May 20, 2017 On April 4, 2017, eight judges on a Chicago appellate court ruled to protect LGBT employees from discrimination in the workplace under the 1964 Civil Rights Act, making this the first decision of its kind. An Indiana federal district court will rehear the case. According to Gregory Nevins, a lawyer from the…
May 10, 2017 On April 10, 2017, Deirdre Harris, a 42 year-old African-American woman, from Huntington Beach, filed a civil rights lawsuit against Safeway and its subsidiary Albertson’s. The lawsuit claims that a store manager allegedly failed to take steps to correct or apologize for a checkout employee’s actions after the cashier incorrectly assumed Harris…
April 10, 2017 In February 2017, the Supreme Court ruled 6-2 in favor of awarding a Mexican-American Texas death row inmate a new sentencing hearing. The reason for the change was that one of the jurors was heard to say during deliberations that the defendant must be guilty because Mexican men “take whatever they want.” In…
March 10, 2017 Despite pressure from the Department of Education and the newly appointed Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, President Trump recalled protections for transgender children who want to use the school bathroom that matches their gender identity. The Justice Department joined civil rights officials from the Education Department arguing for continued choice by students when…
February 10, 2017 In the weeks leading up to the 2017 Presidential inauguration, civil rights protestors continued their fight to pursue criminal justice and voting rights under the new administration of President Trump. Part of the President Elect’s platform included revamping the healthcare system, restrictions on refugees and immigration and building a wall on the…
January 20, 2017 A transgender Ohio student, age 11, has permission to keep using the girls’ bathroom until the case makes its way through the court system, according to a ruling by a U.S. appeals court in December 2016. The student, who identifies as a girl but who is a biological boy, has been using…
January 11, 2016 In June 2012, the Obama administration enacted a policy called the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). This policy permits certain immigrants who entered the country illegally before June 2007 and their 16th birthday to receive a work permit and gives them a two-year deportation grace period—deferred action—renewable every two years. In…
December 31, 2016 All juveniles will now have the right to a hearing before they are transferred to adult court, according to new California legislation passed on Nov. 9, 2016. However, implementing the law means that nearly everyone in the legal system will need to go through extensive training. New services for young offenders who…
September 25, 2016 A complaint filed in U.S. District Court against the tech conglomerate Hewlett-Packard in August 2016 alleges that the company discriminated against older employees. The company began downsizing in 2012 amid restructuring, eventually laying off more than 80,000 employees. However, the workers have claimed that they were specifically targeted due to their age….
September 12, 2016 In August 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily refused to permit a transgender boy in Virginia, who was originally born as a female, to select the boys’ bathroom at his high school. In a 5-3 decision, Justice Stephen G. Breyer sided with the majority, deferring a final ruling until the court decides…