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New Mexico lawmakers debate allowing convicts to vote

New Mexico's legislature this week began considering a bill to give convicted felons the right to vote while incarcerated or on parole. The legislation would go further than the initiative approved by last fall by Florida voters, who restored voting rights for all convicted felons, except murderers and sex offenders, and further than the law President Trump signed in December, easing some of the most punitive prison sentences at the federal level without restoring the franchise to federal convicts.

In Albuquerque, supporters told a state House panel the bill was an important vehicle for boosting the rights of minority groups that have historically had disproportionately high incarceration rates. Opponents lambasted the idea of extending such rights to violent offenders.



The bill's sponsor, Democratic state Rep. Gail Chasey, citing statistics that show 94 percent of New Mexico's 7,000 inmates will eventually be released, said allowing them to be politically active while in prison will make them more engaged citizens when they get out.

Under current New Mexico law, people convicted of felonies are removed from the voting rolls and prohibited from voting again until after they have completed their sentence, probation or parole. Maine and Vermont are the only states that do not take the vote away from the incarcerated.

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Finding Joy in Our Differences: Not As Crazy as It Sounds

Lance and Rodney team up to navigate the rapids of the Nantahala River in western North Carolina

Finding Joy in Our Differences: Not As Crazy as It Sounds

It's no secret that most of us in America find ourselves in a wildly different place these days.

It's a place that some of us might say we barely recognize. I wish I could describe it as being a happier place, but instead, it's a place that seems to have more anxiety, fear, anger, intolerance, and even hatred. It's a place where dialogue is often avoided for fear of igniting a firestorm of controversy. And it's a place where many of us would say that joyfulness is becoming harder and harder to find. It's not surprising, then, that we find ourselves immersed in this unprecedented "epidemic of loneliness."

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Winning the Global AI Race: Senators Discuss Ensuring US Dominance

U.S. Capitol Building, Thursday, May 8, 2025

Credit: Erin Drumm

Winning the Global AI Race: Senators Discuss Ensuring US Dominance

WASHINGTON—On Thursday, senators from the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation discussed the need to accelerate U.S. artificial intelligence innovation to maintain global leadership in AI development.

“The United States leads today, but what I would like to say is, it is a race. Leadership is absolutely not guaranteed.” Dr. Lisa Su, CEO and Chair of Advanced Micro Devices, said.

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