Around the country, election officials have been under attack in the last year. Long used to staying in the background, they have now found themselves cast as villains, scapegoated for election outcomes that some politicians and voters did not like. A survey of election officials commissioned by the Brennan Center and conducted by Benenson Strategy Group found that one in three election officials feel unsafe because of their job, and nearly one in five listed threats to their lives as a job-related concern. A new Brennan Center report outlines concrete steps that lawmakers, administrators, and internet companies can take to protect election workers. // Read More

The For the People Act is the next great civil rights bill. A new Brennan Center report outlines how the bill helps advance equity in the country’s political systems and dismantle many longstanding inequities that have hindered access to American democracy. “Ultimately, the For the People Act envisions an inclusive American future where every voter’s voice is heard, and where our leaders represent and reflect our citizens,” write Elizabeth Hira, Julia Boland, and Julia Kirschenbaum. “It is the best opportunity we have ever had to fulfill the American promise of expanding who belongs in ‘We, the People.’” // Read More

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont signed into law Senate Bill 1202 today, restoring the right to vote to as many as 4,000 people with past convictions. Thanks to this new law, there are now no states that distinguish between probation and parole when it comes to eligibility to vote. “These state victories demonstrate nationwide support for an inclusive, accessible democracy and a desire to break down barriers that disproportionately lock Black voters out of the ballot box,” writes Stuart Baum. “Building on success in Connecticut, New York, and Washington this year, lawmakers across the country and in Congress have more work to do to unlock voting rights for all of our neighbors and ensure a free and fair democracy.” // Read More

This Friday marks eight years since the Supreme Court gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, one of this country’s most successful pieces of civil rights legislation. Today, with state lawmakers taking advantage of the gaping hole in voting rights protections left by Shelby County v. Holder, the need for action is urgent. “Congress can and must act to once again make good on the promise of the 15th Amendment,” writes Eliza Sweren-Becker. “That means passing the For the People Act and restoring the Voting Rights Act so that no voter faces discrimination at the ballot box.” // Read More

Roughly 600,000 people leave prisons every year hoping that their punishment has ended, only to encounter a combination of laws, rules, and biases forming barriers that block them from jobs, housing, and fundamental participation in our political, economic, and cultural life. These “collateral consequences” powerfully illustrate the excessively retributive nature of American criminal justice, write Cameron Kimble and Ames Grawert in the latest essay in the Brennan Center’s Punitive Excess series. “Truly ending mass incarceration will require eliminating these consequences as well, ensuring that we welcome people with a criminal record back into society and, ultimately, shifting our criminal justice paradigm away from retribution and towards restoration,” they write. // Read More

The news that Trump’s Department of Justice sought metadata from the Apple accounts of member of Congress, their staffs, and families has shined a spotlight on a troubling fact: investigators get this information routinely, without a warrant. “It's not private at all,” said Elizabeth Goitein. “In the sense that law enforcement intelligence agencies have access to it under a number of different authorities — including some that are extremely permissive.” // Yahoo Finance

• VIRTUAL EVENT: The Engagement: A Conversation with Sasha Issenberg and Nia-Malika Henderson
  Tuesday, June 29 // 12:00 p.m.–12:45 p.m. ET
  A 2015 Supreme Court ruling made making same-sex unions legal across the United States — but the road to that momentous decision was much longer than many know. In his new book, The Engagement: America's Quarter-Century Struggle Over Same-Sex Marriage, Sasha Issenberg tells the riveting story of the conflict over same-sex marriage in the United States. In conversation with CNN’s Nia-Malika Henderson, Issenberg will discuss the most significant civil rights breakthrough of the new millennium. RSVP today.
  This event is produced in partnership with New York University’s John Brademas Center.
• VIRTUAL EVENT: P&P Live! Theodore R. Johnson | When the Stars Begin to Fall
  Wednesday, June 30 // 8:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m. ET
  When the Stars Begin to Fall makes a compelling, ambitious case for a pathway to the national solidarity necessary to mitigate racism. In the book, the Brennan Center’s Theodore R. Johnson posits that a blueprint for national solidarity can be found in the exceptional citizenship long practiced in Black America. Understanding that racism is a structural crime of the state, he argues that overcoming it requires us to recognize that a color-conscious society — not a color-blind one — is the true fulfillment of the American Promise. RSVP today.
  This event is produced in partnership with Politics and Prose.

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• Michael German on the “cozy” relationship that law enforcement appears to have with the Proud Boys // Rolling Stone
• Elizabeth Goitein on what Congress can do to protect communications privacy // Just Security
• Elizabeth Hira on the civil rights implications of the For the People Act // Ms. Magazine
• Lawrence Norden on how the threats faced by election workers could contribute to mass retirements // Politico
• Harsha Panduranga on the shortcomings of the Biden administration’s new violence prevention program // Los Angeles Times
• Faiza Patel and Mary Pat Dwyer on Facebook’s Oversight Board and its indefinite suspension of Trump // Just Security
• Hernandez Stroud on the debate over Section 242 and how it intersects with police reform // USA Today