NY Times: “Twenty years ago, Judy Bolden served 18 months in a Florida prison. She has been free ever since, but she is still barred from voting by the state until she pays all court fines and fees associated with her conviction. When Ms. Bolden sat to be photographed by The Times earlier this year,…

Lexington Herald Leader: “A controversial law that established school choice for Kentucky students was ruled unconstitutional Friday by Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd. House Bill 563 passed in March, establishing a “school choice program” to allow students to attend schools outside of their district. Proponents of the law said they plan to appeal Shepherd’s…

BBC: “Elation greeted Dontae Sharpe as he walked out of prison a free man, 26 years after being wrongly convicted of murder. But proving his innocence was only the first step down a long road. As he tries to rebuild his life – and to hold the system accountable – there’s still one thing eluding…

NY Times: “The Biden administration will ask the Supreme Court to block a Texas law that bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy while a challenge to it moves forward, a spokesman for the Justice Department said on Friday. Last month, in a separate case brought by abortion providers, the Supreme Court allowed the…

NY Times: “The former student who was accused of shooting and killing 17 people at his high school in Parkland, Fla., in 2018 plans to plead guilty to 17 counts of premeditated murder and 17 counts of attempted murder, one of his lawyers said on Friday. The rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb….

USA Today: “North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has doubled down after his comments calling transgenderism and homosexuality “filth” drew widespread rebukes and calls for him to resign.  Robinson, a Republican, made the comments in June at the Asbury Baptist church in Seagrove. “There’s no reason anybody anywhere in America should be telling any child about transgenderism, homosexuality, any…

Slate: “On Wednesday night [Oct. 6], U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman blocked S.B. 8, Texas’ six-week abortion ban, which sought to evade judicial review by empowering bounty hunters to sue abortion providers and anyone who “abets” them. Pitman’s 113-page opinion is a rebuke to the Supreme Court’s one-paragraph, back-of-the envelope order refusing to halt the law on…

NY Times: “When the actor Matthew McConaughey dropped his rom-com act to pursue hard-hitting dramas, Hollywood called it a “McConaissance.” Now we may be on the cusp of the next one, as he mulls over a run for governor of Texas. McConaughey is the first to admit he’s not a conventional pick for Texans. “I’m…

The Atlantic: “Follow the sun. That’s the advice to Democrats from a leading party fundraising organization in an exhaustive analysis of the electoral landscape released today. The study, from the group Way to Win, provided exclusively to The Atlantic, argues that to solidify their position in Congress and the Electoral College, Democrats must increase their…

WUNC: “Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is betting that Taylor Swift fans can help prevent his state from turning red. The Democrat, who is running for the seat again on Nov. 2, has a new five-figure ad buy that connects his opponent, Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, to Swift’s bitter battle to gain control over the master…