Social Movements & the Law

PEN America, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization dedicated to free expression through literature, has created a dataset tracking books banned or restricted in school classrooms and libraries in the United States from July 2021 to March 2022. The dataset contains the book’s name and author, the schoo

Parishes are getting into heated arguments over the discussion to ban books in libraries, which some argue is a targeted attack towards the LGBTQ+ community.

The Biden administration is asking the Supreme Court to block the Texas law banning most abortions, while the fight over the measure’s constitutionality plays out in the courts.

The city of Minneapolis on Thursday agreed to pay roughly $8.9 million to settle two lawsuits involving former police officer Derek Chauvin, who was charged with killing George Floyd in 2020. In th…

Harsher punishments for violent protests in North Carolina are being challenged by a prominent civil rights group, which said in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday that several parts of a new anti-riot law are unconstitutional.

As the world watched, the Shelby County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to reappoint Justin Pearson to the Tennessee House of Representatives, less than a week after the Republican-led House voted to expel him and fellow state Representative Justin Jones from the body for joining peaceful protests against gun violence after the school massacre in Nashville. Pearson and Jones were the two youngest Black lawmakers in the Tennessee House. The Nashville Metropolitan Council unanimously voted Monday to restore Jones to office, and he was sworn in Tuesday. Pearson is being sworn back in today. We feature their remarks at the vote and rally Wednesday in Memphis.

President Biden has declared an end to the COVID-19 national emergency, but people living with long COVID say the pandemic is far from over. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found nearly one in five people infected with COVID-19 go on to experience symptoms of long COVID. We speak to science writer Ryan Prior about the movement to expand research and resources for those with long COVID, and his own experience living with the chronic illness. Prior is the author of The Long Haul and writes the “Patient Revolution” for Psychology Today.

We talk to people who wanted abortions right when the laws were changing in their states.

A federal appeals court will allow partial access to the abortion drug mifepristone while a high-profile federal case plays out, but with new limitations on how the drug can be dispensed.

“Digidog is out of the pound,” Mayor Eric Adams said at a press conference showing off three new NYPD technologies, including a robotic dog.

Last month, Tribal Justice Clinic Director Heather Whiteman Runs Him filed an amicus brief on behalf of 37 tribes in support of the Navajo Nation, which has been arguing for the right to draw water from the Colorado River. The case, Arizona v. Navajo Nation, pits the treaty rights of the largest Native American reservation in the United States against water rights claims by the state in which much of the reservation is located.

A podcast attempting to shine light on the radical inequities and the oppressive nature of the library profession, specifically as it pertains to BIPOC professionals and the communities they serve in the state of Oregon. An Oregon Library Associat...

Book Challenges Nearly Doubled From 2021 CHICAGO — The American Library Association (ALA) today released new data documenting* 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling data about censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago. The unparalleled number of reported book challenges in 2022 nearly doubles the 729 challenges reported in 2021. A record 2,571 unique titles were targeted for censorship, a 38% increase from the 1,858 unique titles targeted for censorship in 2021.

A rural Texas county that was ordered by a federal judge to return banned books to its public library shelves is now considering shutting down its libraries entirely.

These efforts are part of a broader, conservative-led movement to chisel away at the rights and status of LGBTQ Americans.

A list of reading about and for activism within academic institutions, from NYU Press.

Present-day courts, practitioners, and scholars continue to cite to and rely upon cases involving slavery and enslaved persons to construe, interpret, and apply

A daily independent global news hour with Amy Goodman & Juan González. “Unconscionable”: Planned Parenthood’s Alexis McGill Johnson Slams Texas Ruling on Abortion Pill; Jessica Mason Pieklo: Republicans’ Anti-Abortion Moves Are Part of Wider “Authoritarian Movement”; What Is the Comstock Act? Texas Judge Cites 1873 Anti-Obscenity Law to Halt Approval of Abortion Pill; Hotline Founder on the Struggle to Preserve Access to Abortion Pills Amid Relentless GOP Attacks; Arizona Abortion Provider: Texas Ruling on Mifepristone Leaves Patients & Clinics “in Limbo”

Fearless, adversarial journalism that holds the powerful accountable.

Bill Text (2023-04-04) Public monies; ideology training; prohibition [House minority caucus: Do pass]

US district judge Thomas Parker grants temporary injunction, finding the law clashes with first amendment on free speech

US News is a recognized leader in college, grad school, hospital, mutual fund, and car rankings. Track elected officials, research health conditions, and find news you can use in politics, business, health, and education.

In the nine months since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a rapidly shifting patchwork of abortion bans and restrictions has emerged.

In a statement to HR Dive, Achilles International denied the allegations, saying they were previously dismissed by a state agency.

PHOENIX (AP) — Native American tribal members fighting plans for an enormous copper mine on land they consider sacred say they are increasingly worried U.S. officials will publish an environmental …

The Gila River Indian Community will receive up to $233 million in funding for conservation agreements that will help the tribe and other water users along the Colorado River Basin protect the stability and sustainability of the Colorado River System.

Colorism is an insidious, globally prevalent bias that deeply impacts the lives and livelihoods of darker-skinned women. The term refers not only to the preference for lighter skin between different racial and ethnic communities, but also within those communities. Colorism is an enduring vestige of colonialism and white dominance around the globe and disproportionately harms women of color. Inclusive leaders must work to prevent women of color from experiencing colorism at work — and make sure they don’t leave. The author presents three ways to disrupt colorism in the workplace.

House lawmakers heard hours of testimony over legislation that would strip school and library employees of a legal defense against charges they distributed material harmful to minors.

By Mikayla Redden (Follow us on LinkedIn) Imagine you’re jumping up and down on a giant trampoline enclosed in a safety net. You feel an intense, childlike joy. Then someone dumps a bucket of …