Vann R. Newkirk II
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AP What Kennedy's Absence Means for Civil Rights
The justice’s retirement from the bench will almost certainly mean a retrenchment of federal enforcement in voting rights and affirmative action, and less chance for meaningful criminal-justice reform.
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Patrick Semansky / AP The Deep Consistency of the Trump Administration
Beneath the constant contradictions and reversals, the administration has a single through line: Its policies always serve to dehumanize those deemed not to belong.
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David Paul Morris / Getty Celebrating Juneteenth in a Moment of Peril
The holiday celebrates the emancipation of American slaves—and a citizenship that has never quite been fully granted.
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Jacquelyn Martin / AP Partisan Gerrymandering Stands, for Now
Two decisions from the Supreme Court indicate that arguments against politically biased legislative maps still haven’t figured out how to get the attention of the justices.
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Matthieu Bourel The End of Civil Rights
Across immigration, policing, criminal justice, and voting rights, the attorney general is pushing an agenda that could erase many of the legal gains of modern America's defining movement.
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Mandel Ngan / Getty Images The Federal Government Abandons the Most Popular Part of the ACA
The Justice Department won’t defend Obamacare’s preexisting-conditions provision in court—the latest in the administration’s assault on the law.
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Steve Helber / AP What Virginia's Vote Means for the Future of Medicaid Expansion
With state legislators deciding this week to extend the program to 400,000 citizens, the drawn-out battle over Obamacare’s signature provision draws nearer to an end.
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Erika Goldring / Bennett Raglin / Getty / ... Pusha T, Drake, and the Limits of Rap Beef
Four Atlantic staffers discuss hip-hop’s vicious and messy brawl of the moment and how the art of the diss track has evolved.
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Carlos Giusti / AP The True Scope of the Disaster in Puerto Rico
A new survey of the island’s residents finds a much higher death toll from Hurricane Maria than previously reported—putting it on par with one of the worst natural disasters in recent American history.
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Jonathan Ernst / Reuters The Real Risk of Trump’s Dehumanization of Immigrants
Regardless of whether it was aimed specifically at MS-13 members or not, President Trump’s “animals” remark is threatening to all immigrants.
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Jonathan Ernst / Reuters Big Pharma Gets a Big Win From Trump
The president campaigned on stinging criticisms of the pharmaceutical industry and promises to use Medicare to lower drug prices. But none of that materialized in his drug-pricing speech this week.
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Ted S. Warren / AP 'Human Frailty' Is a Byproduct of Mass Incarceration
In his new book Homeward, Harvard University professor Bruce Western explores what it’s like to reenter society after prison—and uncovers an epidemic of illness and mortality.
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Ric Francis / AP What Black Voters Want
With the 2018 and 2020 elections on the horizon, race and racism are becoming ever-larger issues among the most marginalized communities in America, making the Democratic coalition harder and harder to hold.
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Carlos Giusti / AP Puerto Rico Enters a New Age of Austerity
Protests against a new fiscal plan highlight just how turbulent the island’s political and economic circumstances have become.
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J. Scott Applewhite / AP A Republican Plan Could Worsen Rural America's Food Crisis
The draft Farm Bill in consideration in the House stands to exacerbate poverty, nutrition insecurity, and community collapse in the poorest areas of the country.
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Ramon Espinosa / AP Can Puerto Rico Recover From Maria Before the Next Storm Hits?
With hurricane season again approaching, the island’s health-care infrastructure remains brittle.
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Seth Wenig / AP / NGalitsky / Shutterstock ... The 'Dragon Energy' of Kanye West and Donald Trump
The rapper and president are bros now. Here’s why.
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Andrew Harnik / AP The True Cost of Cheap Health Insurance
What the Trump administration’s forthcoming rule expanding access to “junk” plans will mean for consumers
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Sean Rayford / AP Is Rural America Getting Tired of Tough-on-Crime Policies?
Across political, racial, and geographic lines, more Americans seem ready to move past the age of mass incarceration.
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Mark Thiessen / AP / Joseph Sohm / ... American Voters Are Turning to Direct Democracy
In many states, the most important policy changes this year won’t come from legislation, but from ballot initiatives.
