Civil Rights
Booker, Castro urge feds to prepare for DACA recipients seeking health care access
WASHINGTON — Worried about the outcome of the 2024 election, a slew of congressional Democrats called on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services this week to take steps to ensure Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program recipients can actually access health insurance provided under the Affordable Care Act when they become eligible this […]
What to the slave is the Fourth of July?
Editor’s note: Below are some excerpts from a speech on the meaning of the Fourth of July delivered by Frederick Douglass in Rochester, New York, July 5, 1852. Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your […]
For both sides, abortion policy two years after Dobbs decision hinges on November
WASHINGTON — Exactly two years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion, the battles rage among both advocates and lawmakers over the future of reproductive rights at the state and federal levels. Anti-abortion groups that have achieved considerable success in deep-red parts of the country are working to sway voters […]
The Dobbs effect today: Abortion ballot initiatives, expected higher mortality, more litigation
In Arizona, the state’s highest court upheld a Civil War-era abortion ban. Florida and South Carolina moved to restrict abortion to six weeks — before many people know they are pregnant. The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are “children,” temporarily throwing fertility treatments, such as IVF, into uncertainty and igniting a national debate. […]
U.S. Supreme Court will hear challenge to Tennessee’s ban on care for transgender minors
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday morning it will take up a challenge to Tennessee’s 2023 ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth. The American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal asked the court to review a ruling by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld the law. Tennessee’s law prohibits doctors from providing […]
Congress silenced free speech in TikTok law, platform tells federal court
TikTok and its parent company argued Thursday in a federal court in the District of Columbia that the recently enacted law forcing a nationwide ban or sale of the popular platform violates the First Amendment. TikTok Inc., which operates the video-sharing service in the United States, and its parent company, ByteDance Ltd., which was founded […]
The lyrics to ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing,’ and James Weldon Johnson on how it came to be
Reprinted from Poetry Foundation. A group of young men in Jacksonville, Florida, arranged to celebrate Lincoln’s birthday in 1900. My brother, J. Rosamond Johnson, and I decided to write a song to be sung at the exercises. I wrote the words and he wrote the music. Our New York publisher, Edward B. Marks, made mimeographed […]
Biden to unveil protections for some undocumented spouses, easier DACA work visas
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration Tuesday will announce deportation protections for long-term undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens, along with quicker approval of work permits for those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. President Joe Biden will formally make the announcement during an afternoon White House event to celebrate the 12th anniversary of […]
States struggle with unreliable federal funding for making sure elections are secure
WASHINGTON — The federal government has sought to bolster election security for years through a popular grant program, but the wildly fluctuating funding levels have made it difficult for state officials to plan their budgets and their projects. Rising misinformation and disinformation about elections, often fueled by conspiracy theories, as well as threats against election […]
On the U.S.-Mexico border, hopes and fears after Biden’s order limiting asylum
EL PASO, Texas — Seventeen-year-old Karina Parababire gently rocked her three-month-old daughter as they waited in a migrant shelter before a Friday night bus ride to Chicago. “I want my daughter to have everything that I didn’t have,” Parababire, who traveled up the extremely dangerous route of the Darien Gap while pregnant, said in Spanish. […]
Easing federal marijuana rules: There’s still a long way to go
Weeks after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration proposed loosening a federal prohibition on marijuana, the next phases of policy fights over the drug’s status are starting to take shape. Public comments, which the DEA is accepting on the proposal until mid-July, will likely include an analysis of the economic impact of more lenient federal rules. […]
Election workers worry that federal threats task force isn’t enough to keep them safe
Aiming to send a message, the Biden administration recently spotlighted its indictments and convictions in cases involving threats to election officials or workers. But with no letup in reports of attacks, some elections professionals say federal law enforcement still isn’t doing enough to deter bad actors and ensure that those on the front lines of […]