Your daily dose of civil rights and related news
The House of Representatives just passed a gender pay equity law, responding (I presume) to the widely derided Ledbetter decision of last year.
The Montgomery County police union is blocking the placement of audio recording devices in squad cars -- a key step in enacted accountability for cops (not to mention protecting them against bogus charges of abuse).
Gay couples are thrilled that Massachusetts has lifted the last barrier to gay marriages in its state.
Colorado prosecutors are treating the recent murder of a transgender woman as a hate crime.
The Boston Globe editorializes against inhumane practices foisted upon illegal immigrant woman who are pregnant or just recently gave birth.
UT-Brownsville has staved off an attempt by the border patrol to erect a fence slicing through the middle of their campus.
Election law experts are very nervous about voter suppression tactics being directed at Black voters.
Texas is number one when it comes to sexual abuse in its juvenile justice system.
The ICE self-deportation plan continues to shine: now they say they want to use ankle bracelets to track the volunteers.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney: "Let's Call 'Sex Tourism' What It Really Is: Slavery."
California unlawfully and involuntarily transfers some of its prisoners to out-of-state facilities.
New Mexico district court rules against the retaliation claim of two people who Wal-Mart refused to hire, allegedly because their parent had previously filed a discrimination charge against the company. The case is EEOC v. Wal-Mart.
Grand Junction, Colorado residents can file civil rights claims again. The satellite office of the state's civil rights division, previously closed due to budget cuts, has been reopened.
Gov. Charlie Crist (R-FL) continues to show leadership on voter reenfranchisement, but more work remains to be done in the Sunshine State.
A police officer pulled over a legal immigrant, accused him of operating a commercial vehicle without a license because it had a ladder on top of it (he was painting his house with some friends), and then "unleashed a torrent of profanity-laced, anti-immigrant abuse." Unsurprisingly, the man is suing.
The "race card" flap between McCain and Obama has unintentionally put McCain's new support for the Arizona anti-affirmative action initiative back in the public eye.
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I'm not sure one fairly can term all sex tourism to be slavery. This assumes that prostitution is inherently exploitative, which is not a position of which I feel certain yet. If someone travels to a nation with legalized prostitution in order to have sex, he's pretty clearly a "sex tourist," but the prostitute is not necessarily a slave. But I was entertained by the letter Maloney got from the pimp profiting off Big Apple Oriental Tours; evidently any suggestion that American men shouldn't have wholly unregulated access to foreign women's vaginas pisses some guys off.
As for the "race card," I'm just confused by the folks who claim that Obama has been accusing McCain of being a racist all along. The Republican candidates actually were doing quite nicely about criticizing Obama for being a liberal without invoking anything to do with race. Almost all the criticism I hear about Obama -- admittedly, I know sane Republicans -- has to do with his stances on taxes, abortion, energy policy, and troop withdrawal from Iraq. None of this was about race either overtly ("he's pro-abortion because he's black!") or covertly ("he wants to withdraw troops because he doesn't support them because he isn't a real American!").
I don't think the suggestion that Republicans will attack Obama for his "otherness" is inaccurate. This is what all the rumors come down to: the Michelle "whitey" myth (that NYer cover was awesome in capturing "Michelle Obama IS Foxxy Brown"); the flag pin flap; the madrassa/ Muslim stuff; the Freeper claim that he isn't really a citizen. Trying to portray someone as an outsider to the majority of voters isn't necessarily about race. The same strategy was used against JFK with regard to religion.
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