The Supreme Court will consider whether banning homeless people from sleeping outside when shelter space is lacking amounts to cruel and unusual punishment on Monday. The case is considered the most significant to come before the high court in decades on homelessness, which is reaching record levels In California and other Western states. Courts have ruled that it’s unconstitutional to fine and arrest people sleeping in homeless encampments if shelter space is lacking.
READ MOREThe court sided with Sgt. Jatonya Clayborn Muldrow, who alleged she was reassigned to a less prestigious role within the St. Louis Police Department because of her gender.
READ MOREWith help from state and federal funds, the city has spent more than $300 million to provide housing, health care and more to over 38,000 mostly South American migrants. The speed with which these funds were marshaled has stirred widespread resentment among Black Chicagoans. But community leaders are trying to ease racial tensions and channel the public’s frustrations into agitating for the greater good.
READ MOREEarth Day has its roots in growing concern over pollution in the 1960s. That's when author Rachel Carson’s 1962 book “Silent Spring,” about the pesticide DDT and its damaging effects on the food chain, hit bestseller lists and raised awareness about nature’s delicate balance. But it was a senator from Wisconsin, Democrat Gaylord Nelson, who had the idea that would become the first Earth Day in 1970.
READ MOREThere are many old and unenforceable state laws that are left on the books because of inertia. It might seem unnecessary for a state legislature to repeal a law that is not enforced or has been superseded by a more recent law. But the recent Arizona abortion ban shows the consequences of assuming that old laws will always remain dormant.
READ MOREThe Rev. Frederick Haynes III tells The Associated Press that he submitted his resignation on Tuesday as president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. He says the decision came “after a time of prayer and consultation.” Haynes mentioned “challenges that continue to exist,” but did not elaborate. Jackson announced in July that he would step down from the organization he founded more than 50 years ago and introduced Haynes as his successor.
READ MOREAccording to the survey, 53% of Black adults are “very” or “fairly concerned” about exposure to air pollution in their communities. The concern is significantly higher than that among Hispanic adults, at 46%, and white adults, at 35%.
READ MOREA homeless person near an elementary school in Fruitdale Park in Grants Pass, Ore. AP Photo/Jenny Kane
On April 22, 2024, the Supreme Court will hear a case that could radically change how cities respond to the growing problem of homelessness. It also could significantly worsen the nation’s racial justice gap.
READ MOREThe FBI and the US Coast Guard are spearheading the inquiry to determine if the crew neglected to report a prior issue with the vessel, which could have contributed to the tragic incident.
READ MORECenturies prior to Alice Ball's discovery, sufferers had no remedy for leprosy’s debilitating symptoms or its social stigma.
READ MORE