The Chicagoland city of Waukegan, IL, approved a $9.5 million settlement to end a lawsuit filed by wrongly imprisoned resident Angel Gonzalez. Gonzalez, freed from prison in 2015, spent 20 years behind bars after being convicted for the rape of a local woman. DNA evidence exonerated Gonzalez, whose case prompted city officials to require enhanced
A federal civil rights lawsuit accuses Madera police of killing a mentally ill man who was brandishing a stick. Filed in a California court in late June, the complaint stacks drastically different accounts of the killing against one another. Police say 31-year Sergio Valdovinos was wielding a machete, shovel handle and makeshift shield when he
Five immigrant children are suing President Donald Trump over “jail-like” conditions and cruel treatment they say received in the custody of federal agents. Filed Friday, the complaint claims that policies being pursued by the Office of Refugee Resettlement and the Department of Health and Human Services are “causing grave harm to children,” both psychologically and
Teens in Confinement Suffered Mentally and Emotionally, Lawsuit Claims
On Monday, the Supreme Court announced it won’t interfere in a South Dakota jury’s decision to execute Charles Rhines. Rhines, convicted of murder, is homosexual—a fact his peers purportedly took to mean he’d enjoy life behind bars. During deliberations leading up to Rhines’ verdict, jurors discussed the killer’s sexuality. The man’s preference for other men
A federal judge ordered the U.S. government to reunite families separated under President Donald Trump’s stringent immigration policy. “This situation has reached a crisis level,” wrote U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in an emergency order. “There is no genuine dispute that the Government was not prepared to accommodate the mass influx of separated children […]
The Supreme Court dealt a sharp blow to organized labor on Wednesday. In a 5-4 vote, the justices ruled that government workers who turn down union membership can’t have their pay docked to fund collective bargaining. Writing for the conservative-led majority, Justice Samuel Alito Jr. opined that wage deductions pose a constitutional violation. “We conclude
Last Friday, a judge found the Arizona Department of Corrections and its administrators in civil contempt of court for failing to meet the conditions of a 2014 settlement concerning the quality of healthcare in state prisons. Arizona DOC director Charles Ryan and medical director Richard Pratt were both named in the ruling, which will emplace
In a much-awaited Tuesday decision, the Supreme Court upheld President Donald Trump’s travel ban. The justices split primarily along party lines, voting 5-4 to affirm the president’s power to curb immigration in the interest of national security. The latest version of the ban—which was issued several times before being sent to the Supreme Court—places travel
Pregnant Discrimination Still an Issue for Women in the Workplace