- Social:
New York University
President of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law; author of The Second Amendment: A Biography and The Fight to Vote
PROFILE
Michael Waldman
Guest
FROM Michael Waldman
To the Point
Chaos and Disenfranchisement at the Polls In yesterday's primaries, party frontrunners won. Many voters lost. A record number of New Yorkers complained about delays and glitches, not to mention anger at closed primary rules. Four times as many calls about voting problems poured into the national voter hotline than did in 2012. Frustration is building from Arizona to Wisconsin, over long lines, budget cuts, incompetence and restrictions. Thirty-three states have strict new voter ID laws after a 2013 Supreme Court ruling that struck down key parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Are voters already feeling the loss of the full protection of that landmark law of the civil rights movement?
To the Point
The Tragic Mathematics of Gun Violence Another lone gunman grabbed headlines last week in California, but so-called mass shootings rarely kill more than a dozen people. That's all too many, but it's a fraction of the 20 to 30 deaths every day from firearms -- 32,000 every year: the daily gun violence that does not receive saturation news coverage. Each rampage focuses attention on killers with mental illness. But most of the mentally ill are not violent, and most violent people are not mentally ill. Is there some way to reduce the carnage without violating the gun rights now recognized by the US Supreme Court?
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To the Point
What is Trump's plan for Middle East peace? On his first foreign tour, President Trump has promised "peace" between Israel and the Palestinians. Are there any details for re-starting talks that have been stalled for the past three years?
To the Point
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.
To the Point
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?