Civil Rights

Legal Gender-Bender: Dad-to-Be Pregnant

How does the law relate to a pregnant dad? Some folks in a central Oregon resort town are about to find out. Originally born female, a transgender man in the city of Bend is now legally Thomas Beatie, married to Nancy. Because his wife had her uterus removed, however, and…

Mar 27, 2008 9:16 PM CDT

ACLU Protests Tax Firm’s Lack of Online Help for Same-Sex Couples

Same-sex couples have now been permitted to form civil unions in Connecticut for several years. But that doesn’t mean that they can expect to have their tax returns prepared online by a major national company, like other legally recognized couples. The American Civil Liberties Union is protesting the approach taken…

Mar 27, 2008 6:13 PM CDT

First Female Judge Named in United Arab Emirates

The president of the United Arab Emirates has appointed the federation’s first female judge. Acting in his role as the ruler of Abu Dhabi, the wealthiest of the seven member-states of the UAE, President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan yesterday named Kholoud Ahmad Jouan al-Dhaheri as a new member of…

Mar 26, 2008 4:50 PM CDT

Appeals Court Upholds Attorney Fees for Plaintiffs Who Obtained Injunction

A federal appeals court has ruled that civil rights plaintiffs who obtained a preliminary injunction were prevailing parties entitled to attorney fees. The Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a March 17 opinion (PDF) that the three plaintiffs attained their goals even though they never took the…

Mar 25, 2008 12:44 PM CDT

Supreme Court Asks for Briefs on Overruling Saucier Immunity Decision

In a case accepted for review today, the U.S. Supreme Court has asked lawyers to address whether the justices should overrule a 2001 decision involving government officials’ qualified immunity from lawsuits. The appeal accepted for review, Pearson v. Callahan, asks whether police officers are immune from liability for entering a…

Mar 24, 2008 3:37 PM CDT

Feds Probe More Passport Peeps: Clinton, McCain & Obama Files Breached

Updated: After an earlier acknowledgement of improper peeping by employees into the passport file of Sen. Barack Obama, the U.S. Department of State now says workers looked at the passport files of all three major-party front-runners in the presidential campaign. Workers improperly accessed electronic files containing personal information about Senators…

Mar 21, 2008 6:49 PM CDT

State Dept. Fires 2 for Peeping Into Barack Obama’s Passport File

The U.S. Department of State has fired two contract workers and disciplined a third for looking through Sen. Barack Obama’s passport file without good reason. The department itself detected the unauthorized activity, which occurred on three days in January, February and March, reports the Associated Press. The article doesn’t explain…

Mar 21, 2008 1:34 AM CDT

Man Wins Murder Trial, But Gets Almost 9 Years

Tyrone Jones didn’t have much time to celebrate after a Connecticut jury acquitted him of murder Tuesday. The next day, the judge in the murder case sent Jones to prison for violating his probation in a previous assault case. The basis of his decision to do so? Testimony by a…

Mar 20, 2008 6:34 PM CDT

Big Gun Case is 37-Year-Old Lawyer’s Supreme Court Debut

A phone call from a wealthy social acquaintance led to what presumably must be the biggest case in one 37-year-old Washington, D.C., lawyer’s professional life. Alan Gura was arguing yesterday before the U.S. Supreme Court a high-profile gun-ban case that attracted a lineup of would-be observers two days before oral…

Mar 19, 2008 9:00 AM CDT

ACLU Sues Over Fla. District’s High School Graduation Rates

In what the American Civil Liberties Union is billing as a first-in-the-nation lawsuit, the civil rights organization has filed a complaint against a South Florida school district contending that it is violating the state constitution by not graduating enough of its students. Additionally, the lawsuit contends that what a press…

Mar 19, 2008 1:31 AM CDT

$4.4M Legal Fees Sought in Texas Case that Brought Down DA

A lawyer who won a $1.7 million settlement for two brothers in a high-profile Texas civil rights case that brought down the local DA is now seeking $4.4 million in attorney fees. Lloyd Kelley says in his fee application that the county tried to defend an “indefensible” case concerning two…

Mar 19, 2008 12:41 AM CDT

Supreme Court to Decide Unanswered Voting Rights Question

The U.S. Supreme Court has granted cert in a case involving minority voting rights and the drawing of legislative boundaries. The issue is whether the Voting Rights Act protects state legislative districts in which black voters make up less than half of the population, but have enough clout to elect…

Mar 17, 2008 4:48 PM CDT

Court Says Craiglist Not Liable for Biased Housing Ads

A federal appeals court has ruled that Craigslist cannot be held liable for discriminatory housing ads posted on its website. The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the Communications Decency Act of 1996 protects the popular Internet classifieds company, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.). The ruling…

Mar 17, 2008 12:49 PM CDT

Secretly Held Al-Qaida Suspect Transferred By CIA to Gitmo

A high-level al-Qaida operative who allegedly helped Osama bin Laden escape from Afghanistan has been secretly held and interrogated since last summer at an undisclosed location, the Pentagon revealed today. The CIA turned over suspect Mohammad Rahim this week to the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, reports the…

Mar 14, 2008 9:44 PM CDT

$50,000 Excessive Force Case Could Cost Calif. City $500,000

An 11-year court battle over an excessive force case that could have been settled for $50,000 probably ended yesterday for the city of Palo Alto, Calif., when the state supreme court upheld a jury verdict for the plaintiff. With plaintiff attorney fees and interest, the total cost of the case…

Mar 13, 2008 6:06 PM CDT