Institute Index

October 24, 2014 - The South has been a bastion of resistance to expanding Medicaid to more low-income, uninsured Americans under the Affordable Care Act -- but now even one of the leaders of that resistance is reconsidering his position.

October 17, 2014 - The U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide whether a strict voter ID law that opponents say is racially discriminatory will be enforced during this year's election in Texas.

October 10, 2014 - Following the Supreme Court's refusal this week to review several lower-court decisions invalidating same-sex marriage bans, marriage equality is now the law of the land in over half of all states. While some Southern states are embracing equality for lesbian and gay couples, others are resisting.

September 26, 2014 - New numbers on the prison population in 2013 indicate that the South is making progress on reducing its prison population. But with a history of high incarceration rates and over-capacity prisons, the South still has a long road ahead.

September 19, 2014 - Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to gather in New York City on Sept. 21 for the biggest climate protest in U.S. history, preceding the start of the U.N. Climate Summit on Sept. 23. The gatherings come as the cost of climate change-related disasters is climbing -- especially in the South.

September 12, 2014 - A resolution to amend the U.S. Constitution and overturn the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision lifting restrictions on money in politics failed in the Senate this week on a party-line vote. But voters support such an amendment by a wide margin, and pro-reform activists vow to press on.

September 5, 2014 - In the seventh nationwide day of protest organized over the past two years, 500 fast-food employees and allies were arrested on Sept. 4 as part of the movement to increase the workers' hourly minimum wage to $15 and to secure union organizing rights.