constitution

May 8, 2014 - Real estate attorney Mark Chilton has been elected register of deeds in Orange County, NC following a campaign in which he pledged to defy state law by issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

May 6, 2013 - Though the Supreme Court rejected nullification after Southern states tried to use it to avoid desegregating public schools, the concept is now being deployed by gun rights advocates -- and not just in the South.

March 27, 2013 - Should the Supreme Court strike down bans on same-sex marriage, it would bring big changes across the South, where all states limit marriage rights to heterosexual couples -- and it wouldn't be the first time it took a high court ruling to change the region's marriage laws.

March 19, 2013 - When the NAACP challenged Jim Crow laws, it selected plaintiffs who would elicit both sympathy and outrage. Today conservatives are using the same tactic, as illustrated by Fisher v. The University of Texas -- a case challenging consideration of race in admissions.

October 11, 2012 - Civil rights leader Judith Browne Dianis of The Advancement Project makes the case for a new constitutional amendment protecting the right to vote, which most of the world's democracies already have.

September 5, 2012 - Separate federal panels struck down two Texas voting provisions. We look at examples of discrimination they found.

May 29, 2012 - With the Supreme Court preparing to hear a sequel to its landmark decision on money in politics, states and grassroots activists are building pressure to reconsider the role of corporations in our democracy.