Controversies

Lawsuits Filed to Overturn Alabama’s New “Radical” Abortion Law

The law requires those seeking an abortion to present evidence justifying the abortion and proving her maturity. The law also charges the D.A. to investigate the case, bringing in family members, boyfriends and teachers to testify as to the teen’s fitness to make such a decision. “This law aims to shame a young woman into not having an abortion,” said the ACLU's Susan Watson. “Why should she be put on trial and treated like a criminal for a constitutionally protected procedure?” read more

Outrage over Police Shooting Leads to 30% Increase in Voter Registration in Ferguson

More than 3,000 of Ferguson’s 21,000 residents have registered to vote since the August 9 shooting of unarmed teen Michael Brown by a white police officer. “It could completely change the political landscape, the power structure, the decision making,” Brown attorney Anthony Gray said. “The service to the African American community would almost quadruple because they would be viewed as a credible and legitimate voting bloc.” read more

Majority of Texas Abortion Clinics Promptly Close as Federal Court Backs Sweeping State Law

The closures were prompted by the law’s new requirements that abortion clinics meet the same building regulations as surgical centers. Clinic defenders called it a veiled effort by conservatives to deny women the choice of aborting pregnancies. The “ruling has gutted Texas women’s constitutional rights," said Nancy Northup. "It is an endorsement of politicians’ disingenuous tactic of undermining women’s safety under the false pretext of protecting it.” read more

California Drought “Very Likely” Due to Climate Change; 14 Towns Soon to Run Out of Water

The drought that has afflicted California and the West over the past several years is at least partly due to global warming, according to a new study, and among its victims are 14 communities that could run out of water by the year's end. ACWA executive director Tim Quinn said the list could grow and include larger cities. “If this drought keeps on going, some larger, more sophisticated communities are going to be in trouble next year,” he said. read more

Subpar Patient Care at Military Hospitals Spurs Defense Secretary to Order Corrections

The U.S. military’s hospitals recently graded out at about a “C,” according to a study released Wednesday, which in the eyes of Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel is failing and he has ordered improvements to be made. Hagel said he expects the system of 54 hospitals and hundreds of clinics serving defense personnel to improve services in many key areas. They have 30 to 90 days to explain how they plan to do it. read more

On Eve of Early Voting Launch in Ohio, U.S. Supreme Court Imposes Limits Sought by Republicans

Conservatives in Ohio and across the nation won a victory from the U.S. Supreme Court this week when it restored new restrictions on early voting in the state. Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted sought to roll back early voting before Election Day. Republicans claim the changes will combat voter fraud, but there's no evidence that would happen. Voting rights organizations accuse Republicans of trying to disenfranchise minorities by restricting access to casting their ballots. read more

Yet another Way to Put Obama in Danger: Let Him Ride in an Elevator with an Armed Convict

Secret Service director Julia Pierson resigned Wednesday following the revelation of another embarrassing lapse in presidential security—a man with multiple convictions for violent crime was allowed to ride in an elevator with President Barack Obama while carrying a concealed handgun. The president got into an elevator with Secret Service agents along with a private security contractor. The contractor acted oddly and ignored requests to stop filming Obama with his cellphone camera. read more

California College Student Sexual Consent Law, the Nation’s First, Elicits Mixed Response

College campuses across California will soon have to adopt “yes means yes” policies to thwart sexual assaults, under a new law signed by Governor Jerry Brown. But some are uncertain the legislation will be effective. Some schools that have embraced an affirmative consent policy claim the approach has produced positive results. “Culture change is generally slow, but we have made some headway” since the plan went into effect at the University of Texas at Austin, said Jane Bost. read more

West Virginia Plans to Solve Money Woes by Allowing Fracking under Ohio River

Numerous environmental groups have called on Governor Earl Ray Tomblin to scrap fracking in sensitive areas. They argue drilling in the river could result in contamination and cut off the drinking water of millions of residents. In January, a huge chemical spill left 300,000 West Virginians without drinking water for days. “Another large-scale water contamination ...could be devastating for [our] economy and reputation, not to mention the human health costs,” the groups wrote to Tomblin read more

Big Tobacco’s Dire Health Warnings on E-Cigarette Packs Seen as Cynical Marketing Strategy

Big Tobacco discouraging Americans from buying its unhealthy products? Stanford professor Dr. Robert K. Jackler said he “nearly fell off my chair” when he saw the warnings on the e-cigarette packs. “Is this part of a noble effort for the betterment of public health, or a cynical business strategy? I suspect the latter.” The strategy might be intended to "curry favor with consumers” in order to “earn a kind of legitimacy [they've] sought for decades." read more

Will Billing Rape Victims Thousands of Dollars for Medical Exams in Louisiana Finally Come to an End?

Victims are often billed $1,700 to $4,000 for evidence collection, HIV tests and ER fees. Interim LSU Hospital formerly did not charge victims. However, after the hospital control was transferred to private interests at the behest of Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), victims began to be billed. Some state lawmakers and health officials are now calling for a new law to change this longstanding policy. “Talk about being traumatized twice,” said state Democratic Representative Helena Moreno. read more

Judicial Appointees of Obama and Clinton to Weigh in on Restrictive North Carolina Voting Law

The North Carolina bill is part of a pattern by Republican-led governors and state legislatures to change the voting rules in a way that results in making it more difficult for poor and minority citizens to vote. Some of the changes are made in the name of voter fraud prevention, but no one can point to any significant instances of such misconduct. During oral arguments, Judge James Wynn, an Obama appointee, asked, "Why does the state of North Carolina not want people to vote?" read more

Amazon under Increasing Fire from Authors over Alleged Monopolistic E-Book Tactics

The group of 300 writers isn’t just pressuring Amazon’s board. It’s also pushing the Department of Justice to investigate it for alleged monopoly tactics. “We’re talking about...deliberately making a book hard or impossible to get, ‘disappearing’ an author,” said Ursula K. Le Guin. “Amazon is using censorship to gain total market control so they can dictate to publishers what they can publish, to authors what they can write, to readers what they can buy." read more

Virginia Files Billion-Dollar Mortgage Fraud Lawsuit against Major Banks

“The message today is clear. It doesn’t matter if you’re a small-time con artist or a multi-billion dollar Wall Street bank. If you try to rip off or defraud Virginia consumers or Virginia taxpayers, you will be caught and you will be held responsible,” said state Attorney General Mark Herring. “Every Virginian was harmed by the financial crisis. Homes were lost, retirement accounts were devastated, small businesses saw their credit dry up almost overnight." read more

Secret Service, in 2011, Was Unaware of Shots Fired at White House until Housekeeper Found Clues 4 Days Later

On the night of the shooting, supervisors immediately concluded there was no threat, even though agents on guard heard the shots and prepared to respond. They were told to “stand down” after their superiors wrongly assumed that a car had backfired near the White House. Then, Secret Service supervisors concluded there had been gunfire, but that it was the result of local gangs shooting at one another — “an unlikely scenario in a relatively quiet, touristy part of the nation’s capital." read more

No Counsel, Convictions or Trials for Longtime Mississippi Jail Inmates

At least one Mississippi jurisdiction, Scott County, routinely keeps prisoners for months and sometimes more than a year at time without indicting them or providing legal counsel. That’s why the American Civil Liberties Union and the MacArthur Justice Center are suing the county alleging inmates’ constitutional rights are being violated by being “indefinitely detained” and “indefinitely denied counsel.” read more