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discrimination

Court: Cities Can Sue Banks Over Discriminatory Practices

May 5, 2017 Bill Chapell, www.npr.org , ,
By Bill Chapell for NPR - The city of Miami can sue Wells Fargo and Bank of America for damages under the Fair Housing Act, the Supreme Court says, allowing a lawsuit to continue that accuses the big banks of causing economic harm with discriminatory and predatory lending practices. The 5-3 vote saw Chief Justice John Roberts form a majority with the court's more liberal justices. Justice Anthony Kennedy, widely seen as the court's "swing" justice, sided with Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. The court's newest justice, Neil Gorsuch, wasn't involved in the case. After lower courts had issued back-and-forth opinions on whether Miami's lawsuit should continue, the Supreme Court says the city should be allowed to make its case. "But the justices said that to win damages, the city must prove a direct link to the revenue loss and increased costs," NPR's Nina Totenberg tells our Newscast unit, "and that is an extremely high bar to clear." The ruling comes nearly two years after the Supreme Court sided with civil rights groups who argued that, as we reported, "claims of racial discrimination in housing cases shouldn't be limited by questions of intent."

Maryland HBCUs Fight Almost 50 Years Of Discrimination

March 6, 2017 Staff, www.popularresistance.org , , ,
By Popular Resistance. Maryland's four Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have never been desegregated. Despite findings by the Department of Education and Federal Court that the HBCUs have not received adequate funding when compared to Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) and have had their programs duplicated by PWIs, drawing students and faculty away from the HBCUs, the state has refused to make amends. Below you will find a timeline of this struggle and an interview with two alumni, Rashad Staton and DeJuan Patterson, who are organizing to raise awareness of this injustice. The current court case is the most significant discrimination case in education since Brown v the Board of Education, yet it is receiving little attention in the media. And this fight goes beyond equity in education

Border Agent Questioned Me About My Work For ACLU

February 9, 2017 Hina Shamsi, www.aclu.org , , ,
By Hina Shamsi for ACLU - Last week, I was flying home from a work trip and faced Customs and Border Protection questioning unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in over 25 years of travel into and out of this country, including more than 10 years of travel for my work as an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union and other rights groups. Compared to the hardship and suffering of the tens of thousands of people impacted by President Trump’s Muslim ban executive order, it was nothing. But it said something personal to me about the tenor of these dark times. I was coming back from the island nation of Dominica, where I had gone for meetings and depositions in our torture victim clients’ lawsuit against the two psychologists behind the CIA torture program.

When Algorithms Decide What You Pay

October 14, 2016 Julia Angwin, Terry Parris Jr. and Surya Mattu, www.propublica.org , ,
By Julia Angwin, Terry Parris Jr. and Surya Mattu for ProPublica - YOU MAY NOT REALIZE IT, but every website you visit is created, literally, the moment you arrive. Each element of the page — the pictures, the ads, the text, the comments — live on computers in different places and are sent to your device when you request them. That means that it’s easy for companies to create different web pages for different people. Sometimes that customization is helpful, such as when you see search results for restaurants near you.

New Suit ‘Makes Clear Voting Discrimination Is Alive And Well’

September 9, 2016 Andrea Germanos, www.commondreams.org , ,
By Andrea Germanos for Common Dreams - With Alabama's three highest courts failing to reflect its racial diversity, the state now faces a federal lawsuit alleging a violation of the Voting Rights Act. The case (pdf), filed in federal court Wednesday in Montgomery, "makes clear that voting discrimination is alive and well across the state of Alabama," said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers' Committee).

Why The HB2 Boycott Of North Carolina Is Working

May 1, 2016 Chris Kromm, www.southernstudies.org , , ,
By Chris Kromm for the Institute for Southern Studies. It's been over a month since North Carolina lawmakers rushed to pass House Bill 2, sweeping legislation that, while targeting a Charlotte city ordinance for gender-neutral public bathrooms, also nullified local anti-discrimination and wage laws. Since HB2 passed, headlines have been filled with near-daily reports of top companies, sports associations like the NBA and NCAA, and big-ticket performers from Bruce Springsteen to Cirque du Soleil not only condemning the law but saying they would rethink doing business in North Carolina or would boycott the state entirely. State officials have tried to downplay the impact of the HB2 backlash. In early April, N.C. Commerce Secretary John Skvarla blithely said "it's business as usual" in the state.

Federal Judge Upholds ‘Discriminatory’ NC Voter ID Law

April 27, 2016 Nika Knight, www.commondreams.org , ,
By Nika Knight for Common Dreams - North Carolina's sweeping and controversial election reform law, HB 589, was upheld on Monday by a federal judge in Winston-Salem, prompting vows to appeal from the plaintiffs who allege that the legislation's dramatic voting restrictions widely disenfranchise minority voters. "The sweeping barriers imposed by this law undermine voter participation and have an overwhelmingly discriminatory impact on African-Americans. This ruling does not change that reality. We are already examining an appeal," said Dale Ho, director of the ACLU's Voting Rights Project, in a statement.

Repealing ‘Hate Bill 2’; Protesters Welcome Back NC Lawmakers

April 26, 2016 Deirdre Fulton, www.commondreams.org , , ,
By Deirdre Fulton for Common Dreams - The legislation, which opponents say is unconstitutional, requires that transgender people use bathrooms that match the sex on their birth certificates, and forbids cities and counties from enacting their own ordinances to prohibit discrimination against lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender people. Lambda Legal, the ACLU, and the ACLU of North Carolina are fighting the law in federal court. More than 100 business executives, President Barack Obama, and countless social justice warriors have denounced HB 2.

Protesters Flood Streets As Discrimination Law Backlash Grows

March 31, 2016 Nika Knight, www.commondreams.org , , ,
By Nika Knight for Common Dreams - "If we don't get no justice, then they don't get no peace!" was the rallying cry echoing in the streets of downtown Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for hours on Tuesday. Hundreds of anti-discrimination activists flooded the streets and stopped traffic through the afternoon and evening in a planned protest against the state's sweeping, unprecedented anti-LGBTQ legislation signed into law last week.

82 Orgs Ask DOJ To Address Illegality Of ‘Muslim-Free Zone’

September 2, 2015 CAIR, www.cair.com , , , , ,
By CAIR - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, announced today that a coalition of 82 civil liberties, human rights, immigrant rights, faith, and cultural organizations (see list of signatories below) sent a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch asking her to investigate the growing phenomena of so-called “Muslim-free zone” businesses nationwide. The coalition, which includes prominent national organizations such as the ACLU, NAACP and the YWCA USA, requested that the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section conduct a full federal investigation into all businesses that have declared themselves as “Muslim-Free Zones” and “bring civil enforcement proceedings against business owners who have violated the law.”

An Open Letter To Civil Rights Groups In The U.S.

August 14, 2015 Jeffrey Sterling, www.stltoday.com , , , ,
By Jeffrey Sterling in St. Louis Post Dispatch - Dear NAACP, National Action Network, Rainbow PUSH Coalition, Congressional Black Caucus and others: Where were you? Where were you when I was faced with blatant discrimination at my job, when my employer told me I was “too big and too black” to do the job? Where were you when I, one of the first black officers to do so, filed a discrimination suit against the Central Intelligence Agency? Where were you when the justice system of the United States dismissed my discrimination suit because the U.S. government maintained that trying my suit would endanger national security? Where were you during the many years I reached out to you, begging, pleading for help from you while the United States government pursued and tormented me for years, bent on retaliation and persecution?

Next Head Of ‘Civil Administration’ Said Palestinians Are Sub-Human

May 18, 2015 John Brown, www.972mag.com , , ,
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finalized the formation of a new government this week when he signed a coalition agreement with far-right settler party Jewish Home. As part of the agreement, Rabbi Ben-Dahan will be Israel’s next deputy defense minister, responsible for the army’s “Civil Administration.” The Civil Administration is responsible for all aspects the occupation that don’t involve boots-on-the-ground security operations — it administers planning, building, and infrastructurefor both Jews and Palestinians in Area C of the West Bank. It alsoadministers the Palestinian population database and is responsible for granting and revoking entry and travel permits for Palestinians, controlling every aspect of their movement.

Backlash To Anti-Gay Laws Not A Movement, But The Result Of One

April 6, 2015 Kate Aronoff, www.wagingnonviolence.org , , ,
There was a showdown this week in Indiana and it had nothing to do with the Final Four — well, almost. Last Friday, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed into law Senate Bill 101, also known as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA. While most of the bill’s language consisted of relatively benign legal protections for religious groups, it also would have safeguarded small businesses and corporations alike in refusing business to customers based on their sexual orientation — providing a claim, as well, in lawsuits brought by private citizens. The bill’s definition of religious freedom was so broad as to allow individuals to declare a religion of one and use it as legal grounding in court. A similar law, HB1228, was passed on Tuesday in Arkansas, and drew similar — if less acute — ire.

Indiana Boycott Urged After ‘Religious Freedom’ Law Passes

March 29, 2015 Staff, www.bbc.com ,
Activists have encouraged a boycott of Indiana after the US state enacted a "religious freedom" law, which they say discriminates against gay people. Supporters say the law prevents the state from forcing people to provide services contrary to their religion. Similar bills are being considered across the US as court rulings have made gay marriage legal in more states. Several groups plan to do less business with the state, and celebrities criticised the law on Twitter. The National Collegiate Athletic Association said it was "especially concerned" about how the law would affect its employees and student athletes. Next week, the NCAA will host the finals of its annual basketball tournament in Indianapolis, the state's capital and its largest city. On Friday, Arkansas moved closer to passing a similar "religious freedom" measure.

Healthcare Law Did Not End Discrimination

March 9, 2015 Kay Tillow, www.pnhp.org , ,
In 2010 the giant health insurance company WellPoint created an algorithm that searched its database, located breast cancer patients, and targeted them for cancellation of their policies. A few years earlier Michael Moore’s stunning documentary, “Sicko,” showed an unending list of illnesses that had been used by insurers to refuse to sell people policies, to charge them much more, or to deny payment for “pre-existing conditions.” The public became acutely aware of these harmful, widespread practices and sharply condemned them. So it was not by chance that this insistent popular support resulted in inclusion of a ban on these practices in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that was passed in 2010. The government website explains. “Your insurance company can’t turn you down or charge you more because of your pre-existing health or medical condition like asthma, back pain, diabetes, or cancer. Once you have insurance, they can’t refuse to cover treatment for your pre-existing condition.”
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