Jay Young

Bernard LaFayette, Selma voting rights organizer, has died Voting rights organizer Bernard LaFayette has died. LaFayette's son says his father died Thursday morning of a heart attack. He was 85.

Bernard LaFayette, the advance man who did the risky groundwork for the voter registration campaign in Selma, Alabama, that culminated in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, has died.

The Bygone Era of Supreme Court Support for Voting Rights Sixty years after upholding the Voting Rights Act, the Court has dismantled most of it.

Tomorrow marks the 61st anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama. It also marks the 60th anniversary of the Supreme Court first upholding the Voting Rights Act.

We have gotten so, so far away from a Court that cares about democracy.

New from me at @brennancenter.org:

MS NOW confirms Corey Lewandowski is also out at DHS.

Some Cook County Board commissioners skip more than 20% of their meetings A WBEZ analysis of board meeting records revealed two incumbents with primary challengers scored among the worst truancy rates in this term.

"[S]ince the four-year term began in December 2022... the sitting commissioners who did not show up with the greatest frequency were Stanley Moore, Bridget Gainer and Kisha McCaskill."
chicago.suntimes.com/2026/03/06/c...

Growing healthy food to narrow Chicago's 20-year life expectancy gap: ‘If we eat better, we do better’ Chicagoans are expected to die earlier in West Garfield Park than in any other neighborhood in the city. Sammie and Angela Taylor support a network of community gardens to help close that gap.

"The so-called death gap is the widest between West Garfield Park, where most people are Black and can expect to live until 67, and the Loop, where the majority are white and can expect to live until they’re 87."
chicago.suntimes.com/2026/02/27/g...

Girl Scouts unimpressed after troop teams up with cannabis dispensary Girl Scout cookie season runs from January through April

You gotta give them credit for identifying a market opportunity.
www.independent.co.uk/life-style/g...

Behind the Curtain: Trump and the most unprecedented presidency in 250 years Trump has veered, often suddenly, proudly and loudly, into unprecedented territory in at least 15 different areas.

"The founders never envisioned a federal government this big and this powerful, or a president this unchecked."
www.axios.com/2025/09/23/t...

'Unseemly' power play in Senate race

"The Indian American Impact Fund has launched an ad boosting [ ] Robin Kelly, a Democrat who like Krishnamoorthi is running for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Dick Durbin. The ad attacks the other top competitor in the race, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton."
www.politico.com/newsletters/...

Virginia moves to forbid schools from teaching that Jan. 6 was peaceful In what appears to be a first in the country, legislation headed to the desk of Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) would prohibit public schools from teaching that the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capit...

"All this does is put guardrails on to ensure public education in Virginia can’t lie to our kids.”
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Democrats celebrate Kristi Noem’s ouster but warn of battle to come for future of DHS – live Democrats say ‘Noem deserved to be fired’ but warn that pressure must be kept up against ICE and her replacement nominee, ‘Maga warrior’ Markwayne Mullin

“Hey, Kristi Noem, don’t let the door hit you on the way out... Here’s your legacy: Corruption and chaos. Parents and childrens tear-gassed. Moms and nurses – U.S. citizens – getting shot in the face.”

🔥 from @govpritzker.illinois.gov

www.theguardian.com/us-news/live...

Family of detainee who died under ICE custody says he was denied medical care Alberto Gutiérrez Reyes died in a California hospital in February after suffering chest pain and shortness of breath

A lot of attention was understandably paid to the two US citizens who were killed by ICE in Minneapolis, but dozens of people have died in ICE and CBP custody since the start of 2025.

This was at least the 10th such death since the start of this year.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

ICE arrested Nashville journalist without warrant, attorneys say The journalist, Estefany Rodriguez, was taken to a detention center and remains there as of 3 p.m. March 5.

"She frequently reported on stories critical of ICE for Nashville Noticias, the Spanish-language outlet."

www.tennessean.com/story/news/l...

Spurs really are going to get relegated, aren't they?

The demand is disgusting, but the politics are fascinating.

thehill.com/homenews/cam...

We first called for Kristi Noem to be fired on Jan 27, 2026.
Nearly 5 weeks later… she’s gone.

This is proof that people power works when we raise our voices together.

If you are in line to post a Kristi Noem getting fired joke - STAY IN LINE.

Kristi Noem is out as DHS secretary

ICE Phishing: Scammers Are Sending 'Support ICE' Emails to Steal Credentials "As part of our commitment to supporting ICE, we will be adding a ‘Support ICE’ donation button to the footer of every email sent through our platform."

“[H]ackers have evolved to carefully craft messages sent to professionals that are designed to exploit the American political consciousness. The opt-out buttons are the trap.”
www.404media.co/ice-phishing...

How Peaceful Protest by Just 3.5 Percent of Americans Could Force Major Policy Changes From the Trump Administration History shows that when just 3.5 percent of a population—about 12 million Americans—engage in peaceful protest, their demands become nearly impossible to ignore. This is particularly relevant today, a...

"[N]o government around the world has withstood a challenge when 3.5 percent of its population peacefully mobilized against it."
www.americanprogress.org/article/how-...

ICE taking steps to close detention center at Fort Bliss, document shows Preparations to shutter Camp East Montana in El Paso come less than eight months after facility’s opening, according to an internal ICE document.

This ICE detention center is the largest in the country and has become notorious for rampant physical abuse, medical neglect, and death.

We won't let up the pressure until it's shut down for good.

JUST IN: A federal judge has barred Gov DeSantis from designating CAIR as a terrorist organization and punish those who associate with the group.

“Once again, Florida chooses political posturing over the First Amendment,” Judge Walker writes.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Tennessee Wants to Let Schools Ban Immigrant Kids, Threatening to “End Public Education as We Know It” A Tennessee bill would take the right to education away from undocumented children. The Heritage Foundation is pushing it in other states.

"Tennessee Republicans are pushing forward with a bill that could force undocumented children out of public education and turn school administrators into immigration informants against their own students"
theintercept.com/2026/03/04/t...

Support for abolishing ICE reaches 50% This marks the first time support has reached 50% in YouGov polling. Support for abolishing ICE has been steadily growing since January

"This marks the first time support has reached 50% in YouGov polling. Support for abolishing ICE has been steadily growing since January"
yougov.com/en-us/articl...

How Trump's bid to reshape House maps stalled after pushback from Democrats, courts Last July the midterm elections were still 16 months away, and Democrats were in trouble. Eight months later, the picture looks starkly different.

"I do think that it is a wash right now... It's a huge amount of turnover and disruption all basically for nothing, if you're looking solely at partisan seat gain."
www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

Just a random reminder that over 50 members of Congress collectively own millions of dollars in defense contractor stocks.

They stand to personally profit from wars that enrich these contractors.

Make no mistake, this is legalized corruption.

Watch how they vote this week.

WELCH: Mr. Yoho is also the husband of your former spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin?

NOEM: Yes

WELCH: So your former assistant and her husband are the ones that got the DHS no bid contract for $143m. Any dispute about that?

NOEM: No.

Kristi Noem on Alex Pretti: "I did not call him a domestic terrorist. I said it appeared to be an incident of."

Also Kristi Noem: " This individual…committed an act of domestic terrorism. That's the facts.”

Trump Officials Attended a Summit of Election Deniers Who Want the President to Take Over the Midterms The meeting’s participants included Kurt Olsen, a White House lawyer charged with reinvestigating the 2020 election, and Heather Honey, the Department of Homeland Security official in charge of electi...

“The meeting shows that the same people who tried to overturn the 2020 election have only grown better organized and are now embedded in the machinery of government,”
www.propublica.org/article/elec...

Can we play Spurs every week 😭😭😭

Wasn't pretty but I'll take it #COYG