Mother Jones
Within 24 hours, two rulings from the nation’s highest court—one striking down the use of race-conscious college admissions, and the second gutting Biden’s student debt cancellation plan—rolled back years of progress towards greater economic justice and educational opportunity for students of color. In these rulings, the Supreme Court has all but ensured the deepening of racial […]
Mother JonesNorth Carolina, once an “abortion destination” for women throughout the South, will prohibit abortion after 12 weeks’ gestation starting July 1. On Thursday, a federal judge allowed most of the law to go into effect as the court considers the measure. The ruling did temporarily block a provision requiring abortion doctors to document the existence […]
Mother JonesPerhaps it was foolish of me to assume that Aaron Rodgers’ keynote talk at last week’s Psychedelic Science 2023 conference in Denver—titled “How Psychedelics Can Unlock Elite Performance”—would touch on any actual neurological mechanisms at play. I had guessed that it might delve into the complex, controversial, but real science of how psychedelics can help […]
Mother JonesThe Supreme Court struck down on Friday the Biden administration’s plan to wipe out more than $400 billion in student loans for about 40 million Americans. The plan, announced last August, would have canceled up to $10,000 in debt for low- and middle-income borrowers, and double that amount for borrowers from the poorest backgrounds. The […]
Mother JonesThe Supreme Court on Friday allowed certain businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ people, creating a large loophole in federal and state civil rights laws that have protected Americans for decades. Justice Neil Gorsuch authored the opinion for the court’s conservative justices, who made up the 6 vote majority. The court’s three Democratic-appointed justices dissented. The […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Small island nations would rather fight than flee, but rising sea levels have prompted apocalyptic legal discussions about whether a state is still a state if its land disappears below the waves. The Pacific Islands Forum, which represents many of […]
Mother JonesAdvice columnist E. Jean Carroll’s yearslong court battle to hold the man who sexually abused her legally accountable has been extraordinary in many ways. First, because that abuser is former President Donald Trump, who used all the power of his office, from the Secret Service to the Department of Justice, in various attempts to shrug off […]
Mother JonesOn Thursday morning, the decades-long conservative crusade to upend affirmative action proved successful. In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled against the use of race-conscious admissions, finding such programs at the University of North Carolina and Harvard University to be in violation of 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. In the majority opinion, Chief Justice Roberts railed […]
Mother JonesThe Supreme Court’s conservative majority banned race-conscious admissions policies at colleges and universities on Thursday, ruling that using race as an admissions factor violates the Constitution’s equal protection clause. The decision invalidates the University of North Carolina and Harvard’s systems for making up their student body, and will, more broadly, make higher education whiter and […]
Mother JonesThe Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the use of race in college admissions at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, dealing a potentially lethal blow to affirmative action programs in colleges throughout the country. The decision, which civil rights groups say effectively bans affirmative action, a policy widely viewed as an “irreplaceable tool” […]
Mother JonesThe Supreme Court ruled today in a 6-3 decision that the use of race in college admissions violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment and thus is unconstitutional, dealing a serious blow to affirmative action measures used by colleges to create diverse student bodies and remedy past discrimination against minorities. “Many universities have […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. When Dulce Ortiz wants to enjoy the beauty of Lake Michigan, walk in a green space, or see and touch the water, she has to leave her neighborhood, even though the second-largest of the Great Lakes is in her backyard. Ortiz lives […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Between 2015 and 2020, Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples, along with small, local communities in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, gained legal recognition to more than 247 million acres of land—an 85 percent increase. That’s according to a new report from Rights […]
Mother JonesOn Tuesday, Breitbart published a long report exposing racist and anti-semitic text messages from Pedro Gonzalez, a somewhat well-known writer who contributes to Newsweek and is an editor at Chronicles magazine—a paleoconservative publication loosely on the New Right. From afar, that might seem odd. Breitbart? Calling someone else (and specifically another figure on the right) racist? The publication […]
Mother JonesA group of American influencers is in hot water for attempting to frame the controversial fast fashion giant Shein, which has been plagued by accusations of using forced labor, as an ethical brand during a recent sponsored trip to the company’s Guangzhou, China factory. “They only invited people with zero critical thinking,” one critic sounded […]
Mother JonesI get the sense that former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, along with other candidates of her ilk, find themselves most relevant when they’re sparking outrage. One of her recent nuggets of outrage-bait? Taking aim at Barack Obama, a president who hasn’t been on a ballot in over a decade. Last week, in an op-ed […]
Mother JonesWhen Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced his bid for the presidency at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel on April 19, 2023, he pledged to a cheering crowd to “end the corrupt merger of state and corporate power that is threatening now to impose a new kind of corporate feudalism in our country; to commoditize our […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by Hakai Magazine and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Around the world, communities are bracing for sea level rise: the Netherlands is stabilizing its dikes, Senegal is relocating neighborhoods, and Indonesia is moving its entire capital city. These projects are hefty, expensive, and slow. But they may need to pick up the […]
Mother JonesIf you’re like me, you associate pork with the deliciousness of bacon. But lurking behind the pleasure lies something much less savory to think about: the risk of another pandemic. That’s because humans and pigs easily swap influenza viruses. Worse still, pigs can also pick up influenza strains that circulate among birds, whose viruses aren’t […]
Mother JonesIn a hugely significant opinion on Tuesday, the Supreme Court rejected the “independent state legislature” theory pushed by Republicans that would have given state legislatures virtually unchecked power to draw new redistricting maps and pass restrictive voting laws with little to no review by state courts or other entities. “The Elections Clause does not vest […]
Mother JonesEditor’s note: This essay is anonymous in order to protect the writer from potential reprisals. Тhe coup that didn’t happen began on Friday night and ended by Saturday night. Various Telegram channels reported 15 Russian servicemen dead; a plane, a few helicopters, and an oil storage facility destroyed, bridges dismantled, roads dug up…and the only […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by Canada’s National Observer and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. One sunny Saturday morning in Newmarket, Ontario, about an hour’s drive north of Toronto, a wok of pork bones and water slowly rises to a boil on the shiny black range of Rebecca Cui’s electric stovetop. When the […]
Mother JonesOn a warm Friday afternoon in February, Bianca Austin waits in her Airbnb in Gulfport, Mississippi, for a new friend to come by. “Hey, girl!” she says, jumping up from her chair as Katrina Mateen walks through the front door in a trenchcoat, her face framed by big sunglasses and a sparkly baseball hat. They […]
Mother JonesLast fall, many union railroad workers in the United States did not have paid sick days. Now, more than sixty percent of them do, Reuters reports. It has been a process of slow, piecemeal wins over many months—and a testament to the continued push of high-profile politicians like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont). Last December, railroad workers […]
Mother JonesAfter signing one of the most draconian anti-immigrant laws in the country last month, 2024 presidential hopeful and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has turned his attention back to the US-Mexico border. Over the weekend, DeSantis joined Fox News’ Bill Melugin for a boat tour and helicopter ride over the Rio Grande in Texas for a […]
Mother JonesThis was a historic week for climate litigation. Tuesday marked the closing arguments in Held v. Montana, a lawsuit brought by sixteen young people arguing that the state’s fossil fuel friendly legislation is at odds with an environmental rights clause in the Montana constitution. It’s only the third climate-related lawsuit to go to trial, and the first lawsuit focusing […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by The Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Amid a dangerous heatwave that has brought blistering temperatures across Texas, the state’s governor signed a law last week eliminating local rules requiring water breaks for workers. The measure, which will take effect later this year, will nullify ordinances enacted […]
Mother JonesAs the international community sorts through the fallout of the short-lived rebellion by Russia’s powerful Wagner Group mercenary force—the most significant challenge to Vladimir Putin’s regime in more than two decades—some are apparently unimpressed by the stunning events. In fact, according to Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo, the White House and the State Department have collaborated in […]
Mother JonesDonald Trump, a twice-impeached (for now!), twice-arrested former president, remains the GOP voters’ top choice to be commander-in-chief. They do not appear bothered by the fact that Trump has been found liable for sexual abuse, nor do they seem to care that he faces 37 federal charges related to his tendency to store classified documents […]
Mother JonesAs my colleague Isabela Dias observed yesterday, Republican presidential hopefuls spent the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade kowtowing to the religious right, attempting to outdo one another with deeply anti-abortion rhetoric. But as the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s keynote speaker, it was Donald Trump who took center stage. The […]