civil rights

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SCOTUS Takes Up Rare Transgender-Rights Case

High court will look at state bans on gender-affirming care for minors

(Newser) - The Supreme Court on Monday jumped into the fight over transgender rights, agreeing to hear an appeal from the Biden administration seeking to block state bans on gender-affirming care. The justices' action comes as Republican-led states have enacted a variety of restrictions on health care for transgender people, school sports...

ACLU: Ten Commandments Law 'Blatantly Unconstitutional'

Civil rights group, others say they'll sue over Louisiana law mandating display in public schools

(Newser) - "I can't wait to be sued," Louisiana's Republican governor announced over the weekend, just days before signing a bill Wednesday requiring every public school classroom in the state to display the Bible's Ten Commandments . And now, the time has come. The American Civil Liberties Union,...

DOJ Hits Firm With Fine After 'Whites Only' Job Listing

Labor Department got involved, too, after ad posted by Virginia's Arthur Grand Technologies

(Newser) - In March of last year, Arthur Grand Technologies, a tech firm based in Loudoun County, Virginia, posted an ad for an open business analyst position within the company. That in itself isn't unusual, but the wording of the ad was a different story. "US Born Citizens [white] who...

Judge: Long Island Leader Had No Authority for Trans Ban

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman's EO that barred female trans athletes was struck down

(Newser) - A New York judge on Friday struck down a Long Island county's order banning female transgender athletes after a local women's Roller Derby league challenged it. Judge Francis Ricigliano ruled that Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman didn't have the authority to issue his February executive order, which...

Teacher's Video on Target Item Goes Viral: 'Need to Be Pulled'

Issa Tete says pictures of 3 civil rights icons were mislabeled in Black History Month activity book

(Newser) - It wouldn't be Black History Month without cringeworthy gaffes regarding Black History Month. The latest misstep comes courtesy of an item sold in Target, which has now been pulled off shelves after a customer complaint went viral. NPR reports that Issa Tete, a high school history teacher, decided to...

ACLU Sues South Dakota Over Vanity Plate Restrictions

Civil rights group has beef with state's initial rejection of man's application for 'REZWEED' plate

(Newser) - The American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota announced Monday that it's suing South Dakota over a state law that restricts content on vanity plates. The ACLU said in a press release that it filed the lawsuit on behalf of Lyndon Hart, whose application for a plate that said...

New Generation Commits to King's Dream
New Generation
Commits to King's Dream
photos
Aug 26, 2023 5:20 PM CDT

New Generation Commits to King's Dream

Thousands mark 60th anniversary of March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

(Newser) - Thousands of people on Saturday retraced the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, declaring his dream unrealized 60 years later and calling out new threats it faces. Speakers detailed the national changes since as many as 250,000 gathered at the Lincoln...

DOE Looking Into How Harvard Admits Students

Harvard's legacy, donor admissions in the spotlight after SCOTUS ruling on affirmative action

(Newser) - A landmark ruling last month by the US Supreme Court struck a blow against using affirmative action in college admissions, and soon after that decision, murmurs began intensifying on an adjacent controversy—legacy and donor admissions. Now, one of the Ivy Leagues is under the microscope over the practice: The...

DOJ: This 'Made What Happened to George Floyd Possible'

After 2-year investigation, agency finds Minneapolis cops engaged in pattern of discrimination

(Newser) - The Justice Department accused Minneapolis police Friday of engaging in a pattern of violating constitutional rights and discriminating against Black and Native American people following an investigation prompted by the killing of George Floyd. The sweeping two-year civil rights investigation concluded that systemic problems in the Minneapolis Police Department "...

Bagels Caused Drug Tests to Be Positive, Women Say

Civil rights complaint says hospitals launched investigations based on bad results

(Newser) - It was the poppy seeds on their breakfast bagels, say two New Jersey women who tested positive for opiate use. But the issue isn't so much the false positives as it is the drug tests. The women say they didn't consent to the tests during their hospital stays,...

America's 'Last Direct Link to Slavery' Has Died at 90

Civil rights activist Daniel Smith's father told family about the horrors of slavery

(Newser) - Daniel Smith, who may have been the last surviving child of an American born into slavery, has died at age 90 after a life so remarkable that a friend joked that he was the "Black Forrest Gump." Smith's father was born on a plantation in Virginia in...

James Meredith Tells Ole Miss There's More to Be Done

The university he integrated in 1962, under guard, honors pioneer

(Newser) - The University of Mississippi is paying tribute to 89-year-old James Meredith 60 years after white protesters erupted into violence as he became the first Black student to enroll in what was then a bastion of Deep South segregation. On Saturday, Meredith was honored during the Ole Miss-Kentucky football game, receiving...

Racism at LA Hospital Killed Black Mom: Suit

Charles Johnson files civil rights suit over death of wife Kira, who died hours after c-section

(Newser) - A Black couple walked into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on April 12, 2016 for what they thought would be "the happiest day of our lives." Instead, just 12 hours after giving birth to the couple's second son during a remarkably fast Cesarean section, Kira Dixon...

She Rejected the Pledge in Class. Now, a $90K Settlement

Mari Oliver says Texas high school teachers pressured her to say, write pledge of allegiance

(Newser) - It's not uncommon for kids to raise complaints of bullying in school—but one former Texas high school student claimed the bullying came from teachers as well as fellow students. Now, Mari Oliver has settled a federal lawsuit brought against her one-time sociology teacher for $90,000 after alleging...

She Was a Domestic Abuse Victim. Her Ex Got the Kids

ProPublica takes a look at Julie Valadez's custody battle

(Newser) - In her mind, Wisconsin mother and domestic abuse victim Julie Valadez was being persistent in standing up for her four children. To a Waukesha County Circuit Court judge, she was uncooperative and unreasonable. According to many advocates at the intersection of domestic abuse and child custody, this is not an...

Man Who Wouldn't Leave Train Car in 1892 Is Up for a Pardon
A Historical Wrong
Is Righted in Louisiana
UPDATED
Jan 5, 2022 1:50 PM CST

A Historical Wrong Is Righted in Louisiana

Homer Plessy, who wouldn't leave whites-only train car in 1892, is pardoned

(Newser) - Update: Homer Plessy has been pardoned almost 130 years after he was arrested for violating a racist law in Louisiana. Gov. John Bel Edwards issued the formal pardon near the site where the Black man bought a ticket for a whites-only train car in 1892, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports....

She Wouldn't Give Up Her Seat. 65 Years Later, a Clean Record

Claudette Colvin, 82, has arrest wiped for making move as a teen that Rosa Parks did months later

(Newser) - Update: A judge in Montgomery, Ala., has finally granted an elderly great-grandmother her wish to have an arrest from her teen years scrubbed from her record. "I'm no longer a juvenile delinquent at 82," Claudette Colvin said Thursday on CBS Mornings . "My record was expunged."...

Chauvin Expected to Change His Plea in Federal Case
Chauvin to Judge:
'Guilty, Your Honor'
UPDATED
Dec 15, 2021 9:55 AM CST

Chauvin to Judge: 'Guilty, Your Honor'

Former Minnesota cop pleads guilty to violating George Floyd's civil rights

(Newser) - Update: Derek Chauvin pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges of violating George Floyd’s civil rights, averting a trial but likely extending the time he's already spending behind bars on a state conviction. Chauvin appeared in person Wednesday for the change of plea hearing in an orange short-sleeved prison...

Cop Faced With 'Humiliating' KKK Note Files Complaint

Black officer Keith Pool takes action after ex-Ohio police chief's 'offensive' actions in June

(Newser) - Update: The first Black cop in a small Ohio town has filed a discrimination complaint against its police force. The charge with the state's Civil Rights Commission was filed by Keith Pool, who says officials in Sheffield Lake did nothing to keep ex-Chief Anthony Campo's racist behavior in...

He Says He Was Fired for Being a White Guy. Now, $10M

Ex-hospital exec David Duvall wins wrongful termination suit against NC health care system

(Newser) - For nearly five years, David Duvall served as a top marketing executive for a North Carolina health care system—until he says he was abruptly fired in the summer of 2018, over what he claims was a move to diversify top staff. Duvall sued, and on Tuesday, a federal jury...

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