Your daily dose of civil rights and related news
The Boston Globe has a report on Democratic efforts to find an “anti-Scalia.” Could Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, a former bigwig in the Civil Rights division of the Justice Department, be that guy?
A dissident Catholic group claims it has ordained three women as priests.
I missed this while I was in NY, but Connecticut is likely to file suit to mandate that the VA allow voter registration drives.
The Washington Post reveals how nannies organized themselves to get the first housekeeper protection law in the nation passed in Montgomery County.
The Post also has an op-ed about “career academies”, which have demonstrated some success in improving the job prospects (though not the academic performance) of at-risk youth. Jonathan Kozol, as I recall, was skeptical about this programs, as they essentially track these youth away from any chance at joining the nation’s elite, thus perpetuating class divides.
The Arizona Republic has an interview with By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) on the Arizona affirmative action fight.
Local religious leaders are rallying behind a Massachusetts synagogue which was again hit by vandals.
The Orlando Sentinel urges Florida to stop withholding civil rights for ex-felons just because they can’t pay restitution to their victims. After all, no civil rights often means no jobs, which means the victims will never get paid.
South Dakota gives doctors a script to read when talking to women considering an abortion. The script says that abortion “will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique living human being,” and “informs” the women that she possesses “an existing relationship” with the fetus that is protected by the U.S. Constitution, that “her existing constitutional rights with regards to that relationship will be terminated,” and finally, (falsely) tells her that “abortion increases the risk of suicide ideation and suicide.”
Lemons into lemonade: School districts around the country are looking for ways to integrate in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision last summer severely limiting voluntary desegregation plans.
New Orleans residents wonder if the air of police entitlement that allows them to violate citizens rights with impunity is the exception or the rule.
Finally, hip-hop star Usher is launching a voter registration drive in Georgia.