USSC will hear two BIG voting rights cases today that an change EVERYTHING!! http://ow.ly/VChZZ

After months of unrest, student protests, and a presidential resignation, The University of Missouri has appointed Michael Middleton as the interim president of the university. Middleton is no stranger to the university or the fight for Civil Rights. In 1968, Middleton became the third black student to graduate from the University’s law school. Shortly after graduation. Middleton started his legal career in the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department. His professional and personal experiences may be just what the University needs.

House Democrats are campaigning for changes to the Voting Rights Act to ensure that every eligible American has access to a ballot. These changes would re-implement a “pre-clearance” protocol for elections in states that have over 15 voting rights violations. To date, no Republicans have signed on to the bill but House Democrats are campaigning for Republicans to hold a hearing or vote on the bill. Without these changes or others like it, many Americans could be shutout from the ballot.

A HUD audit revealed that roughly 297 families are living in HUD housing but making more than the federal income limits. Congressman David Jolly threatened to cut $104 million from HUD’s budget if the agency did not fix the “problem.”

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division will look into an incident between a white male resource officer and black female student that occurred in a South Carolina high school. The video shows the resource officer dragging the student across the classroom, after the student refused to leave the classroom.

On October 10, 2015, thousands upon thousands of people gathered in the nation’s capital to continue the movement for justice for all. Hear from three people who participated in the first Million Man March as they comment on the significance of the movement in their lives.

Supreme Court term has important civil rights issues, including affirmative action and voting rights. http://ow.ly/SUIGC

Alabama announces the closure of 31 DMV offices, making it harder to comply with strict voter id laws. #needSection5 #RestoretheVRA http://ow.ly/SUH1P

50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act!!! TX case proves that there is still work to do! http://ow.ly/QA65v

With SCOTUS’ recent rulings, many are wondering what the hollowed Voting Rights Act could mean for the 2016 elections. Journalist Ari Berhman shares his thoughts here. 

Take an in-depth look at the history of Voting Rights in America.

Civil rights groups and people across the nation suspect foul player after a young woman dies in police custody. Several petitions are circulating to have the Texas State Troopers release the full video of the arrest. Read more about it here. See edited footage from the trooper’s dashcam here.

Standardized testing in schools has been a longstanding and much debated practice in education. Some argue that standardized testing is a way to bring attention to the achievement gap in schools and consequently bring about solutions. Others argue that standardized testing causes school systems to “teach the test,” which results in a decreased focus on the arts and creative thinking in schools. Read more about it here, and tell us what you think.

Days after South Carolina confronted its past and lowered the Confederate battle flag, North Carolina will grapple with its present-day rules that determine access to the voting booth.

A federal trial opening in Winston-Salem on Monday is meant to determine whether recent, sweeping changes in the state’s election laws discriminate against black voters. These changes were adopted by the Republican-dominated state legislature in 2013, immediately after the United States Supreme Court struck down the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 when it ended a requirement that nine states with histories of discrimination, including North Carolina, get federal approval before altering their election laws.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/12/us/a-voting-rights-legacy-of-the-1960s-heads-to-court-in-north-carolina.html?_r=0

Participants in the Martin Luther King Jr. Association’s Civil Rights Academy hope the event will give young people a newfound appreciation of the struggle of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and ’60s.

Read more here: http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/local-news/civil-rights_participant_03681841