Tag Archives: civil rights

Fresh Take Florida reports: Florida’s new Halo Law, the controversial statute intended to protect law enforcement from harassment, went into effect at the start of this year. Now the first people arrested and prosecuted under it say they were left in the dark. At least 11 people so far have been arrested on charges of violating the new law, which …

NBC News reports: The Trump administration has quietly transformed the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, forcing out a majority of career managers and implementing new priorities that current and former officials say abandon a decadeslong mission of enforcing laws that prohibit discrimination in hiring, housing and voting rights.  “It’s been a complete bloodbath,” said a senior Justice Department lawyer in the …

CBS News reports: A landmark Justice Department office created in the 1960’s during the civil rights movement is marked for closure by the Trump administration, raising fears of a loss of generations of work tamping down and working to prevent unrest in the nation’s major cities. An internal Justice Department memo reviewed by CBS News said Trump appointees are considering …

ABC News reports: A group of advocacy organizations filed a lawsuit on Monday challenging Donald Trump’s recent executive order seeking to overhaul the U.S. election system, accusing the president of trying to enact “unlawful actions” to enforce “lawless mandates.” The lawsuit alleges that Trump’s unilateral efforts to reshape voting in federal elections — including requiring proof of citizenship when registering …

The Daily Beast reports: The official White House X account on Thursday posted its most bizarre meme to date: a Studio Ghibli-style AI cartoon of an ICE officer handcuffing a crying woman. The stout animated agent stands in front of an American flag while placing the restraints, and the woman is making a distressed expression. The caricature aims to mock …

The New York Times reports: Trump administration lawyers have determined that an 18th-century wartime law the president has invoked to deport suspected members of a Venezuelan gang allows federal agents to enter homes without a warrant, according to people familiar with internal discussions. The disclosure reflects the Trump administration’s aggressive view of presidential power, including setting aside a key provision …

Boston’s NBC affiliate reports: City councilors in Boston voted 12-1 Wednesday to make Boston a sanctuary city for members of the LGBTQ+ community. Councilor-at-Large Julia Mejia and District 9 Councilor Liz Breadon called on Boston to adopt the measure supporting transgender people, pointing to what they see as harmful rhetoric coming from President Donald Trump and the White House. “Boston …

The Alabama Political Reporter reports: Elon Musk’s DOGE purge now includes the building housing the historic Freedom Rides Museum in Montgomery. The Montgomery Bus Station, the site where Freedom Riders were attacked by white supremacists in 1961, is owned by the federal government’s General Services Administration. As part of a nationwide cost cutting initiative undertaken by Musk and the newly …

ABC News reports: President Joe Biden on Sunday posthumously pardoned Black nationalist Marcus Garvey, who influenced Malcolm X and other civil rights leaders and was convicted of mail fraud in the 1920s. Also receiving pardons were a top Virginia lawmaker and advocates for immigrant rights, criminal justice reform and gun violence prevention. Congressional leaders had pushed for Biden to pardon …

Truthout reports: After a record-breaking year for anti-trans legislation, 2025 is shaping up to be even more challenging for transgender and queer people across the United States. A legislative tracker maintained by Erin In The Morning and other volunteers has found that nearly 120 anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ bills have already been filed in states nationwide ahead of the 2025 legislative …

The Associated Press reports: A large bronze statue of the late civil rights icon leader and Georgia congressman John Lewis was installed Friday, at the very spot where a contentious monument to the confederacy stood for more than 110 years in the town square before it was dismantled in 2020. Work crews gently rested the 12-foot-tall (3.7-meter-tall) statue into place …

ABC News reports: North Carolina’s contentious restrictions on public mask-wearing became law on Thursday after GOP lawmakers successfully overrode a veto by the state’s Democratic governor. The Senate gave its final stamp of approval in a 30-14 override vote along party lines. The state House initiated the process Wednesday when it voted to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto during a …

CBS News reports: A Colorado campaign that’s trying to enshrine abortion rights into the state’s constitution has gathered enough signatures to put the issue on the ballot this November, CBS News has learned. To amend Colorado’s constitution, petitioners must gather 124,238 signatures from the state’s voters, including 2% of the total registered voters in each of Colorado’s 35 Senate districts, …

The New York Post is very unhappy about it: Most of the $640 million in new charitable donations Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife MacKenzie Scott is dishing out will go to nonprofits pushing extreme left-wing causes. Scott will provide 67 migrant-advocacy organizations a combined $122 million for legal aid and other assistance, according to an analysis of 361 awards she …

The Texas Tribune reports: A Texas prosecutor has been disciplined for allowing a murder charge to be filed against a woman who self-induced an abortion in 2022. Starr County District Attorney Gocha Ramirez reached a settlement with the State Bar of Texas following an investigation. Ramirez agreed to pay a $1,250 fine, and his license will be held in a …

The Washington Post reports: A Tennessee city must pay $500,000 as part of a settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups over an ordinance designed to ban drag performances from taking place on public property, attorneys announced Wednesday. Last year, the Tennessee Equality Project — a nonprofit that advocates for LGBTQ+ rights — filed a federal lawsuit …

The Holland Sentinel reports: A formal complaint has reportedly been filed after a West Michigan wedding venue sparked controversy for its anti-LGBTQ marriage policy. The venue, the Old Wooden Barn, was hand-built in 1905. It was converted into a wedding venue over the past decade. The business, owned by Mitch and Kelli VanOverloop, states its marriage policy clearly online. “Because …

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports: Pennsylvania’s highest court on Monday recognized for the first time that access to abortion is a right guaranteed by the state’s constitution, a significant finding in the wake of the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning nationwide abortion rights. The finding came in a case focused on a much narrower issue — whether Medicaid should cover …

Miami’s PBS affiliate reports: Groups behind the push to put abortion rights on the Florida ballot next year have reached a major milestone: They believe they have collected all the signatures needed to put it to a vote. The petition aims to place a state constitutional amendment to protect the right to an abortion on the 2024 ballot. It would …

ABC News reports: The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) PAC, the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) Action Fund and Equality PAC, representing three of the nation’s leading LGBTQ+ organizations, endorsed President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign on Tuesday — the eve of National Coming Out Day. “Without question, the Biden Administration has been the strongest advocate for the needs of transgender …