Alternet: “One in five Black voting-age Tennesseans lacks the right to vote due to a past criminal conviction — likely the highest rate of African-American disenfranchisement in the nation, according to the Sentencing Project. Overall, nearly 10% of the Tennessee electorate — 470,000 people — have lost their right to vote due to convictions. In…

WaPo: “Beshear’s campaign has no illusions about how hard a sell the Democratic Party is for Kentucky voters. With polls showing Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron closing fast by rallying his party’s base with attacks on Biden, Beshear is reminding voters that this election is not about a certain white house some 570 miles away. “What you’re…

WREG: “Former Memphis Police officer Desmond Mills pleaded guilty Thursday morning to federal charges and has agreed to plead guilty to state charges in the death of Tyre Nichols, the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office said. “My use of force was excessive on Mr. Nichols and I did make misleading statements,” Mills said in court. Both federal…

AP: “Though Mississippi represents an extreme example, it highlights a national decline in competition for state legislative seats. New research suggests the reasons are more complex than mere voter satisfaction with incumbents. It also raises questions about the ability of American voters to hold their elected representatives accountable. In some states, “there’s so many uncontested seats that…

Political Wire: “Former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry (D) is actively exploring a run for Congress,” the Nashville Banner reports. “According to three independent sources, Barry is considering a race against Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) for the 7th District seat. Barry, who resigned in 2018 in the wake of an affair with her security chief, has remained popular…

WaPo: “Transgender young people, their families and their medical providers on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to block a Tennessee law that bans gender-affirming care for people younger than 18. If the high court takes the case, it would be the first opportunity the justices have had to weigh in on such restrictions, which 21…

WaPo: “The war in Gaza and a serious medical emergency suffered by the Marine Corps’ top officer have forced into the open months of simmering Republican frustration with Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s expansive hold on President Biden’s military nominees, driving several of his colleagues to publicly denounce the gambit and urge Senate leaders to take immediate…

Political Wire: “A federal judge ruled Thursday that Georgia’s district lines must be redrawn to ensure adequate representation of Black voters in Congress and the General Assembly, finding that the state’s maps illegally weakened their political power,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports. “The decision could result in the election of additional Black representatives next year, with Democrats…

NY Times: “In April 2016, 11 Black schoolchildren, some as young as 8 years old, were arrested in Rutherford County, Tenn. The reason? They didn’t stop a fight between some other kids. What happened in the wake of those arrests would expose a juvenile justice system that was playing by its own rules. For over…

AP: “Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to jail an Alabama lawmaker charged with trying to obstruct an investigation into alleged kickbacks. In a motion filed this week, prosecutors said state Rep. John Rogers, a Democrat from Birmingham, violated the conditions of his bond by attempting to contact a key witness in the case. Prosecutors…