Red Flag Laws and the Consequences of Good Intentions
Reading Time: 6 minutes Red flags laws may prevent gun violence as well as suicides, but they also introduce civil rights concerns that will likely lead to court challenges.
The Sexual Assault Crisis Facing Native American Women
Reading Time: 6 minutes In the US, one in six women will become a victim of sexual assault in her lifetime. For women in Native American communities, that likelihood doubles.
What If the US, Like Germany, Bans Hate Speech in the Future?
Reading Time: 14 minutes A provocative essay by a noted civil rights attorney on the dangers of censorship, and why he believes that “the only defense against a bad guy’s hate speech is a good guy’s counter-speech.” OPINION
Will Congress Help Rape Victims Get Justice?
Reading Time: 8 minutes There is a recognized process for documenting the medical evidence of rape. When followed correctly, it often leads to a criminal conviction. Unfortunately not enough hospitals have nurses trained to do it. Will Congress act?
League of Women Voters Gets Trump Bump
Reading Time: 8 minutes The venerable League of Women Voters has seen a surge in members and resources since the 2016 election. Nearly 100 years after its founding, the League has become a major player in the fight against voter suppression.
FBI Continues to Break Its Own Rules by Tracking Protesters
Reading Time: 3 minutes Documents obtained by the Guardian show the FBI has, once again, broken protocol by improperly tracking the arrests of nonviolent environmental protesters.
Yes, America’s Schools Are Still Segregated
Reading Time: 5 minutes Although the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision outlawed segregation in 1954, schools across the country are resegregating at an alarming rate, severely impacting students and their communities.
FCC Blasted for Opening the Door to Text Message Censorship
Reading Time: 2 minutes The FCC’s commissioners voted along party lines to reclassify text messages as an “information service” and allow wireless carriers to block unwanted texts.
Temporary Protected Status and the Politics of Lowered Expectations
Reading Time: 8 minutes The Trump administration’s decision to block extending the temporary immigration status of hundreds of thousands of people living in the US threatens to turn lives upside down. The final decision on whether the administration’s orders stand is currently being fought in the courts and Congress.
More Marijuana Legalization Coming — Could Trump Be On Board?
Reading Time: 3 minutes 2018 has been a good year for marijuana legalization. And it may only be getting better come November.
What Will Happen If Abortion Legislation Is Turned Back to the States?
Reading Time: 4 minutes Some states’ laws are already cutting access to reproductive health care. What can the rest of the US expect if a conservative SCOTUS tips the balance on Roe v. Wade?
Internal CIA Docs: ‘Enhanced Interrogation’ Is Torture
Reading Time: 3 minutes A recently released CIA report from 1956 shows the agency once condemned the torture techniques of communist regimes as immoral. But the agency would later end up using many of those same methods — and worse — in the War on Terror.
Flunking the Test of Character
Reading Time: 4 minutes Officers of the law across all levels are (ab)using their power to oppress others. They find a justification for their actions in the words and actions of their ultimate boss.
CIA Knew Torture Was Extorting Bad Intelligence — Kept Doing It Anyway
Reading Time: 5 minutes Recently released CIA documents show the agency was aware that detainees subjected to its “enhanced interrogation” would say anything — especially what their torturers wanted to hear — to get the torture to stop. Maybe that was the whole point?
Weaponizing 911
Reading Time: 3 minutes We need to find a way to stop racists from using 911 to call the cops on people of color before somebody gets hurt.
Chicago Mayor Pushing for Surveillance Drones
Reading Time: 4 minutes Chicago is already one of the most surveilled cities in America. Now a new legislative push from Mayor Rahm Emanuel is trying to get Big Brother in the skies.
CIA Whistleblower Dishes on Torture as Haspel Faces Intel Committee
Reading Time: 10 minutes Today the Senate Intelligence Committee heard testimony from CIA director nominee Gina Haspel, notorious for her role in the CIA’s torture program. It’s worth remembering that the only person to go to jail over this program was whistleblower John Kiriakou. Here’s one of our interviews with him.
White Jail Population Surges But Race Gap Persists
Reading Time: 4 minutes A new study shows that the racial gap in jails has narrowed considerably in recent years — but not in the way we expect or hope.
Musings of a Mass Shooting Survivor
Reading Time: 6 minutes WhoWhatWhy editor Toni Johnson shares her experience of being a mass shooting survivor, and decries the failure to have an honest conversation about gun violence in America.
Revealing the Ploy That Drew MLK to Memphis
Reading Time: 14 minutes An excerpt from William Pepper’s book, The Plot to Kill King, detailing his decades-long investigation into a possible conspiracy to assassinate Martin Luther King, Jr.