Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) is one of the most polarizing figures in Iowa politics. Over the past few years, King has spent quite a bit of time in the national spotlight; he has become known for formerly displaying a Confederate flag on his desk office, retweeting neo-Nazis, and touting derogatory views on immigration and LGBTQ … Read more
One of the most remarkable election victories this season was that of Democrat Kyrsten Sinema who won the U.S. Senate seat in Arizona vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Jeff Flake. Sinema, who represents Arizona’s 8th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, went head-to-head in a heated race against Republican Martha McSally, the representative … Read more
After bringing a Senate race in a traditional Republican bastion down to the wire, it’s not surprising that a growing chorus is calling for Rep. Beto O’Rourke to run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. His campaign’s near-success, along with his charismatic personality and compelling background, has led people to label him a “Democratic … Read more
For parents who are informed that their child is deaf or hard of hearing, the number one concern is how they will be able to communicate with their child. My mother told me that when she learned I was deaf, when I was 13 months old, what pained her most was thinking I would never … Read more
On July 21, thousands of students and adult allies marched and rallied in over 20 cities around the world as part of Zero Hour, an international movement to combat climate change. The impressive turnout seemed a testament to young people’s hunger for environmental action. Yet already the movement is threatened by a loss of momentum. … Read more
The “school-to-prison pipeline” is defined by the ACLU as the “national trend in which children are funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice system.” Concern for the devastating impacts of this phenomenon has steadily increased over the past couple of decades, as our society reckons with the consequences of an oftentimes dysfunctional, … Read more
On August 7, Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, a Republican, and two-term Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) coasted to easy primary victories in the race for McCaskill’s current Missouri Senate seat. News outlets from the Washington Post to NBC framed the election as a head-to-head race between the candidates, with no predictable outcome. Local news … Read more
When many people hear the words “The American Dream”, the image of “Main Street” comes to mind: Small mom-and-pop shops line a road surrounded by crops and kids chase each other into candy stores. John Norris used to be a boy walking down the equivalent of Main Street in Red Oak, Iowa, a town with … Read more
Prison Reform in the Bayou State In the summer of 2017, Governor John Bel Edwards signed the most comprehensive prison reform package in the Louisiana’s history. At the time that legislation was passed, Louisiana had the highest incarceration rate in the United States—the country with an incarceration rate higher than that of any country in … Read more
A recently filed lawsuit alleges that Harvard University’s affirmative action policy discriminates against Asian-American applicants in college admissions. This lawsuit cites the lower “personal ratings” given to Asian applicants relative to students of other races, as well as Asian applicants’ higher grades, test scores, and extracurricular ratings as proof. However, the arguments put forth by … Read more