"The barbed debate over racial justice is exploding this week on Capitol Hill, as Democrats in both chambers are charging ahead with a host of proposals to empower minorities amid the national clash over police bias, brutality and the future of law enforcement."
The House Votes To Remove Confederate Statues In The U.S. Capitol - Barbara Sprunt
"The House of Representatives on Tuesday voted to remove all Confederate statues from public display in the U.S. Capitol along with replacing the bust of former Chief Justice of the United States Roger Taney author of the 1857 Dred Scott decision that declared that people of African descent were not U.S. citizens."
GOP blocks House bill to ban race-based hair discrimination - Cristina Marcos
"The House fell short of passing legislation on Monday that would prohibit discrimination against people with hair styles associated with a particular race or national origin."
H.R.40 - Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act
"This bill establishes the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans. The commission shall examine slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present and recommend appropriate remedies. Among other requirements the commission shall identify (1) the role of federal and state governments in supporting the institution of slavery (2) forms of discrimination in the public and private sectors against freed slaves and their descendants and (3) lingering negative effects of slavery on living African-Americans and society."
Breathe Act - Electoral Justice Project of the Movement for Black Lives
"We are rising up against all the ways that the criminal-legal system has harmed and failed to protect Black communities. The current moment requires a solution that fundamentally shifts how we envision community-care and invest in our society. History is clear that we cannot achieve genuine safety and liberation until we abandon police prisons and all punishment paradigms."
White Like Me: The Negative Impact of the Diversity Rationale on White Identity Formation - Osamudia R. James
"In several cases addressing the constitutionality of affirmative action admissions policies the Supreme Court has recognized a compelling state interest in schools with diverse student populations. According to the Court and affirmative action proponents the pursuit of diversity does not only benefit minority students who gain expanded access to elite institutions through affirmative action. Rather diversity also benefits white students who grow through encounters with minority students it contributes to social and intellectual life on campus and it serves society at large by aiding the development of citizens equipped for employment and citizen-ship in an increasingly diverse country."
Supreme Court Declines to Hear Case Involving Racial Slur in Workplace - Melissa Quinn
"The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a legal battle involving one of the most offensive words in the English language spurning a case raising whether its utterance in the workplace even one time creates a hostile work environment."
Second Prosecutor Resigns from Trump's Police Commission - Sarah N. Lynch
"A second local prosecutor on Thursday asked the U.S. Justice Department to have his name removed from a controversial report on policing reforms saying he feared it would fail to address systemic racism in the criminal justice system."
Rep. Bush Calls Trump a 'White Supremacist President' on House Floor - Aris Folley
"Newly sworn-in Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) referred to President Trump as the 'white supremacist in chief' in her remarks on the House floor on Wednesday as the lower chamber prepares to impeach the president for a second time."
Biden Proclaims Day of Remembrance on 100th Anniversary of Tulsa Race Massacre - Kate Sullivan
"President Joe Biden on Monday issued a proclamation to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre when hundreds of Black Americans were killed by a White mob that attacked a prosperous Black neighborhood and burned dozens of city blocks to the ground."
Race Racism and the Law - Vernellia R. Randall University of Dayton School of Law
"Race Racism And The Law considers race racism and racial distinctions in the law. It examines the role of domestic and international law in promoting and/or alleviating racism. This website makes law review scholarship (and related material) more accessible to community activists students and non-legal faculty."
The Year in Hate and Extremism 2020 - Rachel Janik and Keegan Hankes
"Trump refused to condemn the insurrection which left five people dead including a Capitol law enforcement officer. He even praised the rioters calling them "patriots" saying "we love you" and "you are very special." The episode was reminiscent of his notorious declaration that there were "very fine people on both sides" in the aftermath of the violence at the deadly 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville Virginia."
Unpacking a Decade of Appellate Decisions on Qualified Immunity - Alexander A. Reinert
"Prompted by several recent high-visibility killings by police officers the U.S. civil rights enforcement regime is the subject of focused attention at the national state and local levels."
Officers And Paramedics Are Charged In Elijah McClain's 2019 Death In Colorado - Associated Press
"Colorado's attorney general said Wednesday that a grand jury indicted three officers and two paramedics in the death of Elijah McClain a Black man who was put in a chokehold and injected with a powerful sedative two years ago in suburban Denver."
Henrietta Lacks' Family Hires Ben Crump for Legal Battle - Free Press/NPR
"The family of the late Henrietta Lacks who unwittingly spurred a research bonanza when her cancer cells were taken without her knowledge in 1951 has hired a prominent civil rights lawyer to seek compensation from pharmaceutical companies."
Major Law Firms and Advocacy Groups Unite to Combat Anti-Asian Violence - Lisa Boylan
"A new alliance will connect victims of anti-Asian hate with pro bono legal services and work to prevent further acts of violence. The effort shows the importance of clear goals and strong networking in addressing social problems."
New York State Bar Forms Task Force to Address Racism and Social Inequality - Eduardo Munoz
"The New York State Bar Association is launching a task force focused on examining and addressing structural racism and other types of prejudice as part of its latest effort to resolve broader national social problems."
Suspect in Manhattan Attack on Asian Woman Charged With Assault as a Hate crime - Peter Szekely Gabriella Borter
"A New York man previously convicted of murdering his mother has been arrested and charged with assaulting a 65-year-old Asian woman in a hate crime an attack captured on a video that went viral amid a rise in anti-Asian incidents in the United States."
ABA Joins with Dozens of Law Schools to Address Issues in Police Practices - Patricia Lee Refo
"America was founded on the principle that all men are created equal. Throughout our history we have not always lived up to that self-evident truth. This has been especially true in our criminal justice system."
4 Ex-Cops Indicted on US Civil Rights Charges in Floyd Death - Amy Forliti and Michael Balsamo
"A federal grand jury has indicted the four former Minneapolis police officers involved in George Floyd's arrest and death accusing them of willfully violating the Black man's constitutional rights as he was restrained face-down on the pavement and gasping for air."
ACLU-MN Appeals Case To MN Supreme Court To Let People Vote
"The city of Minneapolis and its police department are willfully subverting our state's Government Data Practices Act by withholding public data about disciplinary action taken against police for serious misconduct according to a new lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Minnesota in state court Thursday."
Americans are Divided by Age and Race on the Fairness of the Justice System ABA Civics Survey Finds - Amanda Robert
"A new survey released by the ABA on Thursday found stark divisions based on age and race when it comes to believing that there are racial biases built into the rules procedures and practices of the justice system."
Exclusionary and classist: Why the legal profession is getting whiter - Hassan Kanu
"A recent American Bar Association study found that the legal profession in America has remained overwhelmingly white and male over the last decade and that racial diversity among lawyers has actually regressed in some respects"