Breaking: Tennessee Republicans pass new 9-0 gerrymander after SCOTUS destruction of Voting Rights Act eliminating state’s only majority-Black district & last Democratic seat. Splits Memphis, which is 63% Black, into 3 districts to disenfranchise Black voters. Quite literally a return to Jim Crow

Excited to share that Cindy Kam’s and my article is published online! We examine item refusal pre- and post-Dobbs and find a significant increase in women’s refusal to disclose their pregnancy status after the decision, with concerning implications for research, policy, and women’s health.

Public Opinion Quarterly - POQ@poqjournal.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Did Dobbs have a chilling effect on survey responses? In POQ, Kam & Marcellin find that women were less willing to disclose their pregnancy status in the nation's premier health survey (BRFSS), on the heels of the Dobbs decision. Read now: doi.org/10.1093/poq/...

TN07 is a story about gerrymandering: the GOP cracked Nashville into 3 districts when it redrew the 2022 map, destroying the Dem seat there. Fast-forward: a section of Nashville, which just 5 years ago had a Dem representative, is now voting Dem by huge margins but it's been designed to not matter.

BREAKING: Democrat Abigail Spanberger has won the Virginia governor’s race, defeating Republican Winsome Earle-Sears and becoming the state's first female governor.

Virginia governor’s race will test Trump and Democrats nationally — and make history

Democrat Abigail Spanberger is facing Republican Winsome Earle-Sears in the Virginia race for governor.

bit.ly

Nashville #NoKings just getting underway. @tennesseelookout.com

LET'S GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WAHOOWA

Steven L. Johnson@stevenljohnson.org · 10mo ago

UVA says no to the compact

New from me and @brendannyhan.bsky.social Why Trump's "Compact for Academic Excellence" is a devil's bargain and should be rejected in all forms www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

Trump sent a 'compact' to our universities. They should reject this devil's bargain.

Any institution that yields to these broad and intrusive demands would forever be subservient to the whims of the government.

msnbc.com

Trump will federalize D.C. police, deploy the National Guard, & send the FBI after homeless people to combat a made-up crisis in D.C. But on Jan. 6th when violent insurrectionists stormed the Capitol he couldn't be bothered to call the National Guard. Make it make sense.

"In total, the Board members have donated over $4.8 million to Republican campaigns and candidates, [nearly] $10,000 to Democratic campaigns and candidates and [nearly] $39,000 to causes categorized as 'other.'" Only 1 board member had not donated and the rest all overwhelmingly gave to Republicans

Matthew Kirschenbaum@mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · last yr.

Framing this around “viewpoint diversity” and the supposed expediency of tracking professors’ political donations is absolutely brilliant. www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...

Trump's neo-fascist assault on American universities claims about 30,000 more victims — UVA, its president, & its students, faculty, & staff. (A MAGA-dominated board will choose the new president.)

Siva@sivav.bsky.social · last yr.

University of Virginia President Resigns Under Pressure From Trump Administration www.nytimes.com/2025/06/27/u...

Melissa Hortman, who was assassinated last night, was the Speaker of the Minnesota House in the 2023-2024 session, when Democrats ran the state government. That means she had a leading role in shepherding the many landmark reforms that Dems adopted in that period—an important legacy. Brief 🧵.

A depressing summary of where things stand w/r/t police accountability five years after the murder of George Floyd, by Jamiles Lartey at the Marshall Project.

Five Years After George Floyd’s Murder, Police Reforms Are Rolled Back

As reforms stall in some states, the U.S. Supreme Court just made it easier for police to be sued — and perhaps easier for police to defend themselves.

themarshallproject.org

Reflection on ICE terrorizing our community this week. open.substack.com/pub/aftynbeh...

It’s 2:23 AM on ICE Watch in Nashville, TN

Whatever your politics, you should be highly concerned about the flagrant abuse of power and state-sanctioned violence. It’s only a matter of time before they come for you.

open.substack.com

Rep. Aftyn Behn@aftynbehn.bsky.social · last yr.

It’s 2:32 AM and I just finished ICE watch in my district. Highly disturbing observations… hope to publish a Substack this weekend about the experience.

Thanks to your reports, we have created a tracker of college campus Visa revocations. Please continue to let us know if you hear of these (names of colleges and number of revocations). www.wearehighered.org/campus-abduc...

2025 EGEN Prize Announcement: We are thrilled to announce the results of the 2025 prize competition. The EGEN prize committee selected 5 Prize Recipients and 3 Honorable Mentions this year! @tiffanydbarnes.bsky.social @teele.bsky.social @mirya.bsky.social

Don't let anyone tell you that there is no protest happening. Our latest Crowd Counting Consortium data update is now available. February saw thousands of events. 50501 days of action, immigration-related protests & Tesla takeovers were key spikes in activity. dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtm....

Approaching majority opposition to basic 20th century second wave feminism among Republican men

There used to be a bipartisan consensus that rejected traditional gender roles. Not anymore. Republican men *and* women increasingly endorse traditional roles. Here's a 🧵 based on a new New York Times piece by @tesler.bsky.social, Colette Marcellin, and me.

“I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level…In good conscience, I cannot stand back & let a new administration resume executions that I halted.” www.nytimes.com/2024/12/23/u...

Biden Commutes 37 Death Sentences Ahead of Trump’s Plan to Resume Federal Executions

Those affected by the president’s action on Monday are still subject to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Three men will remain on federal death row.

nytimes.com

“Taking on our main obstacle is better served by working outside the NLRB process at this time. We’ve done this before, and made a lot of progress. Vanderbilt has the ability to recognize us at any time, as many other universities have done. They should respect our legal and democratic rights.”

Nashville Scene@nashvillescene.com · 2y ago

Union leaders ended the push for a graduate student union at Vanderbilt last week amid shifting political terrain at the National Labor Relations Board.

At 13, Arrianna Jentink-Bristol fought with her mother, who was hitting her 3-year old sister. She was dragged into the court system, & saddled with fees & debt. Jentink-Bristol then participated in a youth program—where she helped craft a proposal to end fees/debt on children. Michigan passed it.

How Michigan Stopped Saddling Children with Millions in Court Debt

Last year, Michigan stopped imposing court fines and fees on kids, and relieved millions of dollars in past debt. Now, it may also ensure that kids get adequate representation in court.

boltsmag.org

Incredible news out of the White House this morning and hope the Biden administration continues to grant more clemency to thousands whose sentences continue to be disproportionately long www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-roo...

FACT SHEET: President Biden Announces Clemency for Nearly 1,500 Americans | The White House

Today’s announcement will commute the sentences of close to 1,500 individuals who were placed on home confinement and will pardon 39 individuals convicted

whitehouse.gov

The goal appears to be not to prevent the deaths caused by abortion bans, but to conceal them.

Charles Ornstein@charlesornstein.bsky.social · 2y ago

NEW: Georgia officials have dismissed all members of a state committee charged with investigating deaths of pregnant women. The move came in response to ProPublica having obtained internal reports detailing two deaths.

It's unconscionable how this country treats pregnant women and their babies. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

With tears and a lullaby, a rural Alabama hospital stops delivering babies

The staff at Monroe County Hospital in Alabama said goodbye and played Brahms' "Lullaby" on the labor and delivery ward's final day.

nbcnews.com

“Women are not without electoral or political power.” - Sam Alito

Don Moynihan@donmoyn.bsky.social · 3y ago

Pot and abortion right protections likely to pass in Ohio

Three places electing state governments this week—KY, MS, VA—together ban hundreds of thousands of people from voting. A crystal-clear, enormously impactful example of systemic racism/classism, but one that often flies under the radar. I explored in a 3-story series: boltsmag.org/felony-disen...

The Ghosts of the 2023 Elections - Bolts

Kentucky, Mississippi, and Virginia are selecting their state officials on Nov. 7. But hundreds of thousands of people with felony convictions are barred from voting in these states, which have... Rea...

boltsmag.org

Please keep in mind, these elections in Tennessee (in Nashville and elsewhere) are marred by an extraordinary escalation in the state’s rules on how it excludes people from voting this summer. https://boltsmag.org/tennessee-restricts-rights-restoration/

Tennessee Puts Voting Rights at the Whims of State Officials - Bolts

Michael Moore has spent two years trying to regain the right to vote. He has worked to meet Tennessee’s byzantine list of criteria for having voting rights restored and filed... Read More

boltsmag.org