louisiana

May 11, 2018 - With protests ongoing over the planned Bayou Bridge oil pipeline, the Louisiana legislature advanced a bill this week creating new crimes with stiff penalties for conspiracy to trespass on pipeline property — part of a broader trend of states and the federal government targeting protest actions.

May 10, 2018 - As federal courts have released some school districts from orders requiring desegregation, schools in the South have become more racially segregated than they've been in 50 years. Trump's judicial nominees and his Department of Justice could make things worse.

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.

March 27, 2018 - President Trump is under fire for his campaign's dealings with the controversial data mining and psy ops firm, but he's not the only politician who worked with the company. Other leading beneficiaries have included U.S. senators and representatives from several Southern states.

March 16, 2018 - Nursing homes and other corporations that do not like being sued are pushing state constitutional amendments to limit damages juries can award — the latest move in a long corporate-funded campaign to limit access to civil justice. 

March 7, 2018 - The Court's ruling in the Janus case could financially hurt public-sector unions, but it could also lead to broader First Amendment rights for those unions in the South and across the country.

February 22, 2018 - As civil rights groups challenge racially discriminatory judicial elections under the Voting Rights Act, North Carolina legislators are moving forward with a judicial gerrymandering plan that could lead to less racial diversity on the bench.

February 16, 2018 - People who have not been convicted of any crime languish in jails simply because they can't afford to post bail. To address the injustice, several Southern cities have reformed their bail policies — and organizers in one North Carolina community are trying to make their city next.

February 14, 2018 - The news that North Carolina Lt. Gov. Dan Forest solicited millions of dollars from a Durham businessman for supposedly "independent" political groups highlights loopholes in state campaign finance law that need to be closed.

January 18, 2018 - Thomas Farr's nomination to serve as a federal judge in eastern North Carolina has met opposition because of his involvement in efforts to suppress the African-American vote. Less well-known are his efforts to quash workers' organizing rights.