On Wednesday, September 5, the Southern Center for Human Rights filed a federal lawsuit in the state of Georgia on behalf of 22-year-old Cleopatra Harris against the city of Columbus, a number of police officers and judge Michael Cielinski after Harris was ordered to pay a fine for refusing to press charges against her boyfriend,
A $40 million civil rights lawsuit filed by protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, against the city’s police force has been dismissed by a federal judge. The suit alleged the attending officers used excessive force during the demonstration, which began in response to the 2014 shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was unarmed with his hands
For many cities with a significant homeless population, a lot of money, time, and effort goes into compelling them to move along. Various methods have been deployed, from spikes embedded in the sidewalk where homeless folks might take shelter from the elements, to the intermittent waterfall that a church in San Francisco built over its
In what is being called a “landmark settlement,” a Minnesota woman has won a lawsuit that will prevent the priest who sexually abused her from returning to the ministry in India. Megan Peterson was just 14-years-old when she alleged Father Joseph Jeyapaul raped and assaulted her in her hometown of Greenbush. The abuse took place
It was announced on Tuesday, September 27, that New York City has settled with the family of a mentally ill Rikers Island inmate who died in custody for $5.75 million. The information was provided to the press by attorneys for the family and the Legal Aid Society Prisoners’ Rights Project, who helped work on the
During Tuesday’s first (and only) televised vice-presidential debate between Hillary Clinton’s running mate Tim Kaine and Donald Trump’s running mate Mike Pence, the issue of abortion was brought up, quickly changing the tone of exchange between the two men. When CBS news correspondent Elaine Quijano, who served as moderator of the debate, asked the question
Out in the rural hinterlands, it’s not unusual to pass yards with “Protect Religious Freedom” signs. Religious Freedom has become a dog whistle in recent years, with the “Religion” part understood to mean the speaker’s preferred brand of Christianity, and “Freedom” meaning, in practice, the ability to force others, who may not necessarily believe the
A civil rights lawsuit has been filed against the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, former police Sergeant Stephen Matakovich, and the company in charge of security for Heinz Field by 20-year-old Gabriel Despres after the young man was viciously beaten before being charged with felony aggravated assault while attending a championship high school football game at
On Monday, September 26, a 16-year-old Houston, Texas, resident was awarded nearly $8 million in a sexual assault case against her former employer, nationwide fast-food chain Chipotle. After deliberating for just three hours, the jury ordered the restaurant pay the victim $7.65 million in damages subsequent to finding them accountable for the abuse she suffered at
On Thursday, September 29, California governor Jerry Brown signed a bill requiring every single-stall bathroom in the state be made available to all genders. The gender-neutral bathroom bill was designed to ensure the LGBTQ community has access to public restrooms in the state, along with parents and caretakers of opposite-sex children and adults, without facing