The US Supreme court in a 4-3 decision upheld the use of race as a factor at the University of Texas. This means that other schools who use race as one of many factors in its admissions decisions should feel a little more secure for now. Read more here.
Supreme Court issued three important decisions yesterday that deal with race: criminal justice, redistricting and employment.
The justices ruled against a white jury in a Georgia murder case; for minority plaintiffs who challenged voting districts in Virginia; and for a postal employee who said he lost his job due to race.
Source: U.S. Supreme Court Decides 3 Cases Involving Race : The Two-Way : NPR
Important USSC cases decided; more on the Georgia case next…
Yesterday the Court issued three rulings in argued cases. Molly Runkle rounded up early coverage and commentary for this blog. NPR’s Nina Totenberg had an overview of all three cases. More coverage of yesterday’s opinion in Foster v. Chatman, holding by a vote of seven to one that the Supreme Court of Georgia’s decision that…
Here’s an interesting article that connects past and present realities. GRD
Fifty years ago, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. made his first public visit to South Carolina to deliver a speech on a school field in Kingstree about the importance of voting. About 5,000 came out on a rainy day to hear him.
Source: Post and Courier
In Maryland and Virginia, former felons have the ability to vote, with some restrictions. For example, in Virginia, they must complete probation or parole. Nonetheless. 40,000 persons in Maryland and more than 200.000 persons in Virginia now have access to the ballot box. These measures, however, may be met with litigation that could affect their ability to vote in the 2016 election. Read the New York Times article here.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) sent a letter to North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory stating that House Bill 2, which among other things, requires persons to use the bathroom of their birth, violates two civil rights laws-Title VII (employment discrimination) and Title IX (sex discrimination). Read more here.
Interestingly, HB2 was hastily passed, much like NC’s restrictive voting law passed in 2013 after Shelby v. Holder that removed same day registration, limited early voting, and instituted a restrictive voter id requirement.
Civil rights case involving disabled riders and Uber drivers, read more here:
Here’s an interesting article found in the Washington Post that discusses new millennium housing discrimination on sites, like AirBnB. A recent study showed that racial sounding African American names could determine, in some circumstances, whether a room/house was available for rent. Read more here:
New and more restrictive laws are in place in some Super Tuesday states. http://ow.ly/YWuKn
Maryland legislature restores the right to vote to more than 40,000 citizens. #VotingRights
http://ow.ly/Y8fYb
A Voting-Rights Debate Uses High-Minded Rhetoric to Mask Bare-Knuckled Politics http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/05/one-person-one-vote/394502/
USSC will hear two BIG voting rights cases today that an change EVERYTHING!! http://ow.ly/VChZZ
After months of unrest, student protests, and a presidential resignation, The University of Missouri has appointed Michael Middleton as the interim president of the university. Middleton is no stranger to the university or the fight for Civil Rights. In 1968, Middleton became the third black student to graduate from the University’s law school. Shortly after graduation. Middleton started his legal career in the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department. His professional and personal experiences may be just what the University needs.
House Democrats are campaigning for changes to the Voting Rights Act to ensure that every eligible American has access to a ballot. These changes would re-implement a “pre-clearance” protocol for elections in states that have over 15 voting rights violations. To date, no Republicans have signed on to the bill but House Democrats are campaigning for Republicans to hold a hearing or vote on the bill. Without these changes or others like it, many Americans could be shutout from the ballot.
Civil Rights Today 