In the News
Forget, for a moment, the environmental implications that come with undercutting an unprecedented climate commitment by the international community, such as beach erosion, the loss of coastal cities, famine-causing droughts, and more severe storms. Forget the diplomatic consequences that come with not joining this historic deal-making and unparalleled consensus.
Last year, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump condescendingly said to African-Americans, "You live in your poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs ... What the hell do you have to lose?"
We now know the answer: A lot.
Changes at the Department of Justice (DOJ), alone, are alarming. Instead of serving its traditional role as guardian of civil rights, DOJ is in full retreat. It has reversed course on voting rights, abandoning opposition to a Texas voter-ID law in which a federal court found 600,000 registered voters did not have IDs necessary to vote.
Ryan Poe , poe@commercialappeal.com Published 10:39 a.m. CT Jan. 16, 2017 |
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen announced Monday in Memphis he will boycott President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration in solidarity with civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis.
As a nearly ten-year veteran of the House Judiciary Committee – the committee responsible for oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Justice – and Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, earlier this week I called on FBI Director James Comey to resign his position after his recent communication with members of Congress regarding the bureau's review of emails potentially related to Hillary Clinton's personal email serv
MTSU student Emily Webb cobbled together enough money to pay for her first year and a half of expenses.
But in the last year she had to borrow $5,000 to keep alive her dream of earning a degree from Middle Tennessee State University as tuition and living costs have increased each year.
As a first-generation college student, the McGavock High School graduate from Nashville found it challenging enough to apply for scholarships through the FAFSA process required to apply for Tennessee’s Hope Scholarship and any other available financial aid.
The giant locomotive whistles, the inspiring speeches, the dazzling display of rainbow lighting on the Harahan Bridge at night, and the first treks across the bridge by foot and by bike are all embedded in Memphis history now, after a weekend that won’t be forgotten by those who were there.
The recent resignation of U.S. Department of Justice Pardon Attorney Deborah Leff, just over a year after she was appointed, is alarming.
President Obama's appointment of Leff was a wise move that underscored his commitment to just and careful consideration of the thousands of petitions for clemency still pending.
Her departure, however, is an ominous sign that the office, with a staff of only 10 attorneys and nearly 10,000 petitions still awaiting review, will need significantly more resources to complete its work.
As anyone who has flown recently can tell you, airplane seats are getting smaller. In some cases, they are getting a lot smaller.
In his 2016 State of the State address, Governor Haslam bragged that “Tennessee is the first state in the nation to offer high school graduates two years of community or technical college free of tuition and fees. And we’re doing that without raising any taxes.” Free community college without increased taxes may sound great but Tennessee Promise is not free. It comes at the expense of students who have achieved academic success to attain the Tennessee HOPE Scholarship.
As the Mississippi waters crest and fall, there are certain images that you can’t forget. The mud-soaked kitchen floors, the submerged cars, neighbors wading or even boating from house to house--these pictures of our communities seem both heartbreakingly extraordinary and sadly familiar.