skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, December 26, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Advocates urge broader clemency despite Biden's death row commutes; Bald eagle officially becomes national bird, a conservation success; Hispanic pastors across TX, U.S. wanted for leadership network; When bycatch is on the menu.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The authors of Project 2025 say they'll carry out a hard-right agenda, voting rights advocates raise alarm over Trump's pick to lead the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, and conservatives aim to cut federal funding for public broadcasting.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

From the unprecedented election season to the latest environmental news, the Yonder Report looks back at stories that topped our weekly 2024 newscasts.

IU Law Prof: SCOTUS Creates Voting Rights 'Ripple Effect'

play audio
Play

Wednesday, June 28, 2023   

District lines for Indiana's nine congressional districts are locked in through 2030, but U.S. Supreme Court decisions spell out to state lawmakers they do not have ultimate control over drawing those lines.

The high court has found what's known as the "independent state legislature" theory will not stand, and attempts to diminish the voices of minority voters will not be tolerated.

Steve Sanders, professor of law at Indiana University, noted while there are no current challenges to Indiana's congressional maps, the high court rejecting redistricting maps in Alabama, Louisiana and North Carolina is a signal to all states the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 remains viable.

"Nothing immediate," Sanders stressed. "It probably, only in the sense that it gives some caution to Indiana -- and every state, when it goes through the every-ten-year process of redrawing its congressional districts -- it has to be sensitive to how it deals with matters of race."

Opponents argued during redistricting, they were careful to avoid splitting counties and cities between multiple districts as much as possible. But it is clear the makeup of Indiana and other states is changing. According to the 2020 Census, fewer Hoosiers identified as white than in 2010. The state's white population fell six points to 75.5%, while Black and Hispanic populations have grown.

Sanders feels many Supreme Court watchers may have been caught off guard with the court's action.

"Pessimists thought that trend would continue with the Alabama decision, and it didn't," Sanders observed. "The Supreme Court underscored and essentially reiterated the importance of some of its key precedents there, and suggested that Alabama had done some bad things."

The North Carolina case was being closely watched for its potential impact on next year's presidential election.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A 2023 report from Michigan Traffic Crash Facts showed 62 snowmobiles were involved in crashes on public roadways, resulting in two fatalities and 41 injuries. (gentho/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Winter conditions across Michigan are fickle and The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is urging everyone to prioritize safety while enjoying t…


Environment

play sound

A diverse group of Southwest Wisconsin farmers are using federally funded conservation programs to help improve their farms' soil health and resilienc…

Social Issues

play sound

Mainers are encouraged to be on the lookout for increasingly sophisticated scams during the holiday season. Fake emails appearing to be from …


According to the March of Dimes, 15.4% of Wyoming women did not have a birthing hospital within 30 minutes of home last year, compared to a U.S. average of 9.7%. (MANUEL/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Evanston Regional Hospital is discontinuing its labor and delivery services next week, citing a "steady decline of demand." It is the fourth Wyoming …

Environment

play sound

By Leilani Marie Labong for FoodPrint.Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service reporting for the FoodPrint-Public News Service …

Education Data reported there are 507,200 student loan borrowers in Connecticut, with an average debt amount of $36,672. (Adobe Stock)

play sound

Connecticut is launching its Student Loan Reimbursement Program Jan. 1. The program was created through legislation passed by the state's General …

Social Issues

play sound

This week, President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 37 people with federal death row convictions to life sentences without parole. Groups …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A new federal rule aims to close a loophole allowing coal companies to walk away from their obligations to pay disability benefits and health insuranc…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021