Poli Alert Politics & Civics

Daja E. Henry Originally published by The 19th As the dust settles in Tennessee after the past few weeks, there have been allusions to change. But still, much remains the same. There was a mass school shooting in Nashville, a protest over gun violence that left two Black lawmakers expelled …

Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams As legal fights raise concerns about the future accessibility of the abortion medication mifepristone, reproductive rights supporters on Saturday rallied outside the U.S. Supreme Court and in cities across the country. The demonstrations came a day after the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocked a recent ruling …

Zach Despart, James Barragán and Patrick Svitek, The Texas Tribune An internal complaint filed against state Rep. Bryan Slaton, R-Royse City, alleges that he was engaging in a potentially “inappropriate relationship” with an intern. The complaint came after an incident in which Slaton and the staffer allegedly met up at …

Casey Smith, Indiana Capital Chronicle In Donald Trump’s first major public appearance since his historic arrest, the former president evoked his “pro-gun” policies but refrained from delving into his indictment when he spoke at a National Rifle Association (NRA) convention on Friday in Indianapolis. Trump headlined the annual NRA-ILA Leadership …

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has temporarily halted any changes in access to the abortion medication mifepristone from taking effect until Wednesday at midnight. The one-page order from Alito, issued late Friday afternoon, will block for now the April 7 ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Northern …

Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix Gov. Ron DeSantis has quietly signed Florida’s new six-week abortion ban into law, continuing his trend of approving controversial new laws outside the limelight. Aides issued a news release at 11:26 p.m. Thursday that he’d signed SB 300, the so-called Heartbeat Protection Act, mere hours after …

Danielle J. Brown, Florida Phoenix In less than a year, Florida has moved from a 15-week abortion ban to the passage of one of the most restrictive bans in the nation — a 6-week abortion ban. The state House approved the legislation after at least six hours of questions, amendments, …

Julia COnley, Common Dreams Jack Teixeira, the Air National Guard member suspected of leaking hundreds of classified Pentagon documents to members of an online forum, was arrested Thursday in Dighton, Massachusetts after The New York Times reported on his alleged identity. CNN aired footage of Teixeira, who was known as …

Jennifer Shutt, Georgia Recorder The Biden administration is trying to enhance the federal law that guards patient privacy to further protect those who seek legal abortion care and other reproductive health care services. The announcement comes amid two major ongoing federal court cases dealing with access to the abortion pill …

A pair of Democratic U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday became the first members of their party in Congress to urge Sen. Dianne Feinstein to resign, as a deadlocked Senate Judiciary Committee remains unable to confirm President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees during her prolonged absence. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) was the first …

Adam Friedman, Tennessee Lookout The Shelby County Commission voted unanimously to reappoint Justin Pearson to the state House seat Republicans expelled him from six days ago. House Republicans kicked out Pearson, D-Memphis, and Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, for violating the chamber’s rules on decorum when the two men took over …

Caitlin Sievers, Arizona Mirror Republican Rep. Liz Harris was expelled from the Arizona House of Representatives on Wednesday for orchestrating a February meeting in which a member of the public spread wild conspiracy theories claiming that various state and local officials were in on a housing deed money laundering scheme …

Danielle J. Brown, Florida Phoenix April 11, 2023 Lawmakers in the Florida Senate were set to discuss attacks on drag shows and other performances on Tuesday, but several senators decided to talk about what happened Monday, when a House member went on a tirade against transgender Floridians. “I want to …

Julia Conley, Common Dreams Lawyers for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Tuesday filed a federal lawsuit against U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, who as chair of the House Judiciary Committee, has launched numerous attempts to interfere with the prosecution of former Republican President Donald Trump. The lawsuit was filed a …

Jennifer Shutt, Alabama Reflector Democratic attorneys general from 23 states and the District of Columbia weighed in with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday supporting access to the abortion medication mifepristone. “The availability of mifepristone has been particularly critical in providing access to abortion in low-income, underserved, and …