Dr. Neal Turpin is a City Planner, and also part-time faculty in U of L's Department of Political Science. He lives in Louisville with his wife and children. (Read the rest on the Contributors page.)
By now most of us are aware of the horrible terrorist attack in Charlottesville, Virginia over last weekend. Nazis descended on the town, Tiki torches in hand, to protest the long-overdue removal of a statue of the racist [https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/06/the-myth-of-the-kindly-general-lee/529038/] traitor [https:
Much has been made recently about “ban the box [http://www.nelp.org/publication/ban-the-box-fair-chance-hiring-state-and-local-guide/] ” legislation, which prohibits potential employers from asking about a person’s criminal history on job applications. Employers can still make an inquiry, but only in later stages of the job application process when a person
In the United States, there are around 6.1 million people [http://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/6-Million-Lost-Voters.pdf] who are disenfranchised due to a felony conviction, including 3.1 million who have completed their sentences. This represents about 2.5% of the total voting age population. While
In 2013, our state got out of the private prison business. On economic grounds, on effectiveness grounds, and especially on moral grounds, it was the right decision. Today, that decision is being challenged, both by lobbyists looking to expand back into Kentucky, and by government officials forgetting the lessons of
Are you sick of Big Money in politics? Are you tired of good candidates without money being tsunamied by bad candidates with millions? There is a way to change this, and it is something we can do right here in Kentucky: publicly funded elections. It is becoming increasingly common around
I recently discussed the need for paid family leave, its benefits for children and parents, and the overall popularity of the policy. I also argued that Louisville and Kentucky have an opportunity to be on the front end on the policy debate. Seeing its successful implementation in other areas, there
In 1993, Bill Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act [http://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/] (FMLA) into law. At the time, the bill was a positive step forward for workers in the US, giving people the ability to take time off of work for the birth of a
Payday loan businesses have been around for years. Even so, many Americans have no idea about these establishments. Are they a problem? Do they need fixing? Yes, and yes. Read on and you'll see why.
