The Trump administration’s policy of requiring visa applicants to register their social media handles violates the First Amendment. This practice — which DHS recently proposed to expand — fails to strengthen the processes for vetting visa applicants and confirming their identity. It also stifles free speech, endangers the creative freedom and lives of artists and activists around the world, and deprives U.S. audiences of opportunities to hear from those individuals online or in person. One of our Liberty and National Security Program experts
explains.
Tayna Fogle has been organizing for rights restoration for 15 years with Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. In his inaugural address yesterday, Gov. Andy Beshear vowed to honor that fight — and the wishes of two-thirds of Kentucky voters — by restoring voting rights to the 100,000-plus Kentuckians who are affected by this. Read about Fogle’s journey.
On Friday, the House of Representatives showed the country that it will not tolerate racial discrimination at the polls. It passed the Voting Rights Advancement Act, a bill that would restore the 1965 Voting Rights Act to its full strength. Our country needs that reform and others to make the next election free and fair for all. Here’s how Congress can protect the vote ahead of the 2020 election.
Brennan Center President Michael Waldman and Supreme Court lawyer Neal Katyal discuss the Founders’ thinking about impeachment — and how the Ukraine scandal stacks up against the high bar they set. Watch now.
Two New Reports: Politics of Judicial Elections + A Better Way to Draw Districts
Special interest groups maintained their outsized role in state supreme court elections, in some cases outspending the candidates themselves. Our new analysis looks at the 2017–18 state supreme court election cycle. Read The Politics of Judicial Elections, 2017–18.
After the census every 10 years, states redraw legislative and congressional district boundaries. This is often a fraught process, with massive potential for abuse. Our redistricting experts wrote a guide on how to design independent, inclusive, and transparent redistricting commissions. Read A Better Way to Draw Districts. We are experimenting with the format of this newsletter and are eager to know what you think of it. What would you like to see here? Would you miss the images if we got rid of them? Email your thoughts to [email protected].
