Friday, August 08, 2008

Civil Rights Roundup: 08/08/08

Your daily dose of civil rights and related news

Texas has executed another illegal immigrant in a case with similar fact patterns to Medellin.

...And the Washington Post asks why Texas hates America.

A federal judge ruled that the government owes Indian tribes $455 million for mismanaged oil and gas revenues -- far less than the $47 billion they were seeking.

Even White folks can "play the race card" if they dare corroborate an accusation of racism.

A step in the right direction: Two Texas Republican judges sought the endorsement of local GLBT groups.

A 14-year old boy who is being charged with a hate crime in the slaying of a gay classmate has plead not guilty.

The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is looking like it'll be one of the biggest battles between corporations and unions we've seen in years.

An Army recruiter threatened a high school student with jail if he picked going to college over joining the military. The kid had signed a non-binding contract to enlist, but then changed his mind.

Dueling "civil rights" initiatives related to affirmative action are on the ballot in Colorado. My organization, the LCCR, is sponsoring Initiative 82, which would prohibit quota or points systems, but would allow affirmative action to remain to remedy discrimination. It's counterpart, Amendment 46, would dismantle affirmative action outright.

A civil rights attorney is suing after a NYPD cop handcuffed a ten-year old girl for not taking her seat fast enough on the school bus.

A Law.com columnist says companies must bolster their anti-retaliation policies. He focuses more on the changing legal landscape which makes companies more vulnerable to retaliation, whereas I'd prefer to focus on the fact that retaliation is just plain wrong, but whatever is persuasive to your audience, I guess.

The LA Times comes out hard against the California ballot initiative which would strip gay couples of their right to marry.

Robert Koehler: Obama's "dollar bill" remark "violated the cardinal rule of the Era of Forgetting [about racism]: He talked about it."

No comments: