News & Commentary

Eyewitness accounts and video footage of nonviolent pipeline protesters engaged in civil disobedience near Cannonball, North Dakota on Saturday, September 3, 2016, highlight the use of excessive force by Dakota Access, LLC (DAPL) private security personnel on protesters.

The curbing of peaceful protests at the site of the Dakota Access Pipeline construction is in violation of our core principles of free speech.

Over the past five years, it became harder for Americans to vote. States passed at least several dozen laws that suppress voters’ rights — specifically affecting students, people of color, and poor people.

The Supreme Court granted an “emergency” stay yesterday to stop Gavin Grimm, a 17-year-old transgender boy from Virginia, from using the boys’ restroom at school.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the Texas laws that severely restricted abortion access, the question left to be answered is what (if any) implications does the ruling have on existing restrictive abortion laws across the United States.

Three years ago, in a major address at the National Defense University, President Obama announced that he had signed a classified document to tighten and formalize the rules relating to the use of lethal force against suspected terrorists “outside the United States and areas of actual hostilities.” The document — the Presidential Policy Guidance, or PPG — was not published at the time, but a redacted version of it is likely to be disclosed in the next week or so, perhaps alongside several related documents, a new executive order, and official casualty statistics for the drone war.

Congress can take action now to strengthen voter protections that have been weakened by the Supreme Court to ensure that every American vote counts this November.

Over the past year, as public policy debates about transgender rights have deepened — and anti-trans rhetoric has escalated — in state legislatures and in the courts, our nation has started learning more about who transgender people are — our neighbors, our co-workers, our fellow students, and our family members.