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Vigilance in the Defense of Liberty and Freedom

  • Harris death penalties show racial pattern

    11/14/11
    Source: 
    Houston Chronicle

    The last white man to join death row from Harris County was a convicted serial killer in 2004. Since then, 12 of the last 13 men newly condemned to die have been black, a Houston Chronicle analysis of prison and prosecution records shows.

    The latest death sentence was handed down in October to a Hispanic.

  • LDF Celebrates 25th Annual Gala Award Dinner

    11/04/11
    Source: 
    NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund

    The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund celebrated its 25th annual National Equal Justice Award Dinner (NEJAD) last night in New York City.  More than 700 guests were in attendance. 

  • NYT Ltr. to the Editor: A New Way to Achieve Civil Rights?

    11/03/11
    Source: 
    The New York Times

    Richard Thompson Ford (“Moving Beyond Civil Rights,” Op-Ed, Oct. 28) asserts that “civil rights have barely made a dent in today’s most severe and persistent social injustices” and suggests that part of the problem is an inordinate focus on “individual injuries.” Although Mr. Ford rightly addresses the importance of tackling racial inequality, he articulates an artificially narrow view of the possibilities of civil rights litigation.

  • Black firefighter hopefuls who sued 16 years ago turn out for physical testing

    11/02/11
    Source: 
    The Chicago Tribune

    LaShonn Tomlinson always had dreams of becoming a Chicago firefighter, but while working at Amtrak's Union Station storage yard, those dreams often passed him by.

    "For years, I would see the new candidates running down Canal Street, and I'd be wondering when it would be my turn," said Tomlinson, 38. "But I never got the call."

    The call finally came Tuesday morning for Tomlinson and other hopefuls who, nearly two decades after suing the city for bias, have another shot at becoming firefighters.

  • National Housing Law Project Conference Remarks by John Payton

    10/17/11
    Source: 
    LDF

    John PaytonYesterday was the official dedication of the Martin Luther King Memorial here in Washington.  Some of you may have snuck away from this conference to be there.  I was there.  It was inspiring because the moral commitment of the civil rights movement is now center stage in at least part of our national culture.  But it was also challenging because we have a long way to go.  We are, I hope, past the absurd claim that we are