June Index Page
Witnesses Testify in Support of the DREAM Act at Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Activists for immigration reform showed their persistence and strength in numbers, as hundreds of supporters flooded the first-ever Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act held this week by Sen. Dick Durbin, D. Ill.
Categories: Immigration
Report: Students Attending For-Profit Institutions Struggle to Repay Federal Loans
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
For-profit colleges charge students more and have a higher percentage of students who receive federal loans than do public or private not-for-profit ones, while significantly under-investing in the instruction of their students, according to a new report by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
Categories: Education
Civil Rights Groups Challenge Copycat Anti-Immigration Law in South Carolina
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley signed controversial anti-immigration bill, S.B. 20, into law yesterday. S.B. 20 states that if a law enforcement officer stops, detains, arrests, or investigates someone for a criminal offense and develops a "reasonable suspicion" that the person is not in the United States legally, the officer must ask for proof of citizenship in the form of identification or documentation.
Categories: Immigration
Justice Department: New Sentencing Law Should Apply to Some Imprisoned Crack Offenders
Monday, June 6, 2011
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has endorsed a limited form of retroactive application of sentencing guidelines designed to take into account the passage of the Fair Sentencing Act (FSA), which reduced the discriminatory sentencing disparity between powder cocaine and crack cocaine offenses.
Categories: Criminal Justice System
Supreme Court’s Decision in Wal-Mart Case Severely Limits the Ability to Challenge Systemic Discrimination
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Yesterday’s Supreme Court decision in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes et al. will limit the use of “class action” lawsuits and make it harder to bring large-scale discrimination cases, according to many civil and human rights groups.
Categories: Workers' Rights, Women's Rights, Judiciary
Special Screening Announced of 'The Barber of Birmingham'
Friday, June 17, 2011
The Leadership Conference Education Fund is co-hosting a special screening for the civil and human rights community of the award-winning documentary, “The Barber of Birmingham,” at 9 a.m. Friday, June 24, in the Mary Pickford Theater at The Library of Congress. The one-hour program is being hosted by Congressman Bennie G. Thompson of Mississippi.
Categories: Civil Rights History
National Advocacy Groups: Deficit Reduction Cannot Increase Poverty
Monday, June 27, 2011
Leaders from 25 prominent national religious, civil rights, charitable, economic research, and low-income advocacy organizations are urging the White House and leaders of both parties in the House and Senate to ensure that any deficit reduction plan does not cut programs for low-income families and does not increase poverty.
Categories: Poverty & Welfare
Advocates Say Proposed Medicaid Changes Would Disproportionately Hurt Vulnerable Communities
Friday, June 10, 2011
Plans circulating in Congress to modify the Medicaid health care program threaten to put millions of America’s most vulnerable citizens – minorities, seniors, children, and people with disabilities – at risk, warn civil and human rights advocates.
Categories: Poverty & Welfare, Health Care
Department of Education Releases Career Training Program Rule
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Today, the Department of Education released its final rule designed to hold career training programs accountable for preparing their students for employment.
Categories: Education
Civil Rights Groups Deplore Signing of Alabama Anti-Immigrant Bill
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley signed into law last week an anti-immigrant bill that goes even further than Arizona’s S.B. 1070, which encouraged racial profiling by requiring law enforcement officers to stop, question, detain, and arrest anyone that they have a "reasonable suspicion" to believe is undocumented.
Categories: Immigration
Civil Rights Groups Applaud Connecticut on Paid Sick Days Mandate
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
In a victory for workers and labor advocates, the Connecticut legislature recently became the first in the nation to pass a statewide mandate for paid sick days.
Categories: Workers' Rights
Lawsuit against Netflix Demands Equal Access for the Deaf
Friday, June 17, 2011
The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) filed a federal lawsuit against Netflix yesterday alleging that it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by failing to provide closed captioning for most of its instant and streamed content.
Categories: Discrimination, Disability Rights
Civil Rights Coalition Calls for Nomination of Elizabeth Warren to Head New Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights today urged President Barack Obama to nominate Professor Elizabeth Warren to serve as the first director of the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Categories: Housing & Lending
Advocates Call for Transportation Equity at Ohio Meeting
Friday, June 3, 2011
Civil rights, labor, disability, low-income, and other advocates held a public meeting at the Statehouse Atrium in Columbus, Ohio, on June 1 to draw attention to the transportation needs of millions of Americans as Congress begins negotiations on a major transportation bill.
Categories: Transportation Equity
