Demographics
July 15, 2019 -
Across the South, voting rights advocates argue that judicial elections violate the Voting Rights Act by depriving communities of color of representation on state courts. Federal courts are hearing lawsuits in Arkansas and Alabama, where the state supreme courts are all white.
June 28, 2019 -
Fearing a population undercount that could result in lost congressional seats and federal funding, many states have taken aggressive steps to encourage full participation in the 2020 census. But some Southern states are dragging their feet.
June 12, 2019 -
New evidence from the files of a dead North Carolina gerrymandering expert reveals the Trump administration pushed for the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census to benefit the Republican Party. But the question could lead to an undercount, which would diminish the South's electoral power and cheat it of its fair share of federal funds.
May 9, 2019 -
Across the region and the country, the Poor People's Campaign's Truth & Poverty Bus Tours have been gathering information on how public policy exacerbates poverty. It will be shared with the public next month at the Poor People's Moral Action Congress in Washington, D.C.
March 29, 2019 -
Governors in Florida and North Carolina recently appointed Jewish justices to their state supreme courts — a first for North Carolina. Studies have shown that Jewish judges, as well as those who belong to other religious minorities, tend to rule in favor of religious freedom.
March 28, 2019 -
After the state legislature failed to revamp a judicial voting district found to be racially discriminatory, a federal court has picked a technical advisor from California to do the job instead. Will the non-white voters of Terrebonne Parish finally get a fair shot at electing a judge of their choice next year?
March 12, 2019 -
A state judge recently struck down a voter ID amendment to the N.C. Constitution because the legislators who ratified it were elected in unconstitutional, racially gerrymandered districts. Meanwhile, two white sheriffs who ousted black sheriffs with the help of a suspected election fraudster are also facing legal problems.