Read the latest press releases, blog posts, and State of Belief episodes from our team in Washington, D.C., our network of faith leaders and affiliates across the United States.

On July 4, America will mark 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. That day in 1776, the nation’s founders put forward a bold vision for a new democratic experiment, one rooted in shared values, with power derived from the people rather than imposed by a monarch or religious authority:

On Saturday in Minneapolis, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents brutally attacked and then shot to death Alex Pretti, a registered nurse who appeared to be filming the agents and coming to the aid of a legal observer. This latest horrific murder of a civilian bystander by armed federal agents comes just over two weeks after the murder of Renee Good during an otherwise nonviolent encounter.

Host Paul Brandeis Raushenbush talks with Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman about the first year of the second Trump administration. Skye describes how, amid a flood of policies and orders emanating from the White House, Democracy Forward's attorneys have brought many hundreds of challenges in court - and have prevailed in a great majority of them.