This story was originally published in Associated Press.

The review conducted by the League of Women Voters of Kentucky found that lawmakers increasingly have relied on fast-track maneuvers to pass bills, which it says can give Kentuckians little or no time to offer input. The group urged lawmakers to slow down and give constituents more time to weigh in on legislation.

JACKSON, Miss. — The League of Women Voters of the US, the League of Women Voters of Mississippi, the Mississippi Center for Justice, One Voice, Mississippi Votes, Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP, Black Voters Matter, Mississippi Poor People’s Campaign, Reaching and Educating for Community Hope (RECH) Foundation, Strong Arms of Mississippi, Mississippi Prison Reform Coalition, People’s Advocacy Institute, and the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, filed an amicus brief late Wednesday in Hopkins v. Watkins, urging the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to declare Mississippi’s lifetime felony disenfranchisement law — Section 241 — cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution. The groups are represented by pro bono attorneys Matthew Sloan, Lauren Aguiar, Shaud Tavakoli, Daniel Bleiberg, Andrew Karp, and Kathleen Shelton. 

WASHINGTON — The League of Women Voters of the United States issued the following statement on the passing of first female US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor: 

On the final day of Pride month, June 30, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled in favor of a business owner seeking to discriminate against LGBTQIA+ persons, striking a blow against Americans’ right to live free from discrimination. The ones who should have upheld principles of equality and fairness — our nation’s highest Court — failed.