Politics

August 8, 2013 - The broad election changes bill passed by the North Carolina legislature and awaiting the governor's signature has a number of provisions worrying to voting rights advocates. But among the most troubling are those that expand the powers of poll observers and election challengers, whose efforts take place in the context of the state's struggles with racism.

August 8, 2013 - The Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority was formed after Hurricane Katrina to ensure qualified experts -- not politicians' friends -- were in charge of flood control. But now the authority is under pressure from Gov. Bobby Jindal and other Louisiana politicians for filing a lawsuit to force oil and gas companies to pay for the damage they've done to the state's coastal wetlands.

August 6, 2013 - The U.S. Supreme Court decision gutting the Voting Rights Act was a serious blow to racial justice, but Americans are rallying to protect civil rights from attack and keeping the spirit of the landmark law alive.

August 6, 2013 - Amid controversy over North Carolina's new school voucher law, some politicians are claiming it only creates a pilot project. But that's just not true.

August 2, 2013 - In legislatures from North Carolina to Texas, lawmakers are targeting women's constitutional right to end unwanted pregnancies.

August 1, 2013 - A federal trial about to get underway over the drawing of district lines for judges in Baton Rouge, La. could determine how the Voting Rights Act will be applied in the wake of the Supreme Court's recent decision throwing out a key part of the landmark civil rights law.

August 1, 2013 - Across the South, Republican governors and state legislatures have turned down federal funding to expand Medicaid, excluding millions of uninsured, working-poor residents from health care coverage -- and missing an opportunity to shift costs away from expensive emergency-room care.