A new congressional map in Tennessee splits the majority-Black city of Memphis into three districts. The move by the Republican-controlled legislature follows a recent Supreme Court ruling that weakened parts of the landmark Voting Rights Act. And it may serve as an early example of how states may eliminate long-required majority-minority districts before the November elections. Republican-led states across the South are now taking steps to eliminate majority-Black districts. Memphis residents are concerned about being divided into new districts that include communities hundreds of miles away from their neighbors and about what it may mean for their representation in national politics.
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Alabama lawmakers have approved a plan for new U.S. House primaries if courts allow the state to use different congressional districts in this year’s elections. Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed the measure into law Friday shortly after the legislature approved it. The action came on the same day that the Virginia Supreme Court dealt a major setback to Democrats by overturning a redistricting plan that could have helped Democrats win as many as four additional House seats. The Alabama law could set aside the results of the May 19 primaries, if courts lift an injunction requiring it to use a map with two districts that have large Black populations.
The only person ever charged in the unsolved 2021 disappearance of Navajo elder Ella Mae Begay has been sentenced to five years in federal prison. Begay’s case became emblematic of a crisis fueled by disproportionately high rates of violence faced by Native Americans. Preston Henry Tolth pleaded guilty to robbing Begay and driving off in her pickup truck. Under an agreement with prosecutors, he faced a maximum of five years in prison with credit for three years’ time served. Tolth’s sentencing comes amid a week of awareness for Native Americans who are missing or have been killed.
Google has reached a settlement with Black employees who alleged systemic racial disparities in hiring, pay, and advancement in a lawsuit filed in 2022. April Curley, a former Google employee, had sued the tech giant for racial discrimination, saying it engages in a “pattern and practice” of unfair treatment for its Black workers. The suit claimed the company steered them into lower-level and lower-paid jobs and subjected them to a hostile work environment if they speak out. Other former Google workers also joined the suit, which later received class action status.
NEW YORK (AP) — He's on screen, onstage, on tour, online and in song. “Hamlet” — William Shakespeare's masterpiece about a moody Danish prince…
Republicans have gained an advantage in a national congressional redistricting battle among states ahead of the midterm elections. A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened the federal Voting Rights Act has opened the way for Republicans in Southern states to redraw Black-majority districts. Meanwhile, the Virginia Supreme Court has struck down a redistricting plan that could have helped Democrats win more seats. Voting districts typically are redrawn based on census data after the start of each decade. But an unusual spate of mid-decade redistricting broke out after President Donald Trump urged Texas Republicans to reshape U.S. House districts last year. More states have followed.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A former sheriff's deputy was found guilty of reckless homicide at trial Thursday for shooting a Black man who was bring…
The Trump administration's cancellation of more than $100 million in humanities grants to scholars, writers, research groups and other organiz…
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says the immigration detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz” always was meant to be temporary. His comments Thursday on the same day that The New York Times reported state and federal officials were in early talks about shutting down the facility in the Florida Everglades. DeSantis says the facility has processed and deported 22,000 detainees since it opened last summer. Department of Homeland Security officials have not said they want the facility closed. But DeSantis says the idea has been discussed since DHS got a new secretary, Markwayne Mullin, in March. Detainees have described poor physical conditions and difficulty accessing lawyers.
Tennessee has enacted a new U.S. House map that carves up a majority-Black district in Memphis. The new voting districts signed into law Thursday by Republican Gov. Bill Lee gives the GOP a chance to win all nine of the state’s congressional seats in the November midterm elections. Tennessee is the first state to adopt new districts since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week that undermined a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. President Donald Trump has urged more Republican-led states to redraw their districts in light of the court ruling. Louisiana, Alabama and South Carolina also have taken steps toward redistricting.