civil rights

WASHINGTON — The District of Columbia Council approved legislation Tuesday that gives police broader powers to try to reduce crime that has risen to a level some members of Congress believe warrants federal intervention. The law increases penalties for illegal... Read More

WASHINGTON — Six decades on, the decennial remembrance of the 1963 March on Washington may not draw hundreds of thousands of participants, but for the several thousand who did make their way to the National Mall on Saturday, the day... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the Indian Child Welfare Act, a federal law that prioritizes reuniting Native American children in foster care or the adoption system with members of their families and tribes.  In a 7-2 ruling,... Read More

WASHINGTON — A civil rights leader on technology policy told a Senate panel Tuesday that artificial intelligence is creating risks to privacy and democracy that the U.S. government has not yet brought under control. She and other witnesses on artificial... Read More

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — At the heart of the University of North Carolina admissions process there is a mission statement promising the institution will educate a diverse student body to become the next generation of great leaders.  On Monday, Oct.... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday overturned 50 years of legal precedent, ruling that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion. The ruling, written by Justice Samuel Alito Jr., overturns both Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case... Read More

WASHINGTON — Fifty  years ago today, 37 words changed the game for women all around America. Thursday marks the 50th anniversary of Title IX, which Richard Nixon signed into law on June 23, 1972.  The law states that “no person... Read More

WASHINGTON — Activists of all political stripes gathered outside the Supreme Court Tuesday the day after Politico published a leaked draft of a Supreme Court opinion that would roll back Roe v. Wade nearly 50 years after the landmark decision... Read More

WASHINGTON — A report released by the Office of the Inspector General regarding the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s oversight of civil rights complaints provides 21 recommendations that the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights should take to try... Read More

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Black college students once marched downtown from the north Nashville neighborhood where Aaron Marble preaches, sitting at Whites-only lunch counters to fight for civil rights. Soon, his historically Black community will fold into a mostly rural,... Read More

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Witness testimony will get underway in earnest Tuesday at the federal civil rights trial of three former Minneapolis police officers accused of failing to intervene as fellow Officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd by pressing his knee into the... Read More

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A jury of 18 people who appeared mostly white was picked Thursday for the federal trial of three Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s killing, a case that the judge told potential jurors has “absolutely nothing”... Read More

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of four inmates at an Arkansas jail who were unknowingly administered ivermectin to treat their cases of COVID-19. The plaintiffs in the case allege... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will use a speech in Georgia to endorse changing Senate filibuster rules that have stalled voting rights legislation, saying it’s time to choose “democracy over autocracy.” But some civil rights groups won’t be there, in protest of... Read More

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana’s governor planned to posthumously pardon Homer Plessy on Wednesday, more than a century after the Black man was arrested in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow a Jim Crow law creating “whites-only” train cars. The Plessy v Ferguson... Read More

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal charge of violating George Floyd’s civil rights, admitting for the first time that he kept his knee on Floyd’s neck — even after he... Read More

WASHINGTON — More than 100 Democrats in the House and Senate are urging their colleagues to help them guarantee a woman’s timely access to birth control at her local pharmacy. The legislation, the Access to Birth Control Act, was reintroduced... Read More

WASHINGTON — Sixteen civil rights groups are asking telecommunications companies AT&T and DirecTV to cut business ties with conservative media outlet One America News Network. The groups led by media advocacy group Free Press accuse One America of spreading anti-democratic... Read More

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Four former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd's civil rights  are scheduled to be arraigned in federal court Tuesday at a hearing that could also address some pretrial motions. A federal grand jury indicted Derek... Read More

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Republican states that have passed increasingly tough abortion restrictions only to see them blocked by the federal courts have a new template in an unusually written Texas law that represents the most far-reaching curb on... Read More

WASHINGTON -- The Department of Education will invoke its civil rights enforcement authority to prevent states from imposing universal bans on wearing face masks in classrooms, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said on Wednesday. The decision represents a dramatic escalation of... Read More

The hashtag “#freebritney” has recently been flooding social media channels after the pop sensation claimed her 2008 court-mandated conservatorship withheld her from removing her intrauterine device, hindering her ability to reproduce, an issue which has been at the heart of... Read More

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear an abortion case next term that could dramatically alter abortion jurisprudence. In 2018, Mississippi enacted a law that banned abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. It was one of a wave... Read More

When Steven Reed was elected the first Black mayor of Montgomery, Ala., he came with an ambitious plan to develop the city and to move towards equity.  He viewed his election as a mandate for equity that could outline a... Read More

WASHINGTON - Thirty years ago today, on March 3, 1991, a Los Angeles motorist named Rodney King was severely beaten by four White police officers wielding metal batons, an event that would ultimately seal his place in recent civil rights history.  This... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic-led House passed a bill Thursday that would enshrine LGBTQ protections in the nation's labor and civil rights laws, a top priority of President Joe Biden, though the legislation faces an uphill battle in the Senate.The... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Witnesses at a congressional hearing Wednesday said the African American community should receive reparations for the inequality and bigotry that started with slavery but continues now. They were speaking in support of a recently reintroduced bill that would... Read More

NEW YORK (AP) — National lawmakers introduced a joint resolution Wednesday aimed at striking language from the U.S. Constitution that enshrines a form of slavery in America’s foundational documents. The resolution, spearheaded and supported by Democratic members of the House... Read More

WASHINGTON — Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of NAACP, was the special guest this week at the Meridian International Center, a non-partisan center for diplomacy and global leadership. He shared his perspective on recent general election results including their impact... Read More

WASHINGTON — Election advocacy groups are preparing for the possibility of voter intimidation at the polls Tuesday, although weeks of early voting remained mostly peaceful despite the country's unsettled mood in a year with simmering partisan and sometimes violent conflicts on... Read More