People

Lawsuits May 15, 2017

Houston’s Panhandling, Camping Ordinances Violate Rights, Lawsuit Says

The ACLU of Texas announced Monday that it has filed a lawsuit on behalf of three homeless Houston residents asking a federal judge to halt the city’s new ordinances limiting panhandling and camping in public. City Council passed the two ordinances last month. The encampment rule forbids tents or other structures for living in public areas and requires that all of a person’s belongings fit into a three-foot cube; it took effect Friday. …

News May 10, 2017

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Files Lawsuit Upholding SB4

The same day Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 4 into law, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a law suit requesting it be declared constitutional. SB4 bans sanctuary cities in the state of Texas. It requires all Texas law enforcement agencies to hold arrested persons until their immigration status is checked with ICE.

News May 5, 2017

White House: ACLU Lawsuit Threat Shows Anti-Religion, Anti-Gop Bias

The White House said the American Civil Liberties Union showed its true colors Thursday by threatening a lawsuit to block President Trump’s executive order that protects political speech by religious institutions and faith-based groups. “I don’t think anybody is surprised at the ACLU wants to come out against Republicans,” said White House deputy press secretary Sarah Sanders. “They talk about …

News May 2, 2017

Fyre Fest Attendees Seek $100 Million in Lawsuit

The organizers of last weekend’s spectacularly bungled Fyre Fest are now offering refunds to people who paid way too much for tickets — even if those people have to fill out applications to get their money back — but that’s not enough for at least one of the ticket-buyers. As SPIN points out, the high-powered attorney Mark Geragos has filed a $100 million federal class action lawsuit on behalf …

Class-Actions May 1, 2017

Palm Island Riots Class Action Could Cost Government $40 Million: Lawyer

A class action against the Queensland government over a “racist” police response to an infamous death in custody, and resulting riots on Palm Island, could cost almost $40 million, lawyers claim. A Federal Court decision in December found police were racist in responding to Cameron “Mulrunji” Doomadgee’s death and the unrest that followed, paving the way for further action. Riot ringleader Lex …

News Apr 27, 2017

Fox News Accused of ‘Plantation-Style Management’ for Black Employees

Weeks after firing host Bill O’Reilly amid allegations of sexual harassment, Fox News is under fire once again for accusations of racial discrimination. Eleven current and former Fox News employees have filed a lawsuit alleging that Fox employees engaged in “abhorrent, intolerable, unlawful and hostile racial discrimination” and created a workplace “more akin to Plantation-style management than …

Lawsuits Apr 26, 2017

Survivors of Oakland Halfway House Fire File Lawsuit

Residents of the building have filed a lawsuit over a fire in West Oakland that left four people dead. Candice Nguyen reports. Survivors of a deadly fire that tore through a West Oakland halfway house last month sued their former landlord and the nonprofits that acted as master tenants Wednesday in Alameda County Superior Court, saying their slum-like housing conditions were illegal and led to …

Lawsuits Apr 16, 2017

Lawsuit May Set Precedent on Forced Immigrant Labor in Private Prisons

Published in partnership with Shadowproof. In March, District Court Judge John Kane granted class action certification to a lawsuit challenging slave labor practices at a private immigrant …

Class-Actions Apr 16, 2017

Apple Fights Class Action Over Address Book Uploads

Apple is urging a federal judge to shut down a false advertising class action brought by iPhone and iPad users who say they were duped into believing that phones would protect their privacy. The company’s request, filed late last week, is the latest development in long-running litigation over allegations that Twitter, Yelp and other app developers uploaded people’s address books. The dispute …

Lawsuits Apr 10, 2017

Lawsuit Challenges Puerto Rico Transgender Birth Certificate Policy

A federal lawsuit urges Puerto Rico to allow transgender people to change the gender marker on their birth certificate. (Image by Nicolas Raymond; courtesy Flickr) Lambda Legal notes in the lawsuit it filed on behalf of four trans Puerto Ricans and Puerto Rico Para Tod@s, a local advocacy group, on April 6 that 46 out of 50 states allow trans people to change the gender marker on their birth …