A judge today dismissed a federal civil-rights charges by a Black attorney against the MBTA and Transit Police officers who arrested him on the word of a woman who turned out to be lying because "qualified immunity" means they are protected in a case where they made a mistake - even one that cost him his job and sent him to the hospital with a pinched nerve from the handcuffs. Read more.
A federal complaint filed on behalf of a Harvard College student is shedding light on how the school handles disability rights and accommodations for Harvard students with disabilities.
The state Attorney General's office said today it's sued Peggy O'Neil's, 1310 Dorchester Ave., for alleged civil-rights violations.
The suit alleges that on at least three occasions - the most recent this past April - bouncers made a point of keeping minorities out while letting in whites. The state alleges that on one night in December, bar owner Caron O'Neil herself blocked two men of Cape Verdean and African-American descent from entering, telling them she did not "want any trouble." Then later that night:
Simon Glik, who wound up arrested when he used his cell phone to video a drug bust on Tremont Street along the Common in 2007, yesterday filed suit in US District Court, alleging his First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated by police.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-q6U-OQo_g&feature...
Press Pass TV looks at the importance of student rights and legal education.
January 21, 2009: An Act of Faith
Massachusetts Communities of Faith Speak Out for Transgender Equality
Keshet and The Interfaith Coalition for Transgender Equality invite you to help kick off a faith-based campaign in support of a civil rights bill for transgender equality.
Join with clergy, lay leaders, and community members from many faiths and spiritual traditions to celebrate our work and learn how you can take action and help pass a bill that will make Massachusetts a more just state for everyone.
January 21, 2009
7:00 - 9:00 pm
By now, everyone's heard that Governor Patrick's daughter is a n out and proud lesbian. Good (or planned?) timing with the Boston Pride festivities this weekend. There's a full article on Towleroad, one of my favorite bloggers out there.
Currently, civil rights are a Massachusetts hot button, with gay marriage and Jimmy Kelly penatrating the headlines and blog fodder.
Today being Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a day of reflection on civil rights, I present two brief snapshots from Boston's voluminous civil rights history:
First, many people don't know that Dr. King first met Coretta Scott, a New England Conservatory student, during his time pursing a doctorate at BU. While here, he rented a room at 397 Mass Ave, where a small plaque still stands to commemorate his time in the Hub.
A couple thousand people marched from the First Church in Roxbury to Boston Common today to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Selma March and the Voting Rights Act and to push for re-authorization of the bill, which gave Southern blacks the right to vote unhindered for the first time since Reconstruction. The march also commemorates a similar Roxbury-to-the-Common march led by the Rev. Martin Luther King in 1965 to protest school desegregation in Boston.
The march began with speeches at the church, including one by U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia. In 1965, Lewis, then 23, tried to lead a march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. to push for voting rights. He and other protesters were beaten by Alabama state troopers and Selma police.
"We must say we will never, ever forget what happened!"
Watch Lewis describe the Pettis Bridge attack (5.5M QuickTime video).
On Sunday, marchers will commemorate the historic civil-rights march from Selma, walking from the First Church in Roxbury to the Common, starting at 1 p.m. More details. Via Philocrites.
Meanwhile, David remembers Rosa Parks:
My children can't imagine what it was like before Rosa Parks. They are appalled when we tell them. ...
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