Your daily dose of civil rights and related news An observant Jewish engineer was vindicated after being hounded by spying accusations, after a probe found he was targeted on basis of religion. The Washington Post had a nice article up over the weekend on the experiences of other Black “firsts” (first astronaut, first Miss USA, first NBA player, etc.). Also from the WaPo this weekend, an analysis of how voters perceive the theme of race popping up this cycle (focusing on Akron, Ohio). The...

My wonderful co-bloggers already have several posts giving their takes on how the Biden choice will affect the presidential race (Tony Campbell thinks it’s an awful choice; Jazz Shaw thinks the GOP will love it; Dorian de Wind and Robert Stein love it; and Shaun Mullen shouts out for his home-state boy). As for me, on the political side I’m decidedly meh. I’ve been persuaded that it was unreasonable of me to expect Biden to vote against the credit card industry on the bankruptcy...

Your daily dose of civil rights and related news Ward Connerly’s petition to ban affirmative action in Arizona has been thrown out, after election officials found that he fell far short in obtaining the number of valid signatures required to put the measure to a vote. A federal judge stayed the execution of a Texas inmate, ruling that the state grossly erred in refusing to determine whether he was mentally competent to be put to death. Washington Post: “Civil Rights Panel Faulted on Hiring...

Spencer Ackerman takes a fresh look at the New Republic/Scott Thomas Beauchamp controversy. When I read Franklin Foer’s fact-check of the story, I remarked that it did not appear to me that the story needed to be retracted at all — and certainly, nobody had done anything to justify the vitriol that had been heaped upon both writer and magazine by radical right-wing bloggers. Ackerman’s piece only verifies that instinct, and it is well worth the read.

The technical term for this is sick $&%@ing joke.

Your daily dose of civil rights and related news Americans of all stripes mourn the death of Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH). After graduating from Case Western University (thanks to a scholarship she attributed to affirmative action efforts), Jones went on to become the first Black woman to represent Ohio in Congress. Supporters and opponents of an initiative to ban affirmative action in Nebraska are squabbling over the ballot language. Meanwhile, the University of Nebraska is reporting great...

Your daily dose of civil rights and related news The cellmate of a immigrant who died in US custody described the incredible pain he was in — and how detention center staffers laughed and said he was faking. A study finds that minority students are far more likely to be paddled in school. A noose was found at a Chicago police station, triggering an investigation. A Las Vegas Review Journal columnist apparently got smoked by his readers when he made the simple factual observation that the ACLU...

I don’t like hearing it under any circumstances, but John McCain sure seems to find the worst situations to use the phrase “Judeo-Christian”, doesn’t he?

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,...

So one of the predominant misconceptions out there today about affirmative action is that it’s a quota system. This is false, as I have gently reminded CNN, but it still seems to hold a lot of sway over the electorate when debating plans to abolish equal opportunity programs like affirmative action. But now, civil rights groups fighting to defend affirmative action are test-running a new plan that seeks to neutralize the misconceptions on quotas….. Read the rest of this post

Your daily dose of civil rights and related news I’m not sure I agree with this reading of Frederick Douglass’ career, but the comparison to Obama is interesting nonetheless. Virginia’s new project to use DNA evidence to help exonerate falsely-convicted prisoners continues. The business community is throwing everything it has against the Ledbetter Fair Pay act. The Kosher plant that was targeted in the Postville raid is having trouble getting itself back up and running. How can...

Note to the commenters: You can’t defend replacing (as opposed to supplementing) race-based affirmative action with class-based programs by compared rich Blacks to poor Whites. For that claim to be valid, the axis of comparison has to be the equal position of poor Blacks to poor Whites. Otherwise, you’re risking just masking the effects of potential racial discrimination that wealth can “buy off”, but which still become an extra obstacle on top of poverty to poor Blacks without...

Your daily dose of civil rights and related news The family of a gay California teenager who was slain by a classmate is suing the school, saying that it endangered their son by allowing him to wear feminine clothing and makeup. Solid move by Tim Kaine: He issued a pardon to a local woman who had lived in the US since she was 7, who was facing deportation for a minor crime she committed 12 years ago. The move is giving her at least a one year reprieve from her deportation order, allowing her more...

Your daily dose of civil rights and related news The census estimates that the US will become majority-minority by 2042. My projection is that many currently non-White ethnic groups will become or will be absorbed into Whiteness to keep the numbers up. ICE has detained 42 suspected illegal immigrants working at Dulles Airport, stressing that there is no indication of terrorist activity. An Egyptian Muslim women writes in the Washington Post: If Saudi Arabia doesn’t allow women on its Olympics...

So the Supreme Court made a factual error in its ruling holding that the death penalty for child rape is unconstitutional. Since the error was definitely relevant (though not necessarily critical) to its ruling, some folks have been urging that the Court reopen the case (an issue I am pretty much neutral on). Today, we find out via a recently released study that the Supreme Court also made a factual error in its ruling holding that the federal partial-birth abortion ban is constitutional (that being...

In an editorial for the Washington Post, Peter Beinart thinks that Barack Obama could put the issue of race away for good if he came out for replacing race-based affirmative action with class-based programs. I have no problem with class-based affirmative action, though I think it should supplement, not replace, its racial peer, as both are independent sources of disadvantage and both are independent sources of diversity. But even the premise is wrong here…. Continue reading this post

Your daily dose of civil rights and related news Gay and lesbian Latina/os are finding it more difficult to claim asylum due to improving tolerance in their home nations. A Virginia court has given the state’s first “writ of innocence” after new evidence cleared a man incarcerated on a gun charge. Virginia has until recently been perhaps the most aggressive state at seeking to suppress the admission of exculpatory evidence after conviction. The NAACP is frustrated with the pace...

Your daily dose of civil rights and related news An auto parts store in Houston is being sued by the EEOC for tolerating harassment of Black employees and passing over them for promotions. PETA wants to put ads up on the Mexican side of the border fence, warning potential Mexican immigrants about the effects of fatty, meat-filled diets. The ACLU is not thrilled with Hartford for imposing a juvenile curfew. A Florida cop who was caught on tape beating a suspect has resigned. Conservative groups in...

Your daily dose of civil rights and related news A nice article about attempting to register ex-felons to vote. Self-deportation has few takers. Really? The Boston Globe: Being multi-lingual is a good thing, not a threat to American values. The Santeria, a religion which has been at the center of more than a few free-exercise cases over the past several decades, are being targeted by Florida officials again. The changing demographics of a historically-Black school district (Hispanics are rising in...

I have to admit, I had my doubts as to whether Nikki Tinker’s ugly campaign tactics would pay off. But given Steve Cohen’s crushing victory last night, I owe you all a huge apology.

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:...

The race between Steve Cohen and Nikki Tinker has certainly caused some stress for those of us concerned with Black/Jewish relations, but we may have worried too much: With 67% reporting, Cohen is stomping Tinker by 60 points. Presumably, if a strong Tinker challenge fueled by anti-Semitic themes would have strained Black/Jewish relations, a majority Black district resoundingly rejected those tactics should be a great data point in its favor. Yes?

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 reading,s it’s 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...

Your daily dose of civil rights and related news Almost forget today, kids … I took the day off from work to catch up on some law school-related paperwork, and my mind assumed it was a weekend. It’s tough being a woman of color in the military. Chicago is starting to detain Hispanics during traffic stops on suspicion of being illegal immigrants, apparently in violation of local law. Cry me a river of tears: Prince William County’s aggressive campaign to undertake immigration enforcement...

Your daily dose of civil rights and related news The WaPo opines against the appalling state of DC’s child services department. The Feds are pursuing a case against a unrecognized Indian tribe which falsely told immigrants that by purchasing tribal membership, they would become American citizens. The 5th Circuit is preparing to hear whether Texas’ moment-of-silence law is an unconstitutional cover for school prayer. Texas continues to struggle with getting good teachers to teach at poorer...