culture

Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart says that former neighborhood-watch captain George Zimmerman lied about the positon of Trayvon Martin’s hands after the scuffle that resulted in teen’s death. Already skeptical of Zimmerman’s claim of getting on top of the teen after shooting him to “push his arms apart,” Capehart explains that that encounter never happened and…

(The Root) — If she who is without sin should cast the first stone, then perhaps she who is with sin should just shut up, taking her rock and heading home before the walls come crumbling down around her. Nowhere does this modern twist on the oft-quoted Bible verse seem more apt than in the…

Derek Thompson, a senior editor at The Atlantic, says that voter-registration data provided by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts supports the argument for striking down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. This morning, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that a crucial part of the Voting Rights Act was unconstitutional. Writing for the…

In a piece at the Huffington Post, George Washington University Law School professor Spencer Overton maps out how Congress can effectively deal with Tuesday’s Supreme Court decision to limit a key provision of the landmark Voting Rights Act. He says the law is salvageable through bipartisan congressional support. Five Supreme Court Justices just rolled back the most…

Nelson Mandela “opened his eyes” and smiled after being told of President Barack Obama’s imminent visit to South Africa, according to NBC News, which cites reports from the ailing former leader’s daughter. The news only adds to speculation that the two men might meet. The 94-year-old remains in a critical condition, South Africa’s government said…

The New York Times is reporting that Bobby “Blue” Bland — the soulful balladeer who gave us hits like “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City” (which Jay-Z sampled on his 2001 album, The Blueprint), “I Pity the Fool” and “That’s the Way Love Is” — has passed away. He was 83. The…

U.S. Attorney Gen. Eric Holder said he was “deeply disappointed” by the Supreme Court’s decision on Tuesday in Shelby County v. Holder that essentially guts the Voting Rights Act, saying that it has the potential to negatively affect millions of Americans across the country. Speaking at a news conference after the decision, he vowed to…

Updated Tuesday, June 25, 12 p.m. EDT: Various civil rights groups and organizations vociferously condemned the Supreme Court’s decision to limit use of a key provision in the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which defended the Voting Rights Act before the Supreme Court, called it “an act…

Thomas Cahill, the author of A Saint on Death Row, denounces capital punishment in a piece at CNN and encourages state governments to address the effects of poverty as a way to reduce crime.  Kimberly McCarthy is a black woman. Black people are disproportionately represented on death row, as are blacks imprisoned throughout this country. Many would…

David Corn, Washington bureau chief of Mother Jones, tackles U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ comments following the court’s ruling in the Abigail Fisher v. University of Texas case, particularly Thomas’ comparisons of the arguments for slavery to those for affirmative action.  In the moments after the decision was released, legal experts disagreed on how much impact it could…