Law

Rand Paul Addresses Rightbloggers, Who Receive Him Well, Despite All Those Black People Getting in the Way

Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul spoke at historically black Howard University last week, and it was a major event. No, he didn't seem to win any black votes for the GOP -- even his fans admit as much. But white people of the rightblogger variety were all over it, and that's what counts. Some ... More >>

Could Independent Music Giant Amoeba Be Facing a Copyright Lawsuit Nightmare?

While the corpses of corporate music retail chains litter strip malls where outlets like Tower Records and Blockbuster Music once stood, Amoeba Music is an independent juggernaut with three California-based stores the size of supermarkets. They've been a celebrated shopping destination for music afi ... More >>

Psssst, Obama! Mention Something About the State of Civil Liberties Tonight

In the most non-rightblogger tone possible, Obama has been on quite a roll when it comes to his administration's assault on civil liberties lately. Not one, not two, but three different pieces of legislation and policy with the potential to drastically infringe on the civil liberties of Americans ... More >>

Hold That Pose: Federal Judge Rules That Bikram Yoga Cannot Be Copyrighted

Quietly, after more than ten years of contentious lawsuits, Bikram Choudhury's copyright on the specific sequence of Bikram yoga has been overruled by the federal court. For the past year Bikram and his lawyers, the media, and the yoga community, have been focused on the legal warfare involving Greg ... More >>

The 10 Most Corrupt Tax Loopholes

If Mitt Romney won't tell you which need to be closed, we will

BREAKING: League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Passes Same-Sex Marriage Equality Resolution

Another Saturday, another national group of brown people proves Toure right by being homophobic passes a same-sex marriage equality resolution. LULAC, the League of United Latino American Citizens, passed a resolution at their annual convention today in suport of equal marriage rights for same-sex ... More >>

More Occupy Wall Street Cases Dismissed

More than eight months after the NYPD began arresting people taking part in Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, the first of hundreds of criminal cases trickling through the court system are finally coming up for trial. Earlier this month, we told you about the first two cases to go to trial. In bot ... More >>

Assembly Member Micah Kellner: 'Taxi of Tomorrow' Is the 'Cathie Black' of Cabs (UPDATE)

New York's Taxi of Tomorrow, said to be a big step up from the Crown Vic fleet circulating the city, might be so yesterday. That's because embattled mayoral candidate/ Comptroller John Liu, who has become very vocal on a variety of issues as his campaign progresses, will not ink the agreement unle ... More >>

DNA Databanks: Not Just For Felons Anymore

​Big brother just got a little bigger...Governor Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders announced yesterday their agreement on a bill that would allow authorities to obtain the DNA of anyone convicted of a felony or a penal law misdemeanor and put it in a DNA databank that law enforcement officials ... More >>

Meanwhile, in New Jersey, Everybody Is Mad at Chris Christie

Ah, New Jersey. The land where fake orange tans and affable, clueless Republicans come together to make magic. New Yorkers should consider themselves lucky to live so close to New Jersey, particularly right now. New Jersey governor Chris Christie, one-time potential Republican presidential candidat ... More >>

MTA Goes After East Village Artist for Painting on Used Metrocards [Updated]

Some of the artist's work.​The big bad wolf is hungry. Or jealous? EV Grieve today alerted us to the matter of East Village artist VH McKenzie, who has been creating oil paintings on discarded Metrocards that she then sells on Etsy for $48 apiece. The MTA found out about this, and sent her the ... More >>

Ray Kelly's Top Spokesman Paul Browne Present When NYPD Whistleblower Hauled to Psych Ward, Lawsuit Says

​Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly's top aide Paul Browne, the department spokesman, was present when cops forcibly hauled NYPD whistleblower Adrian Schoolcraft to the Jamaica Hospital psychiatric ward, a lawsuit to be filed this week alleges. If proven true, Browne's presence at Schoolcraft ... More >>

City Council Members Shocked by "The NYPD Tapes"

​Two city council members told the Voice this week that orders given by precinct supervisors in Bedford-Stuyvesant's 81st Precinct appeared to encourage officers to violate the civil rights of local residents. Meanwhile, a civil rights organization called on the city to investigate how NYPD q ... More >>

U.S. Attorney General "Has No Objection" to Term Limits Overturn

More bad news for Bloomberg-stoppers: the Justice Department has issued a letter to the city's corporation counsel, saying AG Eric Holder has no objection to the city council's overturn of term limits. The review was necessitated by the Voting Rights Act. The letter, signed by Justice's voting secti ... More >>

AROUND THE WORLD

African Diaspora Festival highlights the global black experience

Bloomberg's Cops Illegally Cuffing Kids Under 16?

New report shows New York police arresting schoolchildren for non-crimes

Baby-Mama Drama and Deadbeat Dads

Cathy Middleton has become black radio's favorite expert on child support

Bloomberg Wants to Get in Your Genes

Compared to the present mayor’s contempt for civil liberties, Giuliani was a piker

What Exactly Makes Mukasey 'Widely Admired'?

Darfur Betrayed

China, naturally, supports a UN resolution with no teeth

Blue Wall of Lawlessness

The NYPD has a long-standing reputation for its "excessive" surveillance. Now more than ever.

Morning Report 1/12/06
They Really Bug Us

King of Peace: Remembering the Great Civil Rights Leader

The Silver Lining of Bush's Supreme Agenda

How the people could win even if the court seems like a lost cause

Time for a Prayer Circle

Clinton and Kerry launch an unlikely crusade for religious freedom at work

Deviled Jam

Prosecutors backing off on hate crime charge in beating of Queens Satanist

The GOP as Charity Case

Just the conventional tax break, please—helping out the republicans

Barred From the Ballot Box

On the anniversary of women's suffrage, a case for letting people with felony convictions vote

Forbidden Photos, Anyone?

Subway shooters to set their sights on underground camera ban

New York AG Takes on Grand Theft Auto

Popular Video Game Instructs Players to 'Kill the Haitians'

Five to Three

Merger mania picks back up; a smaller Warner gives up

Dems for Death

How the Candidates Come Down on Capital Punishment

100th Civil Liberties Safe Zone!

Hawaii Is the First State to Defy Ashcroft

Dow v. Thing

A Free-Speech Infringement That's Worse Than Censorship

Ashcroft's Shadowy Disciple

Someone to Watch Over Us

God Is Not in the Constitution

The Government Cannot Endorse Any or All Religions

Church and State Separation in Crisis

Does God Need Tax Money to Teach?

No Masses, No Movement

Black Boomers Shout Reparations in the Court—But Go Silent in the 'Hood

Schwarz: Justice or Technicalities?

Have the Critics Read the Whole Decision?

John Ashcroft’s New America

The Changed Lives of Arabs in the U.S.—And What a Declaration of War Would Really Mean

The 'Wrongs' of 'Mr. Civil Rights'

Why Jesse Jackson's Political Comeback Seems Doomed

Gun Play

The 15-Year-Old Responsible for the Recent California School Shooting Will Be Tried as an Adult. Justice?

360 Degrees of Incarceration

Web Documentary Slams Home Reality of Prisons

Welcome to the Club

Discrimination Is Sometimes Right

Should the Boy Scouts Be Pariahs?

Must the NAACP Include Racists?

Nation

Florida Scene: African American Students Call for Revote

Question Fairness of Election When So Many Claim They Were Turned Away

He Who Waits

Fate of Hackers’ Hero Now in Judge’s Hands

Is Sharpton Protecting Hillary?

Grandpa Al and Reverend Al in Senate Race Endorsement Flap

Letters