Archive - South
An Experiment to Fight Pandemic-Era Learning Loss Launches in Richmond
After intense opposition and skepticism, two elementary schools opened 20 days early to help students make up for what they missed during the time of remote learning. The first question: Would kids show up in the middle of summer for extra schooling?
How Tennessee’s Justice System Allows Dangerous People to Keep Guns — With Deadly Outcomes
Michaela Carter was one of at least 75 people killed in domestic violence shootings in Nashville since 2007. Nearly 40% were shot by people who were legally barred from having a gun.
Activists Have Long Called for Charleston to Confront Its Racial History. Tourists Are Now Expecting It.
Surging interest from visitors is contributing to a more honest telling of the city’s role in the American slave trade. But tensions are flaring as South Carolina lawmakers restrict race-based teachings.
Mississippi Remains an Outlier in Jailing People With Serious Mental Illness Without Charges
At least a dozen states have banned the practice of jailing people without charges while they await mental health treatment. But Mississippi routinely keeps people in jail during the civil commitment process.
Their Families Said They Needed Treatment. Mississippi Officials Threw Them in Jail Without Charges.
In Mississippi, serious mental illness or substance abuse can land you in jail, even if you aren’t charged with a crime. The state is a stark outlier in jailing so many people for so long, but many officials say they don’t have another option.
Close to 100,000 Voter Registrations Were Challenged in Georgia — Almost All by Just Six Right-Wing Activists
The recent transformation of the state’s election laws explicitly enabled citizens to file unlimited challenges to other voters’ registrations. Experts warn that election officials’ handling of some of those challenges may clash with federal law.
TitleMax Demands High-Interest Payments From Borrowers in Bankruptcy
In Georgia, borrowers looking to alleviate debt through Chapter 13 bankruptcy can’t escape their high-interest title pawns thanks to a legal loophole that TitleMax helped secure.
How We Measured the Title Lending Industry in Georgia
No statewide agency monitors Georgia’s high-interest title lenders, so we used a variety of data sources to reveal the scope of the industry and its impact on customers who file for bankruptcy.
How Recent State Laws Are Making It Harder to Sue Trucking Companies After Crashes
Texas, Florida, Iowa and other states have passed new laws backed by trucking industry lobbyists that can limit crash victims’ ability to bring lawsuits or cap the compensation plaintiffs can win.
Mississippi Says Poor Defendants Must Always Have a Lawyer. Few Courts Are Ready to Deliver.
A rule requiring poor criminal defendants to have a lawyer throughout the criminal process took effect Saturday. Few courts in the state have plans in place.
Can America’s Students Recover What They Lost During the Pandemic?
Disastrous test scores increasingly show how steep a toll the COVID-19 era exacted on students, particularly minorities. Schools are grappling with how to catch up, and the experience of one city shows how intractable the obstacles are.
How a Grad Student Uncovered the Largest Known Slave Auction in the U.S.
Lauren Davila made a stunning discovery as a graduate student at the College of Charleston: an ad for a slave auction larger than any historian had yet identified. The find yields a new understanding of the enormous harm of such a transaction.
Inside the Preventable Deaths That Happened Within a Prominent Transplant Center
Dr. James Eason, who earned acclaim by operating on Steve Jobs, led the transplant center named in his honor at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis. An internal analysis by Eason’s own team details the preventable deaths under his watch.
West Virginia Governor’s Coal Empire Sued by the Federal Government — Again
The lawsuit, filed by the Justice Department, seeks millions in unpaid environmental fines as Gov. Jim Justice begins his campaign for the U.S. Senate.
Feds Say Jefferson Parish Deputies May Have Violated Law in Death of Autistic Teen
Officers sat on the 16-year-old’s back for nine minutes before he died. They claim they needed to do so because he posed a threat.
ProPublica Partner Sues Mississippi County for Blocking Access to Search Warrants
A joint investigation found that many Mississippi courts thwart public scrutiny of search warrants. Experts say that violates long-standing norms of public access and the state’s public records law.
He Became Convinced the School Board Was Pushing “Transgender Bullshit.” He Ended Up Arrested — and Emboldened.
Eric Jensen, a parent in North Carolina, had grievances to air about library books “trying to convert kids to gay,” and about mask and vaccine mandates. So he joined an activist group and headed to a school board meeting.
Clyburn’s Role in South Carolina Redistricting May Be Examined as Supreme Court Hears Racial Gerrymandering Case
The NAACP successfully challenged the state’s new congressional maps as racially motivated. Republicans argued that they fielded requests from the powerful Black Democrat before redrawing district lines.
The Student Protesters Were Arrested. The Man Who Got Violent in the Parking Lot Wasn’t.
College students arrested. A parking lot altercation. A retired teacher waking up to a broken window. Events at a school district in Conway, Arkansas, illustrate the alarming trend of unrest at school board meetings across the country.
Coverage of Gender-Affirming Care Is an Unequal Patchwork
Lawsuits brought by transgender employees show how state agencies fight against paying for gender-affirming care for some people while others are covered.
