The Justice Dept will move to disband a police dept overseeing two towns on the Arizona-Utah border dominated by a fundamentalist Mormon sect led by imprisoned child molester Warren Jeffs. The towns are accused of withholding police and utility services from non-members of the church. A jury granted $2.2 million to residents who were denied water, housing and police protection because they were not church members.   read more

Most of the 10 states with the highest rates of smoking-attributable cancer deaths were in the South, while most of the 10 states with the lowest rates were in the North or West. Among men, where smoking is generally more common, the cigarette-linked cancer death rate was highest in blacks at 35%, compared with 30% for whites and 27% for Hispanics. Among women, whites had the highest cigarette-linked cancer death rate — 21%, compared 19% for blacks and 12% for Hispanics.   read more

Many people vigorously oppose the use of Native North American names as mascots and logos as demeaning. The Chief Wahoo logo in particular stands out because it is a caricature. “It is racist — that is all there is to it,” said Cardinal. “I had been thinking about the problems we have as a community with the issue of suicide, and I think there is a direct correlation between these kinds of depictions of our people as inferior and as caricatures to be mocked. It is wrong and it must stop.”   read more

Secrecy in the voting booth has become a thing of the past for those ready to share their lives on social media. In Illinois, ballot selfies is a felony that carries a prison sentence of one to three years. In California, Gov. Brown signed a bill that repeals a 125-year-old law barring voters from showing people their marked ballots. The change will take effect nearly two months after the election. The author of the bill has been sharing constituents’ photos of marked ballots on social media.   read more

Not everybody was a loser in this tale. ITT’s top five executives received princely compensation over the period — $117 million in total. Lobbyists for ITT also benefited. The company has spent almost $1 million on lobbying since 1998. “They were abusing that system for years and ripping off the government for billions of dollars and we brought that to light," said whistleblower Graves. He said he was frustrated by the outcome of his case. and wonders what had taken the government so long.   read more

After her son was murdered, Marcia DeOliveira-Longinetti requested that the state agency forgive her son’s student loans, which total about $16,000. The agency refused, requiring Ms. DeOliveira-Longinetti to continue to pay off his debt. Nearly a dozen people testified before legislators at a Senate hearing in August, saying they were troubled by the agency’s loan program. Several families described how they had resorted to bankruptcy to manage their high debt burden.   read more

ACLU's Ho argued that Kansas was forcing voters to adhere to stricter registration guidelines than those of surrounding states. Judge Holmes' three-judge panel agreed. "Over 18,000 Kansans stood to lose the right to vote in the coming general elections—elections that are less than one month away. Exceedingly few non-citizens have been shown to have voted compared to the number of Kansans who stand to lose the right to vote in the coming elections," wrote Holmes.   read more

The reduction is likely to diminish the ability to detect voter intimidation and other potential problems at the polls. It comes as more than a dozen states have adopted new voting rules, and as Donald Trump warns without evidence that the Nov. 8 election will be rigged and exhorts his followers to be vigilant. "It's cause for concern," said ACLU's Dale Ho. Vanita Gupta of the Justice Dept's Civil Rights Division said there's no way to "sugar coat" the impact of the Supreme Court decision.   read more

It's alleged Colorado kept unofficial lists of veterans waiting for health care that could conceal how long it takes to get an appointment, possibly broadening a nationwide scandal. The inquiry will look into the whistleblower's allegations that records at the clinic were falsified after a veteran took his own life while awaiting treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. Unofficial or secret lists have been used at VA facilities across the country to hide lengthy delays in care for veterans.   read more

According to Gallup's new poll, released on Wednesday, 67% of Democrats support legalization, compared to 42% of Republicans and 70% of independents. Support among adults aged 18-34 was 77%, compared to 45% among those over 55. Tom Angell, chairman of Marijuana Majority, said the two polls suggested that prospects were good for the state ballot measures. "More politicians — presidential candidates included — would do themselves a big favor to take note of the clear trend," he said.   read more

Critics have contended that the animals suffer pain and injuries ranging from cracked teeth to punctured lungs. Protests broke out in 2013 after an undercover video of the university's training in pediatric advanced life support was released by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The video shows a trainee putting tubes down the throat of a sedated cat, sometimes struggling to get it right. However, the medical school continued using sedated cats in other training programs.   read more

Some of the most troubling images of the opioid crisis involve parents buying or using drugs with their children in tow. Now new research finds that the drugs appear to blunt a person’s natural parenting instincts. About 9 million American children lived with at least one parent who was dependent on or abused alcohol or an illicit drug last year. In 2014, 29 states reported that an average of 17.9% of child fatalities were associated with a caregiver who had a risk factor of drug abuse.   read more

The Florida Democratic Party sued the state saying that voters could be disenfranchised because election officials can discard the ballot if the signature doesn't match the one already on file. Voters aren't told about the problem until after the election is over. But state law requires election officials to notify a voter ahead of time if their mail ballot does not have a signature on it. Judge Walker said that discrepancy makes the law unconstitutional.   read more

The original version of the ad didn't include the word "reasonably," and the plaintiffs claimed, and the judge agreed, that absent that word, the ads made meeting the state's new ID requirement seem more onerous than it actually is or should be. Without that word, they contended, a potential voter could think that they had to have done everything humanly possible -- no matter the trouble or difficulty -- to get one of the approved forms of ID allowed under the original law.   read more

There were fewer women working as associates — junior lawyers who seek to rise through the ranks. And minority women make up only 15% of all female partners at signatory firms, and less than 3% partners overall. Minorities had flat representation even as a growing number of large firms have hired diversity directors to recruit a wider array of candidates. Even so, firm partnerships overall remain more than 75% white male, with women far behind at less than 20% and minorities at slightly over 5%.   read more

Deaths and injuries spike for children under 5, with 3-year-olds the most common shooters and victims among young children. Accidental shootings spike again for ages 15-17, when victims are most often fatally shot by other children but typically survive self-inflicted gunshots. States in the South are among those with the highest per capita rates of accidental shootings involving minors. And the vast majority of shooters and victims are boys.   read more