virginia

December 5, 2013 - Controversy continues over an Election Day police operation in the small North Carolina town of Mount Gilead that disproportionately affected black residents. Such operations appear to violate policing best practices, but law enforcement officers involved defend their actions.

November 22, 2013 - A new report finds that young voters, and particularly young voters of color in the South, faced the longest lines in order to cast their ballots in 2012. Voting rights advocates have dubbed the long wait a "time tax," which some are unable to pay.

November 6, 2013 - As the pundits parse the outcome of this week's important election in Virginia, a few things are already clear: the youth vote matters, and it does not favor the tea party.

October 10, 2013 - With elections fast approaching, officials in Florida and Virginia are hard at work striking names from their lists of eligible voters. But their efforts are the target of legal challenges by those who say questionable purge methods threaten to disenfranchise eligible voters.

September 26, 2013 - A record number of Americans receive food stamps, with residents of Southern states especially dependent on the anti-hunger program. So why are Southern politicians who in turn depend on the political support of hungry constituents so eager to cut the program's funding?

September 20, 2013 - As U.S. incarceration rates fall, private prison companies are taking steps to guarantee profits with contracts requiring states to either meet prison occupancy quotas or pay for empty beds. Louisiana and Virginia are among the states locked into the highest occupancy guarantee requirements.

September 5, 2013 - An official state study group is recommending that North Carolina be given the power to compel non-consenting landowners into fracking leases. The N.C. Mining and Energy Commission is set to review those recommendations this week before they're passed along to the legislature.