Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Civil Rights Roundup: 08/19/08

Your daily dose of civil rights and related news

The highest court in California has ruled that doctors cannot refuse to treat gay and lesbian patients due to religious objections.

The federal government is starting to push to make sure apartments are handicapped accessible.

A vandalism spree in Staten Island is not being characterized as a hate crime, despite concerns by nervous Latino residents that they were targeted by ethnic hatred.

The number of juveniles being held in adult jails is falling, but there is still some work to be done.

San Francisco's immigrant advisory committee is trying to promote programs aimed at rehabilitating and reintegrating young immigrant felons.

Two witnesses have come forward to contradict a police officer's claim that he was under threat when he shot an unarmed man in Prince George's County. The witnesses say the officer beat the man with a baton prior to shooting him in the torso.

Virginia's efforts to buy more products from small, women, and minority-owned businesses is 1/3 working: the numbers are up for small businesses, but mostly those owned by White men.

An African American church in Fairfax has been defaced with a racial slur.

After spotting anti-Semitic graffiti on a synagogue, a local man stopped his car to paint over the offending material. He refused to be photographed or give his name.

Voting machine problems likely won't be fixed by the November election.

Pro-affirmative action forces are suing to try and keep Ward Connerly's anti-AA proposal off the Arizona ballot.

A New Jersey appeals court has ruled that a gay employee can proceed with a hostile environment harassment suit against his boss after she allegedly called him a "stupid fag." The case is Kwiatkowski v. Merrill Lynch.

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