What We’re Reading: a daily round-up of quick hits, clips, and opinion pieces touching on key issues of democracy, justice, liberty and national security.
The Brennan Center’s Faiza Patel writes for the National Law Journal on where America stands 10 years after 9/11, discussing the fight against torture and the value of universal human rights.
“They’re going to have in mind the interests of those they are most familiar with, including their big donors and former advisers.” Dan Eggen of The Washington Post reports on the supercommittee and the relevance of their connections to lobbyists.
Staff at the New York State Assembly have crunched the data on how the state law ending prison-based gerrymandering will affect population totals for New York’s State Senate districts, and the Times-Union reports the new numbers make a “big line shift likely.”
TPM looks ahead, reporting that “legal battles loom” in the fight over voter ID laws.
“The New York Police Department collected intelligence on more than 250 mosques and Muslim student groups in and around New York, often using undercover officers and informants to canvass the Islamic population of America’s largest city.”—The Associated Press
The Atlantic outlines Arizona’s suit against the Voting Rights Act, which claims that Section 5 of the Act is unconstitutional and that Section 5 jurisdictions shouldn’t have to seek federal “pre-clearance” for changes to their election laws.
NBC News reveals that Rick Perry’s super PAC is planning to spend upwards of $55 million to ensure Perry’s nomination as the Republican presidential candidate.