Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch (right) arrives with former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., for a meeting with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Wednesday. Alex Wong/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Alex Wong/Getty Images Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch (right) arrives with former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., for a meeting with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.,

President Trump and his daughter Ivanka walk toward Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in early February. Evan Vucci/AP hide caption toggle caption Evan Vucci/AP President Trump and his daughter Ivanka walk toward Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in early February. Evan Vucci/AP Days after retail

A federal judge has blocked Anthem’s bid to merge with another health insurer, Cigna. The Justice Department had said the deal would stifle competition. Michael Conroy/AP hide caption toggle caption Michael Conroy/AP A federal judge has blocked Anthem’s bid to merge with another health insurer, Cigna. The Justice Department had said the deal would stifle

In November, voters in Oklahoma approved criminal justice reforms such as making possession of drugs a misdemeanor and redirecting state money to treatment programs. Now there are several bills to repeal the reforms. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images In November, voters in Oklahoma approved criminal justice reforms such as making

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive for the 60th annual Red Cross Gala at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., on Saturday. Susan Walsh/AP hide caption toggle caption Susan Walsh/AP President Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive for the 60th annual Red Cross Gala at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach,

Medicare accounts for about 29 percent of all spending on prescription medicines in the U.S. each year. stevecoleimages/iStockphoto/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption stevecoleimages/iStockphoto/Getty Images Medicare accounts for about 29 percent of all spending on prescription medicines in the U.S. each year. stevecoleimages/iStockphoto/Getty Images Drug companies could be forgiven if they’re confused about whether President

Mana Heshmati, founder of the Detroit-based Peace Meal Kitchen, stands outside of the Detroit City Distillery in Eastern Market during a fundraising event for the ACLU of Michigan. Within two hours, she sold out of her a la carte menu, which included ghormeh sabzi, a Persian beef stew, a vegetarian cream of barley soup, and

A woman with “No Wall, No Ban” painted on her face was among the people marching in support of immigrants and refugees in Seattle on Jan. 29. Jason Redmond /AFP/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Jason Redmond /AFP/Getty Images A woman with “No Wall, No Ban” painted on her face was among the people marching

Former detainee Omar al-Shogre before his arrest and shortly after his release from Saydnaya Military Prison in Syria. Courtesy of Amnesty International hide caption toggle caption Courtesy of Amnesty International Former detainee Omar al-Shogre before his arrest and shortly after his release from Saydnaya Military Prison in Syria. Courtesy of Amnesty International A new report

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: We head to North Carolina now. That state was in the news quite a bit last year because of HB2, the so-called bathroom bill and then the dust-up over the Republican lawmakers’ efforts to curb the authority of the new Democratic governor. But what issue you might not have heard much about

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: We’re going to spend a few minutes talking about this country’s prisons. Most people probably don’t spend a lot of time thinking about this until events force them to. Last week’s uprising at the largest state prison for men in Delaware, the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna is that kind

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: We have one more conversation about the prison system with a look at a new film about solitary confinement. As we just talked about, prisons are closed off from the outside world. That’s just one reason the access granted to director Kristi Jacobson for her documentary was so extraordinary. Jacobson and her