Human Rights

Ex-lawyer sentenced for Molotov cocktail toss; she’s ‘a remarkable person who did a terrible thing,’ judge says

A disbarred tenants lawyer was sentenced Friday to 15 months in prison for tossing a Molotov cocktail into an unoccupied police car during May 2020 racial justice demonstrations in New York.

Nov 21, 2022 3:46 PM CST

‘By Hands Now Known’ shines light on cold cases of lynchings and racial violence

In summer 2020, when the murder of George Floyd was igniting protests, it occurred to Margaret A. Burnham that “George Floyd” was a common-sounding name. She went into her archive of Jim Crow-era homicides and found another George Floyd.

Nov 16, 2022 3:30 PM CST

Texas governor invokes obscure constitutional provision to repel ‘border invasion;’ judge strikes down Title 42 next day

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday he is invoking the U.S. Constitution’s invasion clause and taking “unprecedented measures” to repel a “border invasion.”

Nov 16, 2022 10:22 AM CST

Last-minute election lawsuits target absentee ballots; Florida clashes with DOJ over monitors

Election litigation was heating up in battleground states as voters went to the polls Tuesday. Lawsuits were filed over undated absentee ballots in Pennsylvania, unmailed absentee ballots in Georgia, and plans to hand count ballots in Arizona and Nevada.

Nov 8, 2022 12:45 PM CST

Estimated 4.6M Americans can’t vote in midterms because of felony convictions, new report says

The estimated number of people who can’t vote in the United States because of a felony conviction has declined by 24% since 2016, but the total is still large, according to a report released Tuesday by the Sentencing Project.

Oct 28, 2022 9:13 AM CDT

Ex-EEOC lawyer is making ‘highly questionable’ assertion about abortion travel benefits, Littler Mendelson says

The former general counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is “misleading and intimidating” employers who provide travel benefits for women traveling to obtain abortions, according to a letter by Littler Mendelson’s Workplace Policy Institute, the law firm’s government affairs arm.

Oct 25, 2022 3:12 PM CDT

Dechert was ‘willfully blind’ to partner accused of conspiring to hack opponent’s emails, RICO suit says

A civil racketeering lawsuit filed Thursday accuses Dechert of turning a blind eye to alleged unethical conduct by a London partner who allegedly conspired to hack and release the emails of a client’s opponent.

Oct 17, 2022 11:31 AM CDT

Justice Jackson, other liberal SCOTUS justices appeared determined ‘to go down swinging’ in voting-maps case

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan called a challenge to Alabama’s congressional voting maps a “slam dunk” during oral arguments Tuesday, even as the conservative justices on the high court appeared to be searching for a narrow way to uphold them.

Oct 5, 2022 10:11 AM CDT

Weekly Briefs: SCOTUS justice’s wife stands by stolen-election views; district attorney’s daughter arrested in his stabbing

Ginni Thomas tells Jan. 6 committee about her stolen-election views

Conservative activist Virginia “Ginni” Thomas told the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack that she…

Sep 30, 2022 3:13 PM CDT

Supreme Court ready to tackle free speech, affirmative action and election law in new term

The U.S. Supreme Court—and those in its orbit—has been going through the usual machinations leading up to a new term in recent weeks: Panels of law professors and practitioners are previewing the big cases of the new term, and a few justices are making public appearances to send one message or another.

Sep 29, 2022 12:36 PM CDT

Chemerinsky: Supreme Court poised to sharply advance the law to the right

Last year’s term was momentous: The court overruled Roe v. Wade, greatly expanded gun rights and aggressively protected free exercise of religion. There is no doubt that the coming term, too, will be filled with blockbuster decisions.

Sep 29, 2022 9:52 AM CDT

Weekly Briefs: Bias suit against Trump lawyer resolved; Montana no longer defies court order over birth certificates

Trump lawyer resolves rap-music bias suit

Alina Habba, a lawyer for former President Donald Trump, has resolved a race- and gender-bias lawsuit largely based on the rap music that she…

Sep 23, 2022 1:05 PM CDT

Strip search by transgender guard violated inmate’s religious rights, 7th Circuit says

A federal appeals court ruled Friday for a Muslim inmate in Wisconsin who claimed that his religious rights were violated by strip searches conducted by a transgender prison guard.

Sep 21, 2022 3:42 PM CDT

Suit filed on behalf of migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard alleges these constitutional, legal violations

A class action lawsuit filed Tuesday on behalf of at least 50 asylum-seekers alleges that their flight from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts violated constitutional protections, federal statutes and tort law.

Sep 21, 2022 10:22 AM CDT

Roula Allouch is leading efforts to stop cyberbullying and discrimination

Roula Allouch thinks about young people in her community whenever her civil rights work starts to feel daunting. “Working with youth helps refocus and recenter me on the reason that we’re doing it all: to make things better for the generation coming after us,” says Allouch. “I don’t want the next generation of Arab-American kids and Muslim youth to be dealing with those same challenges.”

Sep 20, 2022 10:10 AM CDT