Outside the Beltway

A major voting rights ruling out of North Carolina.

Once something that generally benefited Republicans, social issues are now becoming a wedge issue for Democrats.

The NSA and FBI are doing more spy stuff.

The sad truth is that the bipartisanship that led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 no longer exists today.

A big step forward for the challenge to state-based bans on same-sex marriage.

Once again, conservatives demonstrate how little they understand minority voters.

Justice delayed, but justice nonetheless.

Not surprisingly, Bill Clinton is the most admired recent President according to a new poll, but his predecessor seems to be underrated.

Obsessing over what a politician believed in the past accomplishes nothing.

The people are ready. Is the Supreme Court?

A great American writer has passed away.

Once again, Rand Paul is challenging conservative orthodoxy.

A legal setback for Voter ID laws in Wisconsin.

Continuing the discussion from earlier this week on hate crimes.

The Affirmative Action debate is too divisive and largely misses the point.

The Supreme Court may have just found a way to end the debate over Affirmative Action in education.

Wisconsin recently became the third state to criminalize revenge porn. Why is it still legal in the other 47?

The CEO of Mozilla resigned today amid controversy over his position on same-sex marriage. The triumph of “political correctness,” or just the will of the marketplace?

Calling anyone a front-runner in a race where we’re still two years away from anyone casting votes is silly. Nonetheless, Rand Paul is an interesting guy to watch for those wondering if the GOP has actually changed.

Veteran newsman Garrick Utley has died from prostate cancer at the age of 74.

Ellen Page is gay. So is Michael Sam. Shouldn’t we be aiming for the day when the response to news like this is “So what?”

The Cold War may be over, but the negative opinions in the U.S. regarding Russia and its leadership seem to have continued.

While I concur with the “intent, justice, legality, and morality” of the decision, I nonetheless oppose it.

A victory for same-sex marriage in an unlikely place.

Some on the American right have a very odd view of both Nelson Mandela and the Apartheid regime he fought against.

Politics aside, the challenges to the PPACA’s birth control mandate raise important legal issues.

Conservatives have their own Kennedy myth to compete with the myth of Camelot.

Fifty years after the Stand in the Schoolhouse door, there’s another standoff with recalcitrant states on civil rights.

A Pentagon Equal Opportunity training manual points out the obvious.

Much like the Tea Party, David Frum wants to make the GOP tent smaller.

An historic same-sex marriage ruling out of New Jersey.

The notion that the past has been fully settled is simply incorrect and our debates over symbols illustrate this fact.

And Republicans wonder why they have problems with minority voters.

A case out of New Mexico presents an interesting collision of First Amendment rights and anti-discrimination values.

Reports of the death of the Voting Rights Act have been greatly exaggerated.

A Federal Judge has declared the NYPD’s “stop & frisk” policy to be unconstitutional.

Evidence that George Zimmerman acted out of racial bias is completely lacking, which means the Federal Government should stay out of this case entirely.

The president says we should honor Trayvon Martin by preventing similar tragedies in the future.

George Zimmerman was acquitted on all charges by a Florida jury late Saturday night.

If you’re too sexy for your job in Iowa, your boss may be able to fire you.

The Supreme Court today struck down the most controversial part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.