It seems that some newspaper editors think that a "10-inch ultrasound wand" does not belong in the funnies section of their papers — and their reluctance is getting national attention. The comic that is causing the uproar is Gary Trudeau's Doonesbury. Several newspapers around the country have decided not to publish the popular satirical comic this week because of a storyline dealing with those now-infamous ultrasounds.
It feels like we are banging our head against a wall. In recent years, pharmacies in several states have refused to sell emergency contraception ("EC") to men. We've recently learned of two additional incidents — both at Walgreens — in Georgia and Alabama. The discrimination in the Georgia and Alabama stores followed the same pattern that we've seen in Texas, Oklahoma, and Mississippi: a man attempts to purchase the medication for his female partner only to be confronted by a pharmacist who refuses to sell him the medication for the sole reason that he is a man.
Every day, students in public schools across the country are facing harsh disciplinary measures that may have dire consequences for the rest of their lives.
That was confirmed this week when the Department of Education released Part Two of its 2009-2010 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), which showed minority students face much harsher punishments and penalties in our nation’s public schools than others.
African-American students are 3 1/2 times more likely than their white peers to be suspended. Though African-American students made up only 18 percent of enrolled students, they accounted for 39 percent of those expelled, and were subject to zero tolerance policies at disproportionate rates. A shocking 70 percent of students arrested or referred to law enforcement were Latino or African-American.
By Sandhya Bathija, Washington Legislative Office at 12:21pm
Today, the Department of Education will release crucial civil rights data exposing discipline practices in our country's public schools and certain juvenile justice facilities.
In a story published this morning, The New York Times provided a glimpse into this data, which shows that African-American students face harsher discipline measures than other groups. Overall, African-American students were 3 1/2 times as likely to be suspended or expelled than their white peers, the Times revealed. And research suggests African-American students are often punished more severely for the same infractions.
Just how many ways can one public school official violate students' legal rights? The principal of Haywood High School in Brownsville, Tennessee, seems to be going for a record.
At an assembly earlier this month, Principal Dorothy Bond reportedly threatened to expel any gay student who publicly shows affection for members of the same sex. According to students and families who contacted the ACLU, Principal Bond proclaimed that gay students are "not on God's path" and are "going to a bad place." No, the "bad place" is not Haywood High. Rather, as Principal Bond made clear to a lesbian student she earlier singled out for displaying affection for her girlfriend, Principal Bond believes that gay students are "going to hell." Principal Bond also allegedly interfered with efforts to establish a Gay-Straight Alliance at Haywood High and may have prevented students in same-sex relationships from attending the school prom as couples.
The ACLU and New York Civil Liberties Union are calling for a federal investigation into the reported use of White House funds by the NYPD for its religious and racial profiling activities.
By Mitra Ebadolahi, Legal Fellow, ACLU National Security Project at 3:33pm
Yesterday, the Associated Press published the latest in its series of investigative articles documenting the New York Police Department’s sweeping surveillance of Muslims in the years since the 9/11 attacks. The article provides new details of the NYPD’s unchecked religious profiling: informants known within the NYPD as “mosque crawlers” secretly infiltrated houses of worship throughout the city and as far afield as New Jersey in 2005 and 2006. This story is now all too familiar. The NYPD has reacted to the threat of future terrorism by casting a wide net of suspicion over entire communities based solely on their religious beliefs, race, or national origin.
