Justice

August 5, 2016 - Recent legal victories over voting restrictions in North Carolina and other states point to the danger in being ahistorical when passing voting laws. Particularly in the South, where discrimination has deep roots, it is necessary to remember past discrimination when crafting present-day legislation.

July 22, 2016 - The National Basketball Association's decision to pull its 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte because of HB2 could cost the city up to $100 million and may cause the law's economic damage to become an even bigger issue in North Carolina's closely watched 2016 elections.

July 22, 2016 - A multimillion-dollar settlement has been reached in a lawsuit over a Missouri community's jailing of poor people unable to pay court fines and fees. Similar lawsuits have been filed over debtors' prisons in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.

July 21, 2016 - The Missouri man who killed three law enforcement officers and injured three others in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, this week was an adherent of a violent, extremist, anti-government ideology rooted in white supremacy but that in recent years has spawned a black nationalist strain that's attracting African Americans.

July 15, 2016 - Last week's shooting deaths of five police officers at a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Dallas have led to calls for new state and federal hate-crime legislation stiffening penalties for attacks on police officers. But critics of such laws contend they could deter efforts to protect against identity-based crimes and stifle calls for police accountability.

July 15, 2016 - In different ways, members of the South's small but fast-growing Asian-American community are demonstrating unity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

July 15, 2016 - This week North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed a bill that blocks public access to footage from body cameras worn by police. The state joins others across the South that have taken similar action.