People

Citizens File Federal Lawsuit Over ‘Blacklist’; City Declines to Specify Criteria

Four of the 81 people whose names were added without their knowledge to a list of people requiring a police escort in City Hall filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday afternoon against the city. The court action came only hours after city officials declined to release the criteria for putting people on the list, citing a state law allowing confidentiality of security measures in government buildings. The plaintiffs named in the lawsuit are Elaine Blanchard, who officiated one of the first same-sex weddings in Memphis after a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling; Mid-South Peace and Justice Executive Director Bradley Watkins and coordinator Paul Garner; and activist Keedran “TNT” Franklin. The lawsuit — which you can read in its entirety here — seeks …



DOJ Joins Lawsuit Alleging UnitedHealth Overcharged

A lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group alleges that the insurer overcharged Medicare hundreds of millions of dollars. According to Reuters, the lawsuit, which was filed in 2011 but was just unsealed on February 16, claims the insurer depicted …


Ground-Breaking Voting Rights Lawsuit Challenges Judicial Orthodoxy

Do We Have the Right to Vote for President? The Supreme Court Says “No!” In Bush v Gore (2000) the Supreme Court said when the State Legislature vests the right to vote for President in its people, the State can take it back at any time. A lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Portland, Oregon, asserts in a new, straight-forward interpretation of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that Section 2 of the amendment grants the right to vote for President to all qualified citizens of the United States. In 1875 the Supreme Court ruled that Section 2 only exists to allow states to deny the right to vote to their “colored populations,” a ruling the court has never contradicted. …


House Republicans Vote to Shield Dangerous Corporations From Consumer Lawsuits

Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee have passed a resolution that would limit class action lawsuits against companies who kill, poison, or cripple American citizens. This is a massive payoff to the GOP’s corporate donors and a huge setback for American consumers. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this.


Will Seattle Have to Change Its Homeless Sweeps? Ruling Is Coming Soon

An initial ruling is expected soon in a lawsuit challenging how Seattle and Washington state are dealing with unauthorized homeless encampments in the city. Two homeless people sued last month, accusing the city and the state transportation department of violating the rights of people living outdoors by seizing and destroying their property while evicting them from and clearing away their …


Lawsuit Targets Louisiana’s Public-Defense System

A class-action lawsuit filed against Louisiana’s public-defense department this week alleges officials continue to systematically deny indigent citizens proper access to public defenders, according to a news release. The state’s most at-risk communities are incapacitated in the criminal-justice system, civil-rights organizations allege, as officials fail to establish a practical …


Georgia Pays $225,000 to Settle Lawsuit Alleging Religious Discrimination

State officials have confirmed that they have settled for $225,000 a lawsuit filed by a hiring prospect who alleged a job offer was withdrawn after videos of his sermons against homosexuality and evolution surfaced. But state officials deny the sermons had anything to do with the decision to withdraw the job offer and admit no wrongdoing. …


Class-Action Suit Claims Louisiana Public Defender System Failing Indigent Defendants

A lawsuit filed Monday in Louisiana alleges the state is negligent in guaranteeing Constitutional rights of poor people by not properly funding or maintaining the public defender system. The Southern Poverty Law Center, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and two other law firms filed a class action suit Monday in Baton Rouge against Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards …


Whitepages Latest People Search Site Hit by Class Action Alleging Wrongly Uses People’s Names for Ads

Yet another online people search website has been targeted for allegedly breaking an Illinois privacy law, as a new class action alleges WhitePages.com also wrongly uses a web search advertising technique to use people’s names to market their search reports. On Feb. 1, plaintiff Kevin Klingler, identified only as a resident of Illinois, filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court, alleging the …