Civil Rights
Series
Overcorrection
Crisis in California Jails
Ignoring Innocence
The Wrongfully Convicted Forced Into Plea Deals
Walking While Black
Pedestrian Enforcement and Racial Profiling
Documenting Hate
Tracking Hate Crimes and Bias Incidents
Dispatches from Freedom Summer
Race Then and Now
Stories
Eugene Clemons May Be Ineligible for the Death Penalty. A Rigid Clinton-Era Law Could Force Him to Be Executed Anyway.
His lawyers presented no defense at trial. Then a clerk’s office misplaced a plea for his civil rights behind a file cabinet. Now, it’s almost impossible for the federal courts to address the problems with his case.
The Trump Administration’s Final Push to Make It Easier for Religious Employers to Discriminate
Last-minute policies on religious freedom clear the way for employers to hire on the basis of faith. Some of the changes won't be easy for Biden to undo.
Pistols, a Hearse and Trucks Playing Chicken: Why Some Voters Felt Harassed and Intimidated at the Polls
Across the country, people complained about threats, aggressive electioneering and racist language both at early voting locations and on Election Day. We’ve corroborated some of those accounts.
Electionland de ProPublica: El estado del Día de las Elecciones de 2020
En una elección histórica marcada por una pandemia, el voto por correo y la desinformación, los funcionarios electorales se esfuerzan por adaptarse. Esto es lo que los reporteros nacionales de ProPublica están viendo en todo el país. El artículo será actualizado a lo largo del día
ProPublica’s Electionland: The State of Election Day 2020
In a historic election shaped by a pandemic, mail-in voting and misinformation, election officials are scrambling to adapt. Here’s what ProPublica’s national reporters are seeing across the country. This post will be updated throughout the day.
Varias celebridades gastaron millones de dólares para que ex convictos de Florida pudieran votar. ¿Marcarán alguna diferencia?
Casi 13,000 ex convictos de Florida ahora podrían calificar para votar, después de un esfuerzo apoyado por Michael Bloomberg para pagar sus multas y honorarios judiciales. Pero muchos aún no saben que ya pueden participar en las elecciones legalmente.
Celebrities Spent Millions So Florida Felons Could Vote. Will It Make a Difference?
Nearly 13,000 Florida felons could now be eligible to vote after a Michael Bloomberg-backed push to pay their court fines and fees. But many still don’t know they can legally cast a ballot.
Avísanos si tienes problemas con la votación este año
¿Eres votante? ¿Trabajador electoral? ¿Un administrador de elecciones? Queremos que nos informes sobre cualquier problema que estés experimentando o presenciando en el proceso de votación.
La nueva ley de votación por correo de Pennsylvania amplía el acceso para todos...menos para los pobres
En la ciudad más pobre de Estados Unidos, las barreras del idioma, la inestabilidad de las viviendas y la falta de acceso a internet dificultan la votación por correo. Por eso los residentes de bajos ingresos de Filadelfia votarán en persona, si es que votan.
Pennsylvania’s New Vote-by-Mail Law Expands Access for Everyone Except the Poor
In America’s poorest big city, language barriers, unstable housing and lack of internet access make voting by mail difficult. So low-income Philadelphia residents will be voting in person, if at all.
¿Por qué los votantes no blancos de Georgia tienen que hacer filas durante horas? Hay muchos más ahora, pero tienen menos lugares de votación.
El padrón electoral de Georgia ha aumentado en casi dos millones desde que el Tribunal Supremo de los EE. UU. invalidó la Ley de Derechos de Votación en 2013, pero los centros de votación se han reducido en casi un 10% y la zona metropolitana de Atlanta se ha visto particularmente afectada.
Why Do Nonwhite Georgia Voters Have to Wait in Line for Hours? Their Numbers Have Soared, and Their Polling Places Have Dwindled.
The state’s voter rolls have grown by nearly 2 million since the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013, but polling locations have been cut by almost 10%, with Metro Atlanta hit particularly hard.
Millions of Mail-In Votes Have Already Been Cast in Battleground States. Track Their Progress Here.
ProPublica and The Guardian are tracking mail-in votes in battleground states — how many have been requested, how many have been returned and how many have been rejected.
Your Guide to Voting in Illinois
Everything you need to know about local election deadlines, what the pandemic has changed and casting your ballot so it counts.
In Florida, the Gutting of a Landmark Law Leaves Few Felons Likely to Vote
State officials don’t know how many felons are registered or eligible to vote. So we did our own analysis and found only a very small percentage of them will be able to cast ballots this election. Some could face prosecution if they do.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Confirms a Pattern of Age Discrimination at IBM
A sweeping decision by the EEOC could cost the tech giant millions in settlements or make it the target of a federal age-discrimination lawsuit. Its findings echo those of a ProPublica investigation.
What the Post Office Needs to Survive a Pandemic Election
Fueled by the president’s unfounded claims about rampant voter fraud, and reports of equipment being removed, the plight of the United States Postal Service has captured America’s attention. Will it collapse? Here’s what you need to know.
Grace, Black Teen Jailed for Not Doing Her Online Coursework, Is Released
Grace’s story, first published by ProPublica Illinois, prompted outrage and debate across the country. Though a judge refused to set the girl free, the Michigan Court of Appeals ordered her immediate release from a juvenile detention facility in Detroit.
Portland Protesters No Longer Being Banned From Attending Protests to Win Release From Jail
After a ProPublica report, federal prosecutors and defenders made a joint request to the court that the practice be stopped.
What Has Happened to Police Filmed Hurting Protesters? So Far, Very Little.
We asked police departments about viral videos showing cops escalating violence against protesters. Most refused to name the officers or provide updates on their investigations.
We Tracked What Happens to Police After They Use Force on Protesters
These 68 videos show clear apparent instances of police officers escalating violence during protests. Here’s what we learned about each case.
We Reviewed Police Tactics Seen in Nearly 400 Protest Videos. Here’s What We Found.
We asked experts to watch videos showing officers using tear gas, pepper balls and explosives on protesters. Police actions often escalated confrontations.
Slavery Existed in Illinois, but Schools Don’t Always Teach That History
Schools often teach the Civil War in terms of “free states” and “slave states.” Illinois complicates those definitions. We spoke with a historian and high school teacher about slavery’s legacy in Illinois.
On the Minds of Black Lives Matter Protesters: A Racist Health System
Black lives are being lost to COVID-19 at twice the rate of others. For protesters we talked to, that’s one more reason to be on the street. “If it’s not police beating us up, it’s us dying in a hospital from the pandemic,” one said.
The Black American Amputation Epidemic
Black patients were losing limbs at triple the rate of others. The doctor put up billboards in the Mississippi Delta. Amputation Prevention Institute, they read. He could save their limbs, if it wasn’t too late.
Ignoring Trump and Right-Wing Think Tanks, Red States Expand Vote by Mail
The Heritage Foundation and other conservative groups warn, with little evidence, that voting by mail fosters fraud. But some Republican secretaries of state reject those concerns and see no alternative to absentee voting if the pandemic persists.
It’s Time for Sundown Towns to Become a More Visible Part of Illinois History. But How?
If you are discussing your community’s history of racial exclusion, or if you would like to start, let us know.
The Legend of A-N-N-A: Revisiting an American Town Where Black People Weren’t Welcome After Dark
Most people I met in Anna, Illinois, wish the racist lore behind the city’s name would go away. So, why hasn’t it?
U.S. Senate Greenlights Funding to Help Prevent Families From Losing Their Land
A ProPublica-New Yorker story about black land loss was cited by the legislation’s sponsor before the near-unanimous vote.
Building a Database From Scratch: Behind the Scenes With Documenting Hate Partners
News12, The Baltimore Sun, Reveal and HuffPost explained how they built hate incident databases in conjunction with the Documenting Hate project.
When Transgender Travelers Walk Into Scanners, Invasive Searches Sometimes Wait on the Other Side
Transgender and gender nonconforming people say they have been pressured to expose their genitals during TSA searches at airports. The encounters stem from shortcomings in the agency’s technology and insufficient training of its staff.
Trump Called Baltimore “Vermin Infested” While the Federal Government Fails to Clean Up Rodents in Subsidized Housing
Baltimore’s public housing is among the most dilapidated and dangerous in the country — nearly half of complexes failed inspection — and Trump just spent a week attacking the city on Twitter.
Here’s Proof Ole Miss Knew Identities of Two Students Who Posed in Front of Shot-Up Emmett Till Sign, but Did Little
After we started asking questions, the University of Mississippi interim chancellor acknowledged that a communications “breakdown” stalled a full inquiry into the incident.
We Found Photos of Ole Miss Students Posing With Guns in Front of a Shot-Up Emmett Till Memorial. Now They Face a Possible Civil Rights Investigation.
Three students were suspended from their fraternity house, Kappa Alpha, after we shared an Instagram photo one of the men posted that was taken in front of a sign commemorating the murder of the 14-year-old black youth in 1955.
“I Now Have the Perspective of Both Sides”: 18 Voting Officials Take Civil Rights Tour
A trip that included a walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, drew a number of officials from states with controversial voting requirements.
California Tried to Fix Its Prisons. Now County Jails Are More Deadly.
In a 48-hour stretch during January 2018, three men were booked into the Fresno County Jail. One was beaten into a coma. Two died soon afterward. Their cases kicked off a nightmarish year in a local jail where problems trace back to California’s sweeping 2011 prison downsizing and criminal justice reforms.
TSA Agents Say They’re Not Discriminating Against Black Women, But Their Body Scanners Might Be
The full-body scanners at airports across the country frequently give false alarms for Afros, braids, twists and other hairstyles popular among black women.
IBM Accused of Violating Federal Anti-Age Discrimination Law
A group of ex-employees filed a lawsuit that accuses the tech giant of failing to comply with a law requiring companies to disclose the ages of people over 40 who have been laid off. The suit also alleges that the company has improperly prevented workers from combining to challenge their ousters.
5 Things You Need to Know About Hate Crimes in America
We answer questions about hate crimes and give you a kind of primer to our Documenting Hate project, now in its third year.
Appeals Court Rules Key Anti-Age Discrimination Protections Don’t Apply to Job Seekers, Only Employees
A federal appeals court in Chicago, mirroring a decision in Atlanta, decided that job applicants are entitled to less protection under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
U.S. to Investigate Discrimination Against Native American Students on Montana Reservation
The Education Department said it will look into a long-standing complaint of racial inequities in Wolf Point schools after The New York Times and ProPublica wrote a story about the issue.
“Documenting Hate: New American Nazis,” Coming Soon From ProPublica and Frontline
We investigate a neo-Nazi group that has actively recruited inside the U.S. military. Sign up for our newsletter and we’ll send it to you when it’s live.
Miseducation
Is there racial inequality at your school? Look up more than 96,000 individual public and charter schools and 17,000 school districts to see how they compare.
Charlottesville’s Other Jim Crow Legacy: Separate and Unequal Education
The Virginia city has one of the widest achievement gaps in the U.S., and a ProPublica/New York Times analysis shows that white students there are about four times as likely as black students to be considered gifted.
What’s Your Experience With the Americans With Disabilities Act? We Want to Know.
We want to know how the law affects you, whether you’re a person with a disability, caretaker, business owner, architect or contractor.
In New York, Intolerance Has Become Routine
A Human Rights Commission report says almost 40 percent of Muslim, Jewish and Sikh residents of the city surveyed had experienced some kind of harassment.
How the Fight Against Affirmative Action at Harvard Could Threaten Rich Whites
If preferences for black and Hispanic applicants are abolished, expect a backlash against admissions boosts for children of alumni and donors.
Para una niña de seis años atrapada en el laberinto de inmigración, un número de teléfono memorizado se convierte en su salvavidas
Mientras el gobierno federal intenta reunir a las familias de migrantes, los niños tendrán la dura tarea de ayudar a identificar y ubicar a sus padres. La niña de seis años a quien se escuchaba en una grabación la semana pasada como pedía llamar a su tía tiene una ventaja.
Video: Separada de su madre en la frontera, una niña de seis años tiene que buscar su propio camino
Una mujer salvadoreña se convierte en la cuerda salvavidas de su familia cuando su hermana fue llevada a un centro de detención en Texas y su sobrina a un albergue en Arizona.
How Voting Laws Have Changed Since 2016
See the new legislation and legal cases in your state that have the potential to change how you vote this November.
DeVos Has Scuttled More Than 1,200 Civil Rights Probes Inherited From Obama
Our data analysis shows that the Trump administration is less likely than its predecessor to find wrongdoing by school districts on issues ranging from racial and sexual harassment to meeting educational needs of disabled students.
Has Your School Been Investigated for Civil Rights Violations?
For the first time ever, ProPublica is making available the status of all of the civil rights cases that have been resolved during the past three years, as well as pending investigations. See if your school district or college is being investigated for civil rights violations and why.
Have You Experienced or Witnessed Civil Rights Violations at a School? Share Your Story.
Do you know something about a civil rights investigation at a school? Have you experienced or witnessed civil rights violations? We want to hear from you.
The Administration of Mayor Rahm Emanuel Keeps Monitoring Protesters
Chicago police and City Hall tracked anti-Trump demonstrators — and now state legislators want to let them use drones.
New Allegations Added to Lawsuit on How Facebook’s Targeting Tools Helped Advertisers Exclude Older Workers
A federal suit filed in December claimed older workers missed out on job opportunities because ads on Facebook targeted younger users. Now plaintiffs say Facebook’s tools and algorithm gave employers ways to intensify the effects of such targeting.
Federal Watchdog Launches Investigation of Age Bias at IBM
After a ProPublica story spotlighting IBM’s practices in shedding older workers, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission consolidated age discrimination complaints against the company from around the country.
Police Are Mislabeling Anti-LGBTQ and Other Crimes as Anti-Heterosexual
ProPublica sent public-records requests to more than 50 police departments that reported anti-heterosexual hate crimes to the FBI. None of the reports we could track down actually included evidence of hate crimes against straight people.
At a Killer’s Sentencing, Native Americans Talk of Both Healing and Enduring Suspicions
A white man in Washington state got 7 1/2 years for a killing some said was fueled by hate.
Were Henry’s Civil Rights Violated?
A Department of Homeland Security watchdog is looking into the case of a Long Island high school student who informed on the gang MS-13 and was marked for deportation.
A Killing at Donkey Creek
Jimmy Smith-Kramer, a basketball legend on the Quinault Nation reservation, was 20 when he was mowed down by a white man in a pickup truck. The decision not to charge a hate crime, and recent talk of a plea deal, has re-opened ancient wounds.
Shutdown of Texas Schools Probe Shows Trump Administration Pullback on Civil Rights
The U.S. Department of Education was investigating why black students in Bryan, Texas, are almost four times as likely as white students to be suspended. Then Betsy DeVos took over.
Jacksonville Sheriff Uses Misleading Data to Defend Pedestrian Ticketing
Sheriff Mike Williams has sought to counter the findings of racial disparities in pedestrian ticketing with his own set of numbers. They don’t add up.
NAACP Legal Defense Fund in Jacksonville Over Pedestrian Ticket Enforcement
Reporting by The Florida Times-Union and ProPublica prompts the Legal Defense Fund to start on-the-ground interviews.
Jacksonville Sheriff Admits Race May Have Played a Role in Ticket Writing
The sheriff says blacks were not targeted for pedestrian tickets but “implicit bias” might have factored into enforcement by officers.
Congressman’s Bill Would Force Trump Administration to Fulfill Pledge to Study Racial Disparities in Auto Insurance Pricing
Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., cited our report that minority neighborhoods pay higher car insurance premiums than white areas with the same risk.
Jacksonville City Council President and Local Public Defender Call for Suspension of Pedestrian Ticket Writing
A legal bulletin by the Jacksonville state attorney supports the finding that sheriff’s officers have been issuing hundreds of tickets in error, a disproportionate number of them to blacks.
Trump Justice Department Pushes for Citizenship Question on Census, Alarming Experts
“This is a recipe for sabotaging the census,” said one. The administration’s stated reason for the controversial move: protecting civil rights.
Reporting Recipe: Investigating Your Police Department’s Handling of Hate Crime Reports
We found inconsistencies in how local law enforcement agencies across the country report hate crimes to the federal government. Here’s how you can use the data to report local stories.
What We Discovered During a Year of Documenting Hate
Hate crimes often fall through the cracks in our justice system, and we've only just scratched the surface of understanding why.
Florida Police Issue Hundreds of Bad Pedestrian Tickets Every Year Because They Don’t Seem to Know the Law
The tickets for failing to cross in a crosswalk don’t just carry fines; they can damage credit rating and lead to the suspensions of driver’s licenses. A Florida Times-Union/ProPublica examination shows lots of them never should have been issued.
Pedestrian Tickets Lead to Hundreds of Suspended Driver’s Licenses
In Jacksonville, not paying your jaywalking ticket can cost you the ability to get to school or work. Again, blacks bear a disproportionate impact.
Local Lawmakers and Civil Rights Groups Call for Suspending Pedestrian Tickets in Jacksonville
Concerns about targeted enforcement against African Americans come after a Florida Times-Union/ProPublica investigation.
Why America Fails at Gathering Hate Crime Statistics
The FBI relies on local law enforcement agencies to identify and report crimes motivated by bias, but many agencies fumble this task.
A Dubious Arrest, a Compromised Prosecutor, a Tainted Plea: How One Murder Case Exposes a Broken System
One innocent man’s odyssey through the justice system shows the cascading, and enduring, effects of a bad conviction.
Facebook to Temporarily Block Advertisers From Excluding Audiences by Race
The social network’s actions come after a ProPublica investigation revealed that Facebook failed to keep its promise to reject discriminatory housing ads.
Facebook (Still) Letting Housing Advertisers Exclude Users by Race
After ProPublica revealed last year that Facebook advertisers could target housing ads to whites only, the company announced it had built a system to spot and reject discriminatory ads. We retested and found major omissions.
This Is Where Hate Crimes Don’t Get Reported
FBI statistics on hate crimes remain frustratingly inadequate. Here are some of the jurisdictions where low or nonexistent reporting leave us with known unknowns.
One Officer, Scores of Tickets and a Familiar Racial Disparity
C.J. Brown wrote four times as many pedestrian tickets as any other officer in Jacksonville over the last five years. Most of them went to blacks. His boss says he’s just “good at his job.”
Walking While Black
Jacksonville’s enforcement of pedestrian violations raises concerns that it’s another example of racial profiling.
The Ticketed Feel Targeted
A truck driver, a mother, a lawyer and a number of young men offer their accounts of walking while black.
Walking While Black
After watching a viral video of a Jacksonville cop stopping a young black man for jaywalking, reporters Ben Conarck and Topher Sanders examine how “walking while black” can come at a high price.
Here Are the Hate Incidents Against Mosques and Islamic Centers Since 2013
Data from a civil rights group shows that reports of hate incidents involving American mosques jumped sharply in 2015 and has remained at the same rate since — about once every three days.
A Stealth History Lesson in Baltimore
The city’s removal of Confederate statues in the dead of night was Baltimore’s latest attempt to make peace with the ghosts of the Civil War.
‘The 100th Nail in the Coffin’ for Integration in Westchester County
The Trump administration ended a yearslong battle over fair housing, but the promise to end segregation was broken long before that.
Has the Moment for Environmental Justice Been Lost?
Facing Trump’s proposals for cutting programs that help minorities and the poor, Democrats scramble to make up for missed opportunities to protect them.
A Wisconsin Republican Looks Back With Regret at Voter ID and Redistricting Fights
Republican efforts to impose voter ID laws and redraw election districts both wound up in federal court. Dale Schultz ended 30 years in state politics lamenting the recent displays of partisanship.
Victims in Thousands of Potential Hate Crimes Never Notify Police
A new federal survey on hate crimes offers cause for both alarm and confusion.
Facebook’s Secret Censorship Rules Protect White Men From Hate Speech But Not Black Children
A trove of internal documents sheds light on the algorithms that Facebook’s censors use to differentiate between hate speech and legitimate political expression.
Supreme Court Won’t Take Up R.J. Reynolds Age Discrimination Case
The decision in a case involving the nation’s second-largest tobacco company gives employers new ways to shield themselves from charges of bias against older applicants.
Trump Administration Quietly Rolls Back Civil Rights Efforts Across Federal Government
Previously unannounced directives will limit the Department of Justice’s use of a storied civil rights enforcement tool, and loosen the Department of Education’s requirements on investigations.
The Trump Administration Lost Again in Court, This Time on Voter ID
A federal judge ruled that Texas’ voter ID was intended to discriminate against blacks and Latinos. The Department of Justice tried to argue otherwise.
Photos: Baltimore in the Wake of Freddie Gray
In the tumult following Freddie Gray’s death, a young photographer documented life in a city under siege.
Yes, Black America Fears the Police. Here’s Why.
Shots were fired in Long Island, but there was no rush to call 911. It made perfect sense to ProPublica’s Nikole Hannah-Jones.
School Segregation, the Continuing Tragedy of Ferguson
Michael Brown beat the odds by graduating from high school before his death — odds that remain stacked against black students in St. Louis and the rest of the country.
Keep on Pushing
Fifty years after Freedom Summer, two Mississippi sisters press the fight for voting rights.
Interview With Civil Rights Legend John Lewis: Audio
Listen to Nikole Hannah-Jones interview barrier-breaking Freedom Rider and longtime congressman John Lewis.
Long a Force for Progress, a Freedom Summer Legend Looks Back
Georgia Congressman John Lewis talks about what changed — and didn’t — because of the movement he helped to lead 50 years ago.
When Freedom Summer Landed in White America’s Living Rooms
An iconic civil rights print hung in one rural Maine home and helped shape a family’s commitment to justice.
A Brutal Loss, but an Enduring Conviction
Rita Bender, 22 when her husband Michael Schwerner was killed by the Klan in Mississippi in 1964, says challenges remain in the fight for racial justice.
Ghosts of Greenwood
A reporter goes to Mississippi and encounters the echoes of family and the struggle for civil rights.
Dispatches From Freedom Summer
A variety of voices revisit the events and lessons of Mississippi’s long hot summer of 1964.
Segregation Now: The Resegregation of America’s Schools
Sixty years after the Supreme Court declared an end to “separate but equal” education, many Southern school districts have moved back in time, isolating poor black and Latino students in segregated schools. ProPublica investigates Tuscaloosa’s city schools, which are among the most rapidly resegregating in the country.
Share Your Six Words on Race and Education in America
Sixty years after the Supreme Court declared an end to “separate but equal” education, many Southern school districts have moved back in time, isolating poor black and Latino students in segregated schools. ProPublica investigates Tuscaloosa’s city schools, which are among the most rapidly resegregating in the country.
