News & Commentary

Meet Kristine Morton

In February, Gov. Pete Ricketts joined with Nebraska Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Heavican, Speaker Mike Hilgers and Senator Steve Lathrop to announce a collaborative effort to address the state’s ongoing mass incarceration crisis.

Pictured: Dylan spent 10 to 12 hours locked away from other youth at age 14. Dylan’s advocacy, along with other solitary survivors, helped create legislative changes that better protect vulnerable people, including juveniles, from being subjected to solitary confinement. 

September 15th marks the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month and I find myself reflecting on the action items I wrote about last year to honor Hispanic Nebraskans. Here is a report back on those action items and some timely new action items for the upcoming year: 

This week, we saw devastating news out of Texas in the fight for reproductive justice. A law that bans most abortions after six weeks, a time when most people don’t even know they’re pregnant, went into effect on Wednesday. Even if someone knew they were pregnant that early, they would have only days to confirm the pregnancy, make a deeply personal decision about the pregnancy, and then try to access care where a host of barriers including mandatory counseling, a waiting period, an ultrasound requirement and a parental consent requirement already stand in their way of choosing abortion.  

August is Breastfeeding Awareness Month! In honor of breastfeeding Nebraskans, we sat down with our women’s and reproductive rights extraordinaire Scout to talk about four things you need to know about your right to breastfeed in Nebraska.

The vote in favor of free expression was a clear rejection of a censorship campaign that has shown alarming momentum over the last year.

In Nebraska, students of color are far more likely to be disciplined, suspended, or expelled than their white peers. Police interactions in schools also show clear racial divides. 

Few issues find this much consensus in Nebraska. Faith leaders, business leaders, and Nebraskans across the political spectrum agree that Dreamers deserve permanent protections and a pathway to citizenship.