Jessica Huseman

Department of Justice Quietly Rolling Back Civil Rights Reforms

Previously unannounced directives will limit the Department of Justice’s use of a storied civil rights enforcement tool, and loosen the Department of Education’s requirements on investigations.

Jessica Huseman
By Jessica Huseman
Under Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the DOJ appears to be turning away from the use of consent decrees, a tool traditionally used to enact civil rights reforms across federal agencies.

For decades, the Department of Justice has used court-enforced agreements to protect civil rights, successfully desegregating school systems, reforming police departments, ensuring access for the disabled and defending the religious. Now, under Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the DOJ appears to be turning away from this storied tool, called

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Nation’s Strictest: Texas Voter ID Law Led To Fears And Failures In 2016 Election

Efforts to implement the nation’s strictest voter ID requirements — a solution in search of a problem, according to one critic — foundered amid court defeats, confusion and at least one giant oversight.

Jessica Huseman
By Jessica Huseman

The confusion started in the first hour of the first day of early voting in San Antonio last October. Signs in polling places about the state's controversial voter ID law contained outdated rules. Poll workers gave voters incorrect information. Lines were long 2014 full of people who were full of uncertainty. The presidential election of 2016

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Former Director Of Anti-Immigration Group To Be Named Ombudsman At U.S. Immigration Agency

The ombudsman’s office is supposed to provide assistance to immigrants who run into trouble with the agency, such as immigration applications that take too long to process or applications that may have been improperly rejected.

Marcelo Rochabrun
Jessica Huseman
By Marcelo Rochabrun
And Jessica Huseman
Julie Kirchner, former executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group labelled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

A former director of an anti-immigration group, Julie Kirchner, is expected to be named as ombudsman to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Monday, according to a person with knowledge of the pending appointment. Kirchner was from 2005 to 2015 director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group that has advocated for

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With Trump In Office, Feds May Alter Course In Texas Voter ID Case

DOJ lawyers look to adjourn a hearing next week, and some expect them to wind up abandoning their argument that the Texas voter ID law discriminates against minorities.

Jessica Huseman
By Jessica Huseman
An election official checks a voter's photo identification at an early voting polling site in Austin, Texas. A federal appeals court is set to take a second look at a strict Texas voter ID law that was found to be unconstitutional last year. (AP/Eric Gay)

(ANALYSIS) --- Hours after President Donald Trump was inaugurated, the Department of Justice filed to postpone a hearing on the Texas Voter ID law. The request was granted. The DOJ had previously argued that the law intentionally discriminated against minority voters, but told the court it needed additional time for the new administration to "brief

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Another Unrealistic Trump Policy Proposal: Homeschool Vouchers

Small government champion and GOP nominee Donald Trump has said he plans to spend billions of dollars on so-called school choice programs.

Jessica Huseman
By Jessica Huseman
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Laconia Middle School, Thursday, Sept. 15, 2016, in Laconia, N.H.

GOP nominee Donald Trump has said he plans to spend billions of dollars on so-called school choice programs. The $20 billion in federal funds would be available only to what he says are 11 million children living in poverty who are also "trapped in failing schools." Families will be eligible for vouchers to send their children to charter, magnet or

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