AltWeeklies Wire
Where's the Justice for the GLBT Community?new

How many times this past week have we read -- in regard to Barack Obama's historic victory, or in reference to the passage of the anti-gay measures -- that "the long arc of history bends towards justice." This always sounds patronizing to me, like, "There, there, young fellow. Everything will be just fine. You just wait."
Hart v. Arpaio Civil Rights Class-Action Suit Awaits Verdictnew

Of the more than 2,500 jail-related lawsuits filed against Arpaio, Hart v. Arpaio may be the most crucial because it addresses the civil rights of all inmates awaiting trial. It has the potential to affect conditions in Arpaio's jail.
Phoenix New Times |
John Dickerson |
09-16-2008 |
Crime & Justice
The Real ID Act Leads to a Civil-rights Nightmare on the Bordernew

To date, DHS has issued five waivers for "expeditious" implementation of the Secure Fence Act, including last April Fool's no-joke waiver of 36 federal acts along with "all federal, state, or other laws, regulations and legal requirements of, deriving from, or related to the subject of" those laws, from California to Texas.
San Antonio Current |
Nat Stone |
09-03-2008 |
Immigration
Fifty Years Ago, Black Activists Stood Up to Discrimination by Sitting Downnew
When 13 youths requested equal service at Katz Drug Store on Aug. 19, 1958, they tipped off what some say were the first major sustained sit-ins in the American civil rights movement.
Oklahoma Gazette |
Emily Jerman |
08-06-2008 |
Race & Class
Remembering Rev. Louis Colemannew
"I can't think of a time I didn't know Louis Coleman," says Raoul Cunningham, president of the Louisville NAACP. The pair grew up together and while Cunningham says he participated in Louisville's sit-in movement as a teenager in the 1960s, Coleman didn’t join the civil rights movement until later in life.
LEO Weekly |
Phillip M. Bailey |
07-14-2008 |
Civil Liberties
The Dubious Merits of Being America's Civil Rights Citynew
How many times can a city review a man's life and rededicate itself to his ideals before inviting apathy, hucksterism, and self-indulgence instead of activism? Memphis has become America's racial guilt trip and America's civil rights city. Less would be more. Share the guilt. Atlanta, Detroit, and New York don't have racial histories?
The Memphis Flyer |
John Branston |
04-11-2008 |
Race & Class
Cross the Thresholdnew
Gay couples in Connecticut ask a judge to open the door to full marriage rights.
New Haven Advocate |
Carole Bass |
04-03-2006 |
LGBT
Don't Ask, Don't Benew

A Houston-area man leads the fight against the ban on gays in the military.
Houston Press |
Craig Malisow |
01-09-2006 |
LGBT
Infamous Manhunt Leads to Struggle for Justicenew
Twelve years after a dragnet for a rapist targeted blacks in Oneonta, N.Y., a class action lawsuit is going to trial.
The Village Voice |
Chisun Lee |
08-04-2005 |
Race & Class
The Road to Meadville seriesnew

AltWeeklies Award - Investigative Reporting
Jackson Free Press |
Donna Ladd |
07-20-2005 |
Media
The Voice of Red-State Christianity Battles Gay Marriagenew
The Rev. Jerry Johnston and other preachers who oppose same-sex marriage want lawmakers to let the people of Kansas vote on a constitutional amendment to "protect" marriage.
The New COINTELPROnew
The feds are spying on – and harassing – political activists with a fury not seen since the 1960s. Under John Ashcroft's direction, opposing the Bush administration translates to state terrorism.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Camille Taira |
10-20-2004 |
Civil Liberties
Doping Up the Rabblenew
With the use of less-lethal force on the rise and scary new weapons in the pipeline, such as high-voltage land mines, it's prime time to take a quick look at the gadgetry police departments are using to herd humans.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
A. C. Thompson |
10-20-2004 |
Civil Liberties
The Day Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner Diednew
This detailed narrative describes how three young civil rights workers lost ther lives in Mississippi on Father's Day (June 21), 1964.
Jackson Free Press |
Donna Ladd |
06-16-2004 |
Race & Class