-supremacist terrorism is being used to sue a conservative Virginia activist who falsely accused people of voting illegally — the latest example of how the Reconstruction-era statute remains relevant today.
April 13, 2018 -
A federal lawsuit filed on behalf of scores of dead and ill people who cleaned up the massive 2008 coal ash spill in eastern Tennessee is expected to get underway later this year. While claims have been made that no one warned of the health dangers for workers, records show otherwise.