Alabama requires a photo ID to vote. This week Alabama decided to announce that it would stop issuing driver’s licenses in certain counties because of budget cuts. Those counties happen to contain the highest percentage of nonwhite voters, an AL.com columnist has pointed out.  According to the report, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency announced (pdf)…

A former Providence, R.I., police officer who was instrumental in the arrest of a car-theft suspect—later sentenced to 20 years in prison—has filed a lawsuit accusing fellow officers and state police of assault and violation of rights after he was beaten and placed under arrest during the same 2012 encounter, the Providence Journal reports.  Christopher…

Rockmart High School in Polk County, Ga., went into a lockdown drill after tensions broke out over a Confederate battle flag on campus, Fox 5 Atlanta reports.  It reportedly began when a 10th-grade boy came to school with the infamous flag decorating his backpack.  “He got dropped off out of his truck and came down…

Families with an incarcerated family member struggle with basic needs such as food and housing, according to a survey by the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Forward Together and other community organizations that work with imprisoned individuals, the New York Times reports.  According to the report, almost two-thirds of such families struggle to meet…

It’s been some 17 months since Gugsa Abraham Dabela was found dead by a Redding, Conn., roadside. By all accounts, just hours before his body was found, Dabela was hanging out with friends, having a good time and handing out business cards for his new law practice. His family has been reeling in the aftermath; questions…

Whether you’re starting a new job or remaining at your old job (but think it’s time for that dollar figure to change), salary negotiation can incite a particular kind of dread that wells up in your stomach and will have you running to call your mom as if you weren’t an adult.  Salary negotiation, however,…

On Wednesday, former tennis superstar James Blake made news when he was tackled by an undercover New York City police officer and taken to the ground, suffering cuts in the incident, which stemmed from mistaken identity in a credit card fraud case. Turns out that the officer, identified as James Frascatore, has been sued four…

The former North Charleston, S.C., police officer who shot and killed Walter Scott in April said that he felt threatened by the 50-year-old father, who was seen in video footage attempting to flee, NBC News reports. “Just that three seconds of the video came out. And everybody thought I was racist, and I just got…

Baltimore’s Board of Estimates has approved the $6.4 million settlement with the family of Freddie Gray, who sustained a fatal injury while in police custody, which sparked outrage across the city, NPR reports. According to the report, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who sits on the board, said that the settlement will help the city “avoid continuing…

The city of Baltimore has agreed to a proposed $6.4 million wrongful death settlement in the case of Freddie Gray, who died in April from an injury sustained while he was in police custody, the Washington Post reports. According to the report, officials could announce the details of the proposed deal as early as Tuesday,…