The Future of Civil Rights is Up To the Supreme Court

The Future of Civil Rights is Up To the Supreme Court

When 95-year-old Rosanell Eaton first registered to vote in the Jim Crow South, she was forced to pass a written literacy test and recite the preamble of the Constitution from memory. Seven decades after becoming one of the first African American voters in her county,...
The Supreme Court is on the Ballot for 2016

The Supreme Court is on the Ballot for 2016

When voters go to the polls this November, they won’t just be choosing the next president, they’ll also be deciding the direction of the Supreme Court. The fate of our rights and liberties as Americans — everything from voting rights, to immigration, to...
Loving America Means Finding Fault With It

Loving America Means Finding Fault With It

I was sitting on a bus one summer, chatting with a man behind me who’d worked all over the world in the U.S. foreign service. Like many conversations today, ours turned eventually to the many problems with our country. That’s when his companion,...
Still Second-Class Citizens

Still Second-Class Citizens

When I heard about the police shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, I thought back to another name etched into American history: Dred Scott. In 1857, the Supreme Court was tasked with deciding whether Scott, an African American man born into slavery,...
Free From Jail, Imprisoned by Debt

Free From Jail, Imprisoned by Debt

At 36, Marcus White has spent half of his life in prison. Today he’s no longer behind bars, but now he’s imprisoned by something else: debt. When White was sentenced, he was saddled with $5,800 in criminal fines and fees. By the time he was released, he...