After the insurrection, America’s far-right groups get more extreme

  As the U.S. grapples with domestic extremism in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, warnings about more violence are coming from the FBI Director Chris Wray and others. The Conversation asked Matthew Valasik, a sociologist at Louisiana State University, and Shannon E. Reid, a criminologist at the University of North Carolina – Charlotte, to explain what right-wing extremist groups in the U.S. are doing. The scholars are co-authors of “Alt-Right Gangs: A Hazy Shade of White,” published in September 2020; they track the activities of far-right groups like the Proud Boys.

When Americans recall their roots, they open up to immigration

  Which was the first generation in your family to arrive in America? Do you know why your family came to the United States?

  Members of President Joe Biden’s administration – and key nominees – have answered these questions in their first days in office.

  Upon his nomination as Biden’s secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, a native of Cuba, tweeted: “When I was very young, the United States provided my family and me a place of refuge.”

Can Trump and McConnell get through the 4 steps to seat a Supreme Court justice in just 6 weeks?

  United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Sept. 18, thrusting the acrimonious struggle for control of the Supreme Court into public view.

  President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have already vowed to nominate and confirm a replacement for the 87-year-old justice and women’s rights icon.

  This contradicts the justification the Republican-controlled Senate used when they refused to consider the nomination of Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama’s pick for the Court after the death of Antonin Scalia in February 2016.

Mitch McConnell: A legacy of obstruction

  Tuesday marked 125 days since President Barack Obama nominated D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Merrick Garland, an eminently qualified judge, to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. The Senate’s inaction on the Garland nomination is the longest a Supreme Court nominee has ever waited for a hearing or confirmation. When the Senate, led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), reconvenes in September, the wait for a vote—let alone a hearing—will have grown to 176 days.

  The blame for this unprecedented delay can largely be placed at the feet of Sen. McConnell. Under his leadership, the Senate has refused to do its job of offering advice and consent on the nominee. Moreover, by this and other actions—or more rightly put, inaction—Sen. McConnell has all but sealed his legacy as an obstructionist.

Justice still waits: The nondecisions of an 8-Justice Supreme Court

  Since Justice Antonin Scalia’s death in February 2016, the country has suffered at the hands of an obstructionist Senate that refuses to do its constitutional duty to offer advice and consent on filling the U.S. Supreme Court judicial vacancy. After senators initially threatened obstruction on anyone whom President Barack Obama nominates, the Center for American Progress released an issue brief that estimated that more than 100 million Americans could be affected by the lack of a ninth justice. CAP warned that if the threatened obstruction continues through two Supreme Court terms, it could damage the Court’s ability to rule on key issues.

  But the nation did not have to wait until the 2016 term to see the impact of the Senate’s unprecedented obstruction. The vacancy has already damaged the Court’s status as the final arbiter of critical legal issues and constitutional questions that affect millions of lives.