Today, on Juneteenth, a date steeped in the rich symbolism of freedom for African Americans, community organization ACORN  intends to raise the banner of comprehensive immigration reform by announcing the launch of The Black Leadership Immigration  Project from the pulpit of a Phoenix, Ariz., church. ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis, who... » read this article

At Fort Bragg, North Carolina, AWOL soldiers find themselves detained for months under difficult conditions in an extended  legal limbo they cannot escape. Dustin Stevens is one of about 50 soldiers being held at Fort Bragg awaiting likely AWOL and desertion charges that seem like they will never arrive, he... » read this article

Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is filing a complaint against the Department of Homeland  Security based on the refusal of the Secret Service to provide CREW with White House visitor records under the Freedom of  Information Act (FOIA). CREW sought records of visits by top coal... » read this article

As the US recession shows no sign of easing, the nation's criminal justice system is also beginning to buckle under severe financial and logistical strains. The US constitution and a landmark supreme court decision in 1963, ensure that all citizens have the right to "due process" and to a government-paid... » read this article

While talk about signs of a possible economic recovery drove the stock market up for four weeks in a row, beginning March 10, it is clear that the recovery being talked about was a recovery of the bosses and bankers, not the workers. Three quarters of a million workers lost... » read this article

Southern District of New York Judge Shira Scheindlin Wednesday narrowed the claims that will survive in lawsuits charging that multinational corporations aided and abetted the brutal apartheid regime in South Africa. In two cases that test the reach of the Alien Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §1350, Scheindlin refused to... » read this article

After weeks of mobilizing supporters putting intense pressure on state politicians, equal-marriage activists celebrated in Vermont on April 7, after legislators overrode Republican Gov. Jim Douglas' veto of a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. This makes Vermont the fourth state to recognize same-sex marriage. Mark Leach, a member of the University... » read this article

The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] denied certiorari [order list, PDF] Monday in the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal v. BeardMumia Abu-Jamal [advocacy website, Philadelphia Inquirer backgrounder], sentenced to death for killing a police officer in Philadelphia in  1981. [docket]. The Court offered  no explanation for their refusal... » read this article

Same-sex couples will be allowed to marry in Iowa by month’s end, after a ruling on  Friday by the Iowa Supreme Court that found unconstitutional a state law limiting  marriage to a man and a woman. The unanimous decision moved the heated battle over same-sex marriage beyond the East  and... » read this article

A fierce internal battle within the White House over the disclosure of internal  Justice Department interrogation memos is shaping up as a major test of the Obama  administration's commitment to opening up government files about Bush-era  counterterrorism policy. As reported by NEWSWEEK, the White House last month had accepted a... » read this article

On Saturday, March 21, 2009 the anti-war movement held its first national  mobilization against U.S. militarism since the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama.  Marking the sixth anniversary of the Iraq war, about 10,000 people participated in  the March on the Pentagon, organized by the ANSWER Coalition. While there were  radical... » read this article

Thirteen people have been reported dead in this morning's shooting at the American Civic Association in Binghamton. At least five people have been taken to Wilson Regional Medical Center in Johnson City, one in critical condition, two listed as serious. Another person was taken to Lourdes Hospital in Johnson City.... » read this article

April 26, 2005 – (Washington) John Bolton clashed repeatedly with American intelligence officials in 2002 and 2003 as he sought to deliver warnings about Syrian efforts to acquire unconventional weapons that the CIA and other experts rejected as exaggerated, according to former intelligence officials.   Ultimately, the former intelligence officials... » read this article

April 26, 2005 – (Austin) Voting for the second time in two weeks to restrict the rights of homosexuals, the Texas House on Monday approved a measure to lock into the state constitution a ban on same-sex marriages and civil unions.   After often-impassioned debate, the amendment was approved 101-29,... » read this article