This morning, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law S.B. 90, a sweeping voter suppression bill that will make it harder for Floridians to vote. It imposes new restrictions on mail voting and makes voter registration more difficult, among other provisions. Given the similar voter suppression efforts in states like Georgia and Texas, the need for the Senate to pass the For the People Act is extremely urgent.

The Supreme Court’s six conservatives recently ruled that trial judges do not have to find that a teenager convicted of murder is “permanently incorrigible” before sentencing them to life without parole. Essentially, the Court gave legal cover for handing out life-without-parole terms to (usually Black) juveniles convicted of murder. “The message to these judges could not be clearer: go ahead and impose those parole-less life sentences without digging too deep into the rehabilitative promise of teenagers and don’t worry about having us later tell you that you’ve gone too far,” writes Brennan Center Fellow Andrew Cohen.

Last Monday, the first results of the 2020 Census were released, including two sets of state population totals as well as the number of seats each state will have in Congress for the next 10 years. However, there will be more data releases from the Census Bureau in the upcoming months and years. These include the census redistricting data — slated for September 2021 — which will provide states with the numbers they need to redraw political maps.

Three years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that the government needs a warrant to compel companies to produce peoples’ location information. But it turns out that all the government really needs is cash and a data broker. Government agencies have discovered ways around what seemed to be robust constitutional protections for sensitive location information, engaging in creative legal interpretations and secretly exploiting gaps in the law to buy Americans’ personal information from intermediaries. We need to rewrite privacy rules for the age of apps.

In the latest entry in our Punitive Excess series, Emile DeWeaver argues that crime is a social construct. And if we’re to create a society that is safe for everyone, we’ll profit from challenging our belief in the “reality” of crime. Debunking two common beliefs — that we punish people because of what they do instead of who they are and that crime is committed by an individual instead of by a community — DeWeaver argues that the concept of crime is a political project aimed at a political end.

The history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States is long and fraught. Read more on Instagram >>

Debate Defends Democracy: Is a Politics Free SCOTUS Possible?
Tuesday, May 18 | 5:30 p.m.–6:45 p.m. ET
The character of the Supreme Court is being challenged. Are nine justices serving for life — or until they choose to retire — the best construct for the Court? Why is reform being called for now, and what are the merits of the various proposals being put forth? Is retaining the fixed structure of the Court essential to sustaining its legitimacy? Moderator Emily Bazelon (New York Times Magazine) is joined by Alicia Bannon (Brennan Center), Aaron Tang (UC Davis School of Law), and Franita Tolson (University of Southern California Gould School of Law) to look at the history and construct of the Supreme Court. RSVP today.

Produced in partnership with the National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy at Federal Hall.

New American Dream: Five Weeks of Virtual Town Halls on Disrupting Systemic Racism and Envisioning the Nation Beyond It
Wednesdays, April 28–May 26 | 5:00 p.m.–6:30 p.m. ET
This series of virtual forums sponsored by the public television station WNET will gather thought leaders to discuss the impact of white supremacy and state-backed racism on America today. Examining systemic racism in relation to voting rights, artificial intelligence and genetic data, journalism, antiracism, and cultural narrative, the events will focus on strategies and solidarity, with an understanding of history and eyes toward the future. Learn more.

This event is produced in partnership with The WNET Group, parent to America’s flagship PBS station.

Thomas Wolf, senior counsel and Spitzer Fellow in the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program, recommends “Why New York State’s Population Growth Surprised Experts,” which unpacks some of the many reasons why New York’s population came back higher than estimated in the 2020 census count. The real story isn’t that New York just missed out on a congressional seat — it’s that it didn’t lose two seats.