Articles tagged: Civil Rights
In Houston, a Plan to Expand Interstate 45 Encounters Federal Pushback
For years, community groups have been organizing to stop a massive highway expansion. In March, the federal government paused the project, citing serious civil rights concerns.
From the May/June 2021 issue. When Modesti Cooper returned home to Houston in July 2019 after more than a decade overseas with the United States military, she m...Read More
Civil Rights Groups Call ‘Election Integrity’ Bill a ‘Dangerous New Assault on Voting Rights in Texas’
A coalition of civil rights groups warns that SB 9 would “sharply escalate an ongoing campaign of voter suppression.”
A coalition of civil rights groups is warning that a new GOP bill winding its way through the Texas Legislature imposes substantial and unnecessary burdens on v...Read More
In Rare Legal Move, the City of Amarillo Takes Landowner to Court Over Homeless Camp
Experts say the city’s lawsuit, filed this month against a man who allowed a homeless camp to be developed on his property, is virtually unprecedented.
In a nearly unprecedented move, the city of Amarillo has made good on its threat to take a landowner to court over a homeless encampment on his property. City o...Read More
Civil Rights Group’s Budget Nearly Halved by Foundation with Ties to Texas Supreme Court
The Texas Civil Rights Project announced it will no longer receive funding from its largest donor, a nonprofit created by the Texas Supreme Court.
Facebook/Texas Civil Rights Project The Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP), a 26-year-old nonprofit well-known in social justice circles, announced Monday that i...Read More
Supreme Court Decision Means 2018 Elections Could Use ‘Discriminatory’ Maps
The high court’s intervention raises the possibility that next year’s election may feature “intentionally discriminatory” congressional and state House districts.
In a 5-4 decision late Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the latest round in Texas’ marathon redistricting case, raising the possibility that nex...Read More
Deputies Go Unpunished for Invasive Cavity Search on Houston Roadside
This month prosecutors unexpectedly dropped charges against Harris County deputies accused of violating a woman during a 2015 traffic stop.
The courts have long ruled that warrantless body cavity searches are, in most circumstances, unconstitutional. Impromptu roadside anal and vaginal probes are pr...Read More
Meet the Expert Who Helps Texas Cops Justify Extreme Behavior
Gilbert Flores’ hands were raised when two Bexar County deputies shot and killed him. A former cop who’s trained thousands of state police officers explains why he thinks that’s OK.
Gilbert Flores was already taunting the cops when his mother called 911 the morning of August 28, 2015. “My son, he’s gone crazy, I think he’s on drugs, I...Read More
Why We Hired a Civil Rights Reporter
Introducing Michael Barajas, the Observer’s new civil rights reporter
Over the last five years, federal courts have repeatedly ruled that the Texas Legislature intentionally discriminated against racial minorities. That’s a high...Read More
Prying Eyes: Border Sheriffs to Use Iris-Scanning Tech in Push for ‘Virtual Wall’
New iris-scanning technology used along the U.S.-Mexico border could exacerbate racial profiling.
Before President Trump ever builds his “big, beautiful wall,” there could be a fortified virtual wall at the U.S.-Mexico border bristling with biometric tec...Read More