United States

The 88-year itch
Could Democrats pick up a Senate seat in Kansas?

The party has a strong candidate, but needs an FDR-like performance at the top of the ticket

Civil rites
As fewer Americans go to church, chaplains are finding work elsewhere

The hospital chaplain has become a key figure in the treatment of covid-19 patients

Bands of blue
Reining in police unions’ power in America

Cities and states have begun to curb organisations that have been indulged from left and right

Lexington
The mark of Cain

A Christian pollster argues that a reckoning is due in America’s churches

Reform squared
The challenges of reducing America’s jail population

Cash bail is unpopular. But the replacements are not necessarily better

Not above the law
The Supreme Court hands Donald Trump a defeat over his finances

A grand jury may see his records; but House Democrats may not, at least for now

Defunding the police
Cutting American police budgets might have perverse effects

Without other changes, it might even set back the effort to reform how officers treat black citizens

The covid bonus
America’s huge stimulus is having surprising effects on the poor

Though severe deprivation is rising, not everyone is worse off

Racist symbols
Mississippi changes its state flag

And removes a Confederate symbol

Lexington
It’s messing with Texas

Greg Abbott is battling the coronavirus with one hand and his party’s lunatic fringe with the other

Cruel, unusual, and costly
American conservatives are pushing for the repeal of the death penalty

The federal government’s enthusiasm for executions is at odds with many Republican-led states