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.
July 15, 2016 -
A new report from the State Innovative Exchange details progressive achievements in state policy nationwide. Despite Republican control of most legislative chambers and governors' mansions in the South, eight states in the region enacted policies that increase access to voting and health care and improve job prospects for ex-offenders.
July 14, 2016 -
Alton Sterling was shot to death by police outside a Baton Rouge convenience store while selling CDs to get by. With a felony conviction on his record, Sterling faced significant employment barriers — but efforts are underway in Louisiana and elsewhere to dismantle at least some of them through so-called "ban the box" laws.
July 12, 2016 -
The Baton Rouge Police Department, under fire for a militarized response to protests over last week's police shooting of Alton Sterling, is among the Louisiana law enforcement agencies that got surplus military gear through the Defense Department's 1033 program.
July 8, 2016 -
With federal officials saying they've found nothing to prove the 2014 hanging death of the 17-year-old North Carolina youth was not self-inflicted, his death joins a list of other hangings of black men that have been ruled suicides despite suspicions of foul play. Another happened just this week in Atlanta.
July 8, 2016 -
A charitable nonprofit is paying for TV and web ads that urge Attorney General Roy Cooper — a Democrat challenging incumbent Republican Pat McCrory for governor — to defend the state's controversial HB2, which he's called unconstitutional. How does a charity get away with what looks like political advertising?
July 8, 2016 -
Since the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013, states have made a slew of changes to election laws. A new report documents how these changes could impede Latino voters' access to the polls in a critical presidential election year.
