Latest Human rights and civil liberties News
State chief justice blasts small-time thief's life sentence
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A man caught with stolen hedge clippers decades ago must continue to serve his life sentence, despite a stinging dissent from the chief justice of Louisiana’s Supreme Court, who said the sentence was the result of laws rooted in racism. Justice Bernette Johnson, the only Black...
The Latest: Lebanon customs chief arrested in Beirut blast
BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on the explosion in Beirut (all times local): 9:55 p.m. Lebanon's state news agency says the chief of the customs department has been questioned by a judge over this week’s deadly blast in Beirut, after which the judge placed him under arrest. The agency says investigative...
Winfrey demanding justice for Breonna Taylor with billboards
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — First, Oprah Winfrey put Breonna Taylor on the cover of O, The Oprah Magazine. Now the media mogul is spreading her message with billboards demanding justice for the Kentucky woman shot to death during a police raid. Twenty-six billboards displaying a portrait of Taylor are going up...
Court lifts ruling against 4 Arkansas abortion restrictions
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A federal appeals court on Friday lifted a judge's ruling blocking four Arkansas abortion restrictions, including a ban on a common second trimester procedure and a fetal remains law that opponents say would effectively require a partner’s consent before a woman could get an...
US sanctions pro-China leader of Hong Kong, other officials
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Friday imposed sanctions on Hong Kong officials, including the pro-China leader of the government, accusing them of cooperating with Beijing’s effort to undermine autonomy and crack down on freedom in the former British colony. The sanctions are the latest in a string...
Appeals court sides with teen who spoke out against assault
CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that a lower court was justified in blocking the suspension of a Maine high school student who posted a note in a bathroom to draw attention to sexual assault. Cape Elizabeth schools suspended Aela Mansmann, then a 15-year-old sophomore at Cape...
Michigan county official defends slur, says he's not racist
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — An official in a mostly white county in northern Michigan who used a racial slur prior to a public meeting to describe African Americans in Detroit repeated the word Friday in an interview with The Associated Press in which he maintained that he is not a racist. Tom Eckerle, a...
ACLU: New Milwaukee police chief shouldn't use harsh tactics
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union warned the Milwaukee Police Department and city leaders Friday that the new police chief shouldn't treat protesters harshly after former Chief Alfonso Morales was demoted in part for using tear gas against demonstrators The city's Fire and Police...
Study: Most Minneapolis police stops involved Black drivers
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Black drivers accounted for nearly 80% of police searches and routine traffic stops in predominantly white Minneapolis, according to a public defender's study using city policy data. From June 2019 to May 2020, the study found Black and East African drivers were more often searched when...
Ohio Supreme Court to hear armed school staff training case
HAMILTON, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court will hear a school district's appeal of a ruling that they must provide police-level training to employees carrying concealed weapons. Madison Local Schools voted to allow armed school employees after a 2016 shooting in which two students were shot and wounded...
LOADING MORE STORIES
