His tenure has included multiple ethics scandals, as well as votes that helped roll back voting rights and ushered in ...

The Supreme Court’s decision to destroy what remained of the Voting Rights Act in Louisiana v. Callais will take every ...

Three federal courts have ruled this year that the Department of Justice has no right to obtain states’ complete voter registration lists, which contain confidential personal information such as ...

This article first appeared in Just Security. In the 1970s, congressional investigators revealed that the FBI, NSA, and CIA had spent decades illegally surveilling and harassing the civil rights and ...

You’re reading The Briefing, Michael Waldman’s weekly newsletter. Click here to receive it in your inbox. The late 19th century was a dismal time in American politics. Corruption ran rampant. Congress ...

During the 2021 redistricting cycle, self-interested politicians continuously gerrymandered voting districts despite attempts by the Ohio Supreme Court to help implement fair maps. The current ...

With its latest gerrymandering decision, the Court is creating a political system primed for distortion and deeper division. You’re read­ing The Brief­ing, Michael Wald­­­­­man’s weekly ...

Ten years ago, the Supreme Court eviscerated a central component of the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder. That decision removed the requirement for jurisdictions with histories of racial ...

Restoring key privacy protections will benefit both national security and civil liberties. Six weeks after the attacks of 9/11, Congress passed the USA Patriot Act. The 131-page law was enacted ...

What is the Federal Prison Oversight Act? Signed into law in 2024, the Federal Prison Oversight Act was designed to bring more transparency and accountability to the U.S. prison system, which is the ...

Police quotas don’t make communities safer — they prevent officers from focusing on larger public safety issues. As some local police leadership says, “get your numbers up,” and you’ll be rewarded ...

The Brennan Center’s 2026 survey of local election officials finds ongoing concerns about government support, personal safety, and political interference. Federal cuts to election security support, ...