Friday, July 25, 2008

Civil Rights Roundup: 07/25/08

Your daily dose of civil rights and related news

Congress is questioning the use of expedited trial procedures against suspected illegal immigrants picked up in an Iowa raid on a meat processing plant.

E.J. Dionne asks: Is this the year the youth vote finally arrives?

Rep. Mark Souder wants to control DC's gun laws. Mark Souder is from Indiana, which, thanks to the District's disenfranchisement, still gives him more power over Washingtonians than their elected officials have.

In an Atlantic City sex scandal, some claim that an implicated White councilman are being treated more leniently than his Black peer.

The Houston Chronicle (a bit belatedly, to my ears) remarks on the wild popularity of Vogue's all-Black issue. Though the white-hot sales hopefully will explode the myth that Black models don't sell, some feminist writers are worried that the "all-Black" edition reinforces White normalcy and won't lead to long-term diversity in the modeling industry.

The CIA's "good faith" torture defense is a doozy.

Girls and boys are equally good at math. I wonder I much I weigh down the average of my gender?

Voting rights groups are accusing three states -- Michigan, Kansas, and Louisiana -- of illegally purging their voter rolls.

A Latino immigrant in Pennsylvania was beaten to death while attackers yelled racial slurs. Nonetheless, police say the attack was not racially motivated.

Citing data that Black motorists are disproportionately targeted, Illinois civil rights groups are asking that the state ban consent searches during vehicle stops.

A South Carolina state trooper is being brought up on civil rights charges after ramming a fleeing suspect with his patrol car. Apparently, this has become a trend among the state's police officers, who also use racial epithets while doing it.

New Jersey officials failed in their bid to have a lawsuit filed by state prisoners thrown out. A judge ruled that if the inmates allegations were true, their confinement conditions constituted cruel and unusual punishment.

Violence between Latinos and Blacks in LA is driving area hate-crime stats through the roof.

A transgender Georgia state employee is suing, claiming she was fired once she announced she'd be transitioning from male-to-female.

A top corporate executive, who is Black, still thinks his peers must be "twice as good" in order to make it in corporate America.

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