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The Need for Prison and Criminal Justice Reform Is Great
On my birthday this year, I continued my tradition of going to the Cook County Jail to have lunch with some of the 5,552 people who are inmates there. These visits remind me of the humanity of those who are in trouble -- and of the inhumanity, even idiocy, of our criminal justice system.
Illinois Strengthens the Right to Vote
Illinois is about to make voter registration automatic. The Senate and House have passed reform bills unanimously. If the governor signs the final reconciled legislation, Illinois will become the ninth state, in addition to the District of Columbia, to adopt automatic voter registration. The bill would begin to register more than 1 million eligible but unregistered voters in Illinois. Even as states continue to pass legislation to restrict voting, this reform promises to open the doors wider.
Right to register and vote is not a partisan issue
The right to vote, Dr. Martin Luther King taught in his famous “Give Us the Ballot” address, is one of the “highest mandates of our democratic tradition.” Democracy is founded on the right of citizens to decide via popular, free and fair elections who should represent them. Across the world, the U.S. champions democracy. Yet at home the right to vote is embattled.
GOP, Not Russia, the Greater Threat to Free Elections
We all have heard about WikiLeaks and Russian interference in the 2016 election. The report of Special Counsel Robert Mueller has once more put that on the front pages. Too often lost in the furor, however, is the far more damaging TrikiLeaks -- the tricks and laws used to suppress the vote by partisans, largely Republicans here at home.
Automatic voter registration a sensible first step
As Americans, we hail our democracy as a beacon to the world. And all agree the right to vote is the fundamental cornerstone of democracy. Yet in our election last fall, fewer than half of all eligible voters cast a ballot – and that is considered a relatively high turnout. We need a nationwide drive to extend and promote the right to vote, the most fundamental of all political rights in a democracy. Let’s start by automatic voter registration – registering every eligible voter automatically on his or her 18th birthday.
Georgia's Gubernatorial Race Soiled By Conflict of Interest
What if Georgia played Alabama in football and the lead referee was playing quarterback for Alabama? Would we assume that the rules would be enforced equally? Would Georgians worry that the fix was in?
Time for a Citizens' Commission On Defending the Right to Vote
Donald Trump's commission on "election integrity" is meeting sensible resistance. The commission issued letters calling on states to provide it with extensive personal information on all voters, including names, addresses, birthdates, party affiliation, the last 4 digits Social Security numbers, military status and criminal records. This data collection would be targeted by every cyber thief in the world. At least 20 states have already indicated that they would not comply completely, including California, New York, Texas and more.
The Right to Vote Needs Constitutional Protection
Democracy is based on the power of the people choosing their leaders in a secret ballot. The right to vote is central to the legitimacy of any democratic system. Yet in the United States Constitution there is no federal right to vote. Voting rights are determined by the states. And in the states we witness a fierce struggle between those who seek to suppress the vote and those who seek to protect and extend it.
Here's How Young People Can Save America
A new year is a time for reflection on the past and hope for the future. My new year's wish this year is that across the country, every high school give each graduating student a diploma and a voter registration card, and every center of education and training - whether community college or four-year university, technical training or business school - insure that every entering student is registered to vote.
It's Time for Patriots to Stand Up
America's democracy is under assault -- systematic, unrelenting and unhinged. The assault is waged by one party -- the Republican Party. It is largely driven by the lies and racism of Donald Trump, who simply will not accept that he lost the last election. To deny that unacceptable reality, Trump has spread -- and Republican officials across the country have echoed -utterly fraudulent claims of fraud to justify measures to make voting more difficult.
People of Color MUST Get Out and Vote!
Republicans are already gloating about the elections coming this fall. With Joe Biden lagging in the polls, Trump's Big Lie rousing the Republican base, inflation distracting from the remarkable jobs recovery, Democrats look to be in trouble. Much can change in the months left before the election -- and one central question is whether increased registration and voting among African Americans, Latinos and Asian Americans will begin to turn more districts and more states blue, particularly those in the South.
The Lie About Voter Fraud Is The Real Fraud
After President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey because of, as Trump admitted, the "Russian thing," he struck a new blow to American democracy: He created a commission on "election integrity," stemming from his fantastical claims of voter fraud in the 2016 election.
Democracy not a partisan issue
While the United States champions democracy across the world, our own democracy is under siege. Nothing is more fundamental to democracy than the right to vote – yet there is no explicit guarantee of the right to vote in the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. ranks near the bottom of industrial democracies in voter turnout. This isn’t accidental – many states purposefully create barriers that make it difficult to register to vote or to cast a ballot. The sensible answer to this is to create — and enforce — the right to vote for every citizen.
A New Alabama Is Emerging, And Doug Jones May Ride It to Victory
Can Doug Jones, a Democrat, win a Senate seat in Alabama when voters go to the polls in a special election on December 12?
Race, the South and American Politics
Liberating the South is the key to liberating the nation. The key to liberating the South is the black vote. Recent black turnout in elections in Virginia and Alabama demonstrate this point.
A Tale of Two Cities: Selma and Shelby County
In "A Tale of Two Cities," Charles Dickens contrasted the plight of the poor in France with the lavish wealth of the aristocracy, the city of need with the city of greed. That harsh exploitation eventually erupted in the French Revolution, and the brutal revenge of the revolutionaries on their former oppressors.
Voter Suppression Alive and Well in Arkansas
The Solid South used to be Democratic. Today, the Solid South is Republican. What happened? President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Public Accommodations Act on July 2, 1964. As a result, South Carolina's Dixiecrat segregationist senator, Strom Thurmond, switched parties in September and vowed to lead fellow Dixiecrats to the Republican Party.
Assault On Right to Vote Comes From Home-grown Reactionaries
This past weekend, we once again gathered in Selma, Ala., to commemorate "Bloody Sunday," the March 7, 1965, march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge that was savagely put down by police.
Let Us Not Censor Dr. King's Life Even As We Glorify Him
As another year passes with celebrations marking the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, I worry about the dangers of neutering Dr. King's life, turning him into a "dreamer" who became a martyr. We shouldn't forget that Dr. King was a leader, a man of conscience and of action. He sought to transform America, that forced him to be a disrupter -- and to bear the wounds of being unpopular in a just cause.
Let the Prisoners Go
Across the United States and across the world, prisoners are among the most vulnerable to the coronavirus. Overcrowded facilities, shortages of food and medicine, totally inadequate testing expose prisoners who are disproportionately poor and afflicted with prior conditions that render them vulnerable to the disease. Prisoners increasingly are protesting their conditions, objecting to being sentenced to die in prison.
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