Yesterday, the Alabama Legislature fell into the same costly trap as neighboring Georgia by following the ill-fated footsteps of Arizona and passing harsh anti-immigrant legislation. The bill, H.B. 56, will not only set back years of progress on civil rights in the state but will also add considerably to Alabama's existing budget crisis.
The Southern Poverty Law Center today joined the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) and the Asian Law Caucus in filing a class action lawsuit challenging Georgia's new anti-immigrant law, passed last month and inspired by Arizona's notorious SB 1070.
One of the Southeast's largest employers of foreign guestworkers and its owners will be held accountable for routinely cheating workers out of their wages under a recent federal court ruling in a suit brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Some 1,500 guestworkers could recover more than $2 million.
The Southern Poverty Law Center and Disability Rights Mississippi filed suit in federal court today to protect the rights of children and teens who face inhumane treatment in Mississippi's largest juvenile detention center.
Earlier this month, a federal judge handed down a major decision in one of our cases, establishing a new precedent in protecting victims of human trafficking. This decision marks the first time a court has interpreted the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) with the breadth Congress intended.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) today demanded that Minnesota's largest school district take immediate action to address the bullying and harassment routinely faced by LGBT students.
Sexual violence is about people using their power to sexually exploit, demean and harm someone. Immigrant women are especially vulnerable to such abuses of power, whether working in hotels, in agricultural fields, restaurants, factories, or in the private homes.
A Latino man who suffered broken bones in his face when he was arrested and beaten by police officers during a traffic stop in Georgia last year will receive compensation under the settlement of a federal civil rights lawsuit, the Southern Poverty Law Center announced today.
Fifty years ago, the Freedom Riders arrived in Montgomery, Ala., and were viciously beaten by a violent mob because they dared test federal laws designed to end segregation at bus terminals. On Saturday, a bus of college students retracing the steps of the Freedom Riders arrived in Montgomery, where they visited the Civil Rights Memorial Center.
Protecting students from anti-LGBT bullying requires school-wide efforts that include specific anti-bullying policies as well as a focus on nurturing school climates where respect for differences is an integral part of school life, the SPLC told the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in written testimony submitted for a public briefing today.
