July 12, 2015 -
A federal trial starts this week over a restrictive voting law North Carolina lawmakers passed two years ago after the Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. People from across North Carolina and beyond will gather outside the courthouse in Winston-Salem to pray, educate and march for voting rights at a moment organizers liken to the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches.
July 10, 2015 -
Wealthy special interests are increasingly spending money to influence state judicial races, threatening the independence of judges and damaging public confidence in the integrity of the courts.
July 3, 2015 -
Following the shooting deaths of nine people at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston by a white supremacist, fires have been reported at seven black churches across the South, with three of the cases ruled arson. With anxiety gripping congregations, federal officials convened a national discussion this week to calm fears and encourage houses of worship to draw up emergency plans.
July 3, 2015 -
After the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage throughout the nation last week, some Southern political leaders pledged to resist the ruling. Their statements recall Southern politicians' attempts to resist the Supreme Court's decision to end segregation in the 1950s and '60s.
July 3, 2015 -
This week the Obama administration released a proposed rule to expand eligibility for overtime pay to 5 million more Americans — and workers in the South would benefit the most.
July 3, 2015 -
Earlier this year the UNC Board of Governors decided to close the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the UNC School of Law. This week the school launched the N.C. Poverty Research Fund to continue the fight against economic injustice in the state.
July 3, 2015 -
Politics and economics helped spark the removal of Confederate flags across the South in the wake of the Charleston church shootings. But does that signal broader changes in the region's culture?