Thursday, August 07, 2008

Civil Rights Roundup: 08/07/08

Your daily dose of civil rights and related news

In several DC area counties, the surge in Hispanic immigration is making minority children the under-five majority.

The Washington Post calls it a "drug bust gone awry", but from my readings its unfortunately hardly out of the ordinary.

Liberal bishops in the Episcopalian Church will continue to ordain gay clergy, and their conservative counterparts will continue to threaten to secede.

A fund has been set up to pay the bonds of immigrants caught up in ICE raids.

The 7th Circuit has rejected taxpayer's standing to sue in an Establishment Clause case focusing on the VA's incorporation of religion in its treatment programs for veterans.

After an all-White jury acquitted a White police office who killed a Black woman (while she was holding her baby in her arms), the Justice Department says it is considering filing federal civil rights charges against him.

The admissions policies of a Hawaii school which favors native Hawaiians is back in court.

Hans von Spakavosky has been subpoenaed in connection to the ongoing investigation over the Bush administration's politicization of the Justice Department.

A Seattle area school district discriminated against disabled children, the Department of Education found.

In another edition of bad headline, good article, a New Jersey law prohibiting distribution of materials near election centers has been upheld against a challenge by the ACLU. The ACLU wanted to give hand outs outlining who can vote and what to do if your vote is denied as voters entered their polling places.

The ACLU has released a report which it says indicates racial profiling is going on amongst Louisiana police officers.

The Wall Street Journal reports on nursing homes evicted "frail and ill" residents.

Finally, the DOJ issued this release on Tuesday: "Former Jackson, Mississippi Police Officer Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for Sexually Assaulting a Detainee."

1 comment:

PG said...

And the DOJ is issuing the release because it became a federal civil rights case after the local state jury acquitted Simmons of rape, despite the testimony of his fellow officer that he had acted as "lookout" during the sex.