Politics
July 15, 2016 -
A new report from the State Innovative Exchange details progressive achievements in state policy nationwide. Despite Republican control of most legislative chambers and governors' mansions in the South, eight states in the region enacted policies that increase access to voting and health care and improve job prospects for ex-offenders.
July 8, 2016 -
A charitable nonprofit is paying for TV and web ads that urge Attorney General Roy Cooper — a Democrat challenging incumbent Republican Pat McCrory for governor — to defend the state's controversial HB2, which he's called unconstitutional. How does a charity get away with what looks like political advertising?
July 8, 2016 -
Since the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013, states have made a slew of changes to election laws. A new report documents how these changes could impede Latino voters' access to the polls in a critical presidential election year.
July 7, 2016 -
The utility initially requested a $50 million bond from two climate watchdog groups challenging the planned construction of a $1 billion gas plant near Asheville. Now Duke is asking for almost triple that amount in a move with serious implications for democracy.
July 1, 2016 -
As the U.S. celebrates its 240th Independence Day, Frederick Douglass' 1852 speech "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July" serves as a reminder that there are still those who are excluded from the American dream.
July 1, 2016 -
This week the U.S. Supreme Court struck down two Texas laws that created significant barriers to women's reproductive freedom. The ruling immediately resulted in similar laws being scrapped in other states including Alabama and Mississippi, and more could fall.
July 1, 2016 -
An environmental group wants the N.C. Ethics Commission to investigate whether the McCrory administration withheld information about a dinner meeting with Duke Energy officials and used state resources to benefit his re-election campaign. It's not the first ethics complaint filed against McCrory — or the first involving his relationship with the utility.
