Civil Rights & Social Justice
The walkout didn't stop the vote, but Black senators would rather withhold their participation instead of engaging in a sham process that does not honor and respect the experiences and history of many within the state.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested Black Americans aren't actually Americans when he said about the voting rights filibuster, "If you look at the statistics, African American voters are voting in just as high a percentage as Americans."
Civil rights leaders expressed disappointment at the U.S. Senate's failure to advance key voting rights legislation and change the filibuster rule, but they were also resolute in their will to keep fighting for equal and fair elections in a crucial election year.
Ex-Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke is set to be released from prison after having served less than half of the 81-month sentence he got three years ago after he was found guilty of murdering Laquan McDonald by shooting the teenager 16 times.
Drew S. Clinton was arrested after a graduation party in western Illinois, during which he was accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl. Adams County Judge Robert Adrian found Clinton guilty of felony sexual assault but reversed the conviction rather than send him to prison.
31st District Judge Alexis G. Krot of Michigan berated 72-year-old Burhan Chowdhury, who suffers from cancer, and said she wanted to jail him because he was too weak to take care of the lawn in front of his home.
New details suggest an off-duty police officer who killed unarmed Black man Jason Walker in in Fayetteville, North Carolina, didn't need to use lethal force - or any force at all - even though his 911 call shows he was determined to use his gun.
Harris' remarks, couched in the civil rights movement's legacy, push back on the idea that people can wait for a better time to pass voting rights legislation.
Biden's challenge Tuesday wasn't just to Senate holdouts, but for those who are waiting for some return to civility that has never existed for Black and other communities of color.
The family of Jason Walker, an unarmed Black man who was shot and killed by off-duty police officer Jeffrey Hash, has retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump following the questionable shooting in Fayetteville, North Carolina.