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Florida's Supreme Court struck down much of the state's congressional districting map on July 9, ordering the redrawing of what it termed "constitutionally invalid" districts in 2 of the 27 districts (requiring a change to 8 congressional districts). Each district represents about 710,000 voters, making this one of the most significant court cases ever involving the practice of gerrymandering. In 2010, Florida's voters overwhelmingly approved (62.9%) a constitutional amendment with some of the

Since the movement launched in 2006, National Popular Vote has made significant progress to reform the way Americans elect their president. The group's plan involves a state-by-state approach. States that join the National Popular Voter Interstate Compact (NPVIC) agree that rather than having their electors cast their ballots for president according to whichever candidate won the most votes in their respective states, the electors will instead vote for the candidate who won the most votes natio

It's graduation season and while colleges are advertising pictures of happy graduates in caps and gowns on their websites, there is one distinctive feature about the class of 2015 across the country: they have the most student loan debt in history.The average student who borrowed money for their bachelor's degree has just over $35,000 in debt. What is perhaps most alarming about this number is how much and how quickly this number is rising. Just from 2014, the number rose almost $2,000 and from

Historically, when an election has a wide-open field of candidates, both inside and outside of the two-party system, it's a symptom of America facing a major crossroads. Sometimes it's a party ideological battle, like in our third presidential election of 1796 -- where the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans struggled with the new identity of the nation they helped create. Even more radical, when social change issues stress the election process, strange things start to happen -- like in the

Americans may finally want results more than they want teams. For a country that supposedly celebrates individuality, America has historically been defined by its majority-making super-groups. Partisan politicians and religious sects all jockeying for cultural and structural influence have long been bellwethers for progress, power, and the priorities of the nation. Politics and religion end up looking a lot like team sports: beating the competing team is more important than actual performance

This week we were treated to another oil spill that will cost millions to clean up and endanger many different species of marine wildlife. A pipe that was installed in 1987 burst close to Refugio State Beach in south Santa Barbara, spilling around 100,000 gallons of crude oil into the surrounding waters. California Governor Jerry Brown has since declared a state of emergency in Santa Barbara County and crews have set up blockades that are designed to contain two visible oil slicks. What is inte

According to the Sentencing Project, an estimated 5.85 million American citizens today are denied the right to vote because of state laws that prohibit voting by people with felony convictions. The Maryland Legislature recently voted to join 13 states like Michigan, North Dakota, Ohio, and Utah in restoring voting rights to citizens convicted of a felony upon release from prison. However, these convicts will still be denied suffrage rights while they are incarcerated. Current debate over this

The House of Representatives voted last week to pass H.R. 1735, also known as the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) -- 269 in favor to 161 opposed. The vote came over the concerns of several dozen members of Congress who urged the lower chamber to debate and vote on authorizing the use of military force against ISIS before the vote on the NDAA. In a letter to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and 28 co-signers argued: "We are deeply concerned that eig

Last week, there was considerable partisan fighting in Congress. Driven on by partisan ideologues within its numbers, one party vowed to hold up a key bill until other legislative items were addressed. A senator, who spent months crafting the bipartisan language of this bill, denounced it to the applause of his colleagues. While the party in support of the bill called for their opponents to act in the best interest of the nation, the vote failed on the Senate floor. You would be forgiven for th

On Thursday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Loretta Lynch as the next U.S. attorney general in a 56-43 vote. The confirmation is historic as Lynch will be the first African-American woman to serve as America's chief law enforcement official. The Hill reported Thursday on how the senators voted and possibly why: "Senators voted 56-43 to confirm Lynch, more than 160 days after she was first nominated for the position by President Obama. Ten Republican senators broke ranks and sided with Democrats to