For decades, the Justice Department has pursued wide swaths of its civil rights enforcement efforts guided by what’s known as disparate impact standards. These rules regulate the use and withholding of federal funds in cases when a “seemingly neutral policy or action” results in “disproportionate and unjustified negative harm to a group, regardless of intent,” said Congress.gov. Last week, however, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division will now focus only on deliberate instances of discrimination moving forward. 

‘Important tool’ taken ‘off the table’
“For far too long,” the Justice Department has “required recipients of federal funding to make decisions based on race,” said Bondi in a statement announcing the policy change. The previous rules “encouraged” people to challenge “racially neutral policies, without evidence of intentional discrimination,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon in the same release. But those rules also “undergirded” other organizational investigations into police departments of housing providers “accused of engaging in a ‘pattern or practice’ of discrimination,” said Politico.

It’s a “sad commentary” that the White House has “chosen” the 68th anniversary of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division to do away with a rule that for “nearly 60 years has helped root out illegal race and national origin discrimination by recipients of federal funds,” said former DOJ employee Christine Stoneman to Bloomberg Law. The change allows institutions to “turn a blind eye to troubling statistics” if they “didn’t mean to do it,” said Antonio Ingram II, a senior counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, to The Chronicle of Higher Education. “This is 2025,” and “examples of discrimination based on race or sex are not going to be what we saw in the Jim Crow South.”

‘Laudable’ decision
Critics’ claims that the new policies “somehow authorize discrimination” are “bogus,” said The Washington Post editorial board. Instead, the revised regulations “do the opposite.” Although some of President Donald Trump’s “anti-woke agenda” has been “irresponsible,” the rule change is a “reasonable correction to past overreach.”

Disparate impact theory was “imposed undemocratically and conflicts with the Constitution,” said The Wall Street Journal. Despite having sent “mixed signals over the years,” the Supreme Court should “eventually reject it” altogether. While the administration’s push to rescind disparate impact regulations is “laudable,” it won’t “solve the constitutional problem” at the heart of the issue. 

Gen Z protests have been sweeping the world’s countries, and they have just toppled their first European government. Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov announced his resignation last week — the latest in a slew of Bulgarian heads of government to step down in recent years. 

Why are Bulgarians protesting?
The demonstrations were largely “mass protests against government corruption in recent weeks,” precipitated by anger toward a proposed tax increase for the private sector, said The New York Times. Thousands of Bulgarians took to the streets, mostly in the nation’s capital city, Sofia, but also across the country in a “rare show of nationwide solidarity.” A large swath of the protesters were young people and Gen Zers, representing a “demographic not typically associated with active political engagement” in Bulgaria.

While the protests started over corruption, the “real driving force behind the demonstrations has been broader dissatisfaction with the government itself,” said Politico. Bulgaria, a member of the European Union, is set to adopt the euro on Jan. 1, which has also led to “fears of inflation” amid a disinformation campaign by Russia “aimed at undermining public support for the single currency.”

The government’s “desire is to rise to the level of what society expects,” the now-former Prime Minister Zhelyazkov said to reporters. His resignation came just before a scheduled no-confidence vote against his cabinet.

What happens now?
Following the prime minister’s resignation, another election is “all but guaranteed,” said Bloomberg. But there has been a pattern of problematic elections in recent Bulgarian history, and the government’s collapse comes “following seven votes in four years, none of which has resulted in a stable governing majority.” There are now several ways the next election could go.

No matter who forms the next government, issues in Bulgaria are likely to remain, as “corruption in the Balkan nation of some 6.5 million has long been pervasive, even after having joined the EU,” said The Wall Street Journal. Bulgaria has “consistently ranked as one of the bloc’s most corrupt member states.”

Mourners take part in a candlelit vigil at Lippitt Memorial Park in Providence, Rhode Island, after Saturday’s shooting at nearby Brown University. Police continue to hunt for the gunman, who killed two people and injured nine others.
Ben Pennington / The Boston Globe / Getty Images

There’s a fresh batch of shows cruising their way around the country. Some are reboots of Broadway musicals from decades past, and others are touring productions of new shows.

‘Spamalot’
Some of the creators of “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” morphed their seminal 1975 cinematic romp into this early 2000s musical, and “Spamalot” has had audiences nearly rolling in the aisles ever since. The current touring production comes on the heels of a Broadway revival in 2023. “It’s its own dumb joke rollercoaster,” said Tim Teeman at The Daily Beast. “Everything and everyone is up for ribbing.” (through Aug. 26)

‘Stereophonic’
The winner of Best Play at the 2024 Tony Awards, “Stereophonic” by David Adjmi (pictured above), is an insider’s view of a band under duress. The entire show takes place in a studio during the mid-1970s, as the band’s members record an album and their personal relationships fray. Songs from Will Butler of Arcade Fire give “Stereophonic” a proper vibe of Fleetwood Mac recording their monster-hit album, “Rumours.” (through May 10)

‘The Outsiders’
S.E. Hinton’s beloved novel gets put to raucous, thoughtful song courtesy of the members of the band Jamestown Revival. With its tale of two sides of youth class warfare during the mid-1960s, the musical captures “insightful ruminations on brotherhood, identity, and the cycles of grief and violence,” said Emlyn Travis at Entertainment Weekly. This staging is a marvel: The rainstorm rumble between the Greasers and the Socs will crack your jaw wide open. (through Sept. 27)