A national analysis of school suspension data by the UCLA Civil Rights Project found "disturbing disparities'' among racial groups with inconsistencies that vary state-by-state and district-by-district, according to a report released. ... read more »

Excerpt: Democrats turned out in record numbers for Super Tuesday as many are citing their desire to remove President Trump from office as a motivating factor. In the Super Tuesday state of Virginia, primary turnout was the highest ever and surpassed the 2008 primary 12 years ago when former President Barack Obama challenged former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Over 23 percent of registered voters cast ballots on March 3rd. ... read more »

“[We] know that voting is an essential right and that expanding access to ballot is good for our democracy,” said Cheri Bustos, who in her role as DCCC chairwoman, heads what serves as the sole official campaign arm of the Democrats in the House of Representatives. “This legal strategy is only more urgent as Republicans have been emboldened by President Trump’s baseless and disproven claims of voter fraud. We are working to remove barriers to the ballot box and throughout the cycle we are going to keep pushing this work forward. That means devoting serious resources to engaging voters, inspiring them and then making sure they turn out to vote in November.” ... read more »

While Democrats scored some gains, the Mississippi governor's mansion is still in Republican hands. Mississippi has the largest concentration of Black people – 39 percent – of any state, but African Americans remain underrepresented among elected officials in Mississippi. ... read more »

Humphreys County, Tenn., where more than a third of its Black residents live below the poverty line and the median yearly household income is $26,000, somehow is on the IRS’ radar to audit at a higher rate than anywhere else in the nation, according to AOL News.   ... read more »

Early voting in California’s primary will overlap with the traditional early nominating contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. That could force the sprawling field of Democrats to navigate those states as well as California’s notoriously complex landscape, where campaigning is done through paid political ads. ... read more »

Democrats pondering 2020 presidential bids in the aftermath of the midterm elections are pivoting from campaigning for other candidates across the country to refocusing on their own efforts, including moves in early-voting states like South Carolina. ... read more »

Our nation’s racially-discriminatory cash bail system has left hundreds of non-violent misdemeanor suspects to die in jail while awaiting trial, simply because they are poor. A 2015 study identified more than 800 deaths in local jails and lockups; more than 75% of those in local jails have not been convicted, and 70% of those awaiting trial are detained for non-violent offenses.  ... read more »