MS Free Press: “Discarding the Mississippi state flag of 1894 came in a fast final chapter last summer after decades of political impasse. It was the only remaining state flag in the U.S. featuring the Confederate emblem.  The police killing of George Floyd on May 25 started the ultimate event chain. At the June 6 Black Lives Matter protest in Jackson,…

MS Free Press: “Driver’s license suspensions over unpaid fines have long triggered a devastating domino effect on poor Americans, costing them not only their ability to commute, but their jobs and livelihood. But the 35 states that continue to enforce such penalties could find new reasons to reconsider if a bill that U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker,…

PBS: “Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Friday signed into law legislation allowing doctors to refuse to treat someone because of religious or moral objections, a move opponents have said will give providers broad powers to turn away LGBTQ patients and others. The measure says health care workers and institutions have the right to not participate…

The Daily Beast: “This is the team Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is assembling to investigate Donald Trump—to go after his advisers and their attempts to manipulate election results in Georgia….In interviews with Willis, her staff, five former members of the team, and several people who interacted with them, The Daily Beast has learned…

Forbes: “The New Georgia Project—which was founded by activist and 2018 gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams—along with the Black Voters Matter Fund and Rise, Inc. filed a lawsuit against state election officials Thursday evening in U.S. District Court in Atlanta. The suit seeks injunctive action to block new election restrictions outlined in Senate Bill 202—the “Voter Suppression Bill,”…

NewsOne: “Georgia-based corporations tried to play both sides in a recent battle over a new law that enacts additional barriers to ballot access. Several of the corporations have dodged direct questions concerning the wave of voter suppression laws, often hiding behind the chamber of commerce.  But a statement released by Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian, praising SB 202, raised alarms. LaTosha…

Richmond Times-Dispatch: “Four centuries of capital punishment in Virginia ended Wednesday outside the Greensville Correctional Center, the site of more than 100 of the state’s most recent executions. Gov. Ralph Northam signed legislation abolishing the death penalty under a tent opposite the entrance to the sprawling prison. L Unit, home of the execution chamber where…

Washington Examiner: “Asked by the podcast host if Tillis likely would have lost if Cunningham’s affair hadn’t been exposed, Bolger said, “Oh, I think so. I’m not taking anything away from Sen. Tillis or the campaign we run,” Bolger told McCrary, a Democratic pollster and partner at ALG Research. But the Tillis campaign focused on the affair…

Tennessean: “A resolution designating the Bible as the state book cleared a House committee Tuesday morning despite constitutional concerns from several lawmakers. HJR150, carried by Rep. Jerry Sexton, R-Bean Station, would include the Bible in the Tennessee Blue Book next to a list of other state symbols. This is his third attempt to designate the Bible as…

WaPo: “President Biden on Friday criticized a Georgia law imposing restrictions on voting and urged Congress to act on sweeping voting rights legislation. “This is Jim Crow in the 21st Century. It must end. We have a moral and constitutional obligation to act,” the president said in a statement. The newly signed law, among other…