preemption

September 26, 2018 - After former Confederate states drafted progressive constitutions that allowed black men to hold office for the first time, there was violent resistance to black power at the local level. During the Jim Crow era, legislatures rewrote those constitutions to give themselves broad power to override local governments.

March 23, 2018 - Sheriff candidates in some Southern counties are campaigning on a promise to stay out of immigration enforcement, but new state laws could force police and judges to participate in the Trump administration's crackdown.

November 17, 2017 - Democrats, liberal-leaning independents and a growing number of progressives lead two-thirds of the South's 30 largest cities, but their agenda is under attack from the region's conservative legislatures through preemption and other efforts to limit local control.

September 4, 2017 - As wages stagnate nationally, more Southern states than ever before are embracing anti-union laws and laws to prevent local governments from raising pay and requiring family sick leave.

June 2, 2017 - Immigrant rights advocates are working to block the harshest sanctuary city ban in the nation before it goes into effect on Sept. 1.

April 14, 2017 - When states preempt progressive local policies, it's not just a political power struggle that ensues but real suffering for those who would benefit most from anti-discrimination, minimum wage and other measures.

March 31, 2017 - Immigrant-welcoming local governments in the South are navigating a challenging political terrain as states in the region adopt bans on so-called "sanctuary" policies and as the federal government also moves to crack down on sanctuary communities. 

January 27, 2017 - On transgender rights, immigrant protections, minimum wage increases and more, Southern cities are facing escalating efforts by state and federal officials to block local progress.

April 1, 2016 - North Carolina's controversy over a state law pre-empting local LGBT protections brings into sharp relief a political battle underway between growing, progressive Southern cities and conservative state leadership.