virginia
June 17, 2015 -
Last week a federal judge ordered the release of Albert Woodfox, who's been held in solitary confinement in Louisiana for 43 years, though a higher court blocked the move while the state appeals. Meanwhile, prisoners are suing over Virginia's policy of placing death row inmates in solitary, arguing that the practice amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.
June 11, 2015 -
The high-profile coming out of Olympic champion Caitlyn Jenner, formerly Bruce Jenner, as a trans woman has put transgender issues in the spotlight. Transgender people -- especially trans women of color -- face shockingly high levels of violence, and a disproportionate number of recent killings of transgender people took place in the South. But a new initiative is working for change.
May 28, 2015 -
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory has become a leading national advocate for expanded offshore drilling — a role that builds on almost three decades of his close personal, economic and political ties to the energy industry.
May 22, 2015 -
The disaster near Santa Barbara, the site of a 1969 oil spill that sparked the modern environmental movement, comes amid a push to open the Atlantic and Eastern Gulf to oil and gas drilling. It underscores the risk presented by coastal energy development coupled with weak regulation.
May 20, 2015 -
Last week Florida became the latest among 28 states that now or will soon offer statewide online voter registration. Evidence shows such systems are less prone to fraud, more cost-effective and popular among voters and elections officials alike.
May 7, 2015 -
There's a growing national movement to end the discriminatory practice of requiring job applicants to check off a box if they have a criminal record. Last month, Virginia became the most recent state to "Ban the Box."
April 30, 2015 -
Five years after the BP disaster, a group of governors led by North Carolina's Pat McCrory is pushing for drilling in the Atlantic. The group has close ties to a secret-money nonprofit and energy lobbyists, a relationship that raises questions about transparency, ethics and the blurring of public and private interests.
