civil rights News

New Jersey Reports Spike in Incidents of Bias in 2023

Reports in New Jersey of incidents of bias — like antisemitism and anti-Black behavior among others — climbed by 22% last year, according to preliminary data released Thursday by the attorney general. Attorney General Matt Platkin’s office released the unofficial …

Teacher Who Held Mock Slave Auction in 4th Grade Class Settles Lawsuit for $75K

A New York teacher who staged a mock slavery auction of Black students in her fourth-grade classroom will pay $75,000 to settle claims on behalf of a 10-year old boy whose mother said he was emotionally damaged by being forced …

NYU Langone Doctor Sues Over Firing for Posts Backing Israel

A doctor who ran a cancer center at NYU Langone Health filed a lawsuit claiming he was fired for social media posts relating to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel. Dr. Benjamin Neel, the director of the Laura …

Justice Department Launches Probe of Trenton Police Department

The Justice Department (DOJ) announced it has has opened a civil rights practices investigation into the Trenton, New Jersey police department. Officials said the investigation will seek to determine “whether there are systemic violations of the Constitution and federal law” …

Biden Administration Opens Investigation Into Harvard University’s Legacy Admissions

Opening a new front in legal battles over college admissions, the U.S. Department of Education has launched a civil rights investigation into Harvard University`s policies on legacy admissions. Top colleges` preferential treatment of children of alumni, who are often white, …

Protester Sues Police for Over Arrest Near Maine Home of Federalist Society’s Leo

A demonstrator arrested outside the home of conservative legal activist Leonard Leo contends police violated his First Amendment rights. Eli Durand-McDonnell, 24, of Bar Harbor, contends in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday that two police officers singled him out among …

New York City Agrees to Pay $13M to Settle Suits Over Arrests of 2020 Protesters

New York City has agreed to pay more than $13 million to settle a civil rights lawsuit brought on behalf of roughly 1,300 people who were arrested or beaten by police during racial injustice demonstrations that swept through the city …

New Louisiana School A Step to Resolve Decades-Old Lawsuit

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Authorities in a southwest Louisiana school district have agreed to develop a magnet school in a historically Black school zone to draw students of all races from across the district in a step toward resolving a …

Supreme Court Rejects Bid to Limit Civil Rights Lawsuits

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday preserved the ability of people to sue for civil rights violations under an 1871 law as it rejected a bid to prevent an Indiana nursing home resident’s family from suing over his care at …

Massachusetts City Faces Lawsuit Alleging Police Misconduct at George Floyd Protest

Eleven people have filed a federal lawsuit saying they were assaulted by police or wrongfully arrested while peacefully observing a June 2020 protest in Massachusetts’ second-largest city over the killing of George Floyd. The lawsuit filed last Thursday names as …