civil rights - The Indiana Lawyer

Civil rights pioneer seeks expungement of ’55 arrest record

October 26, 2021 | Associated Press

Months before Rosa Parks became the mother of the modern civil rights movement by refusing to move to the back of a segregated Alabama bus, Black teenager Claudette Colvin did the same. Convicted of assaulting a police officer while being arrested, she was placed on probation yet never received notice that she’d finished the term and was on safe ground legally. Now 82 and slowed by age, Colvin is asking a judge to end the matter once and for all.

Family of Black man killed by South Bend officer taking civil rights case to 7th Circuit

October 20, 2021 | Olivia Covington

The family of a Black South Bend man who was fatally shot more than two years ago by a white police officer plans to ask the 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a ruling in favor of the officer.

Gary man sues after accusing police of kneeling on him

October 20, 2021 | Associated Press

A Gary man is suing northwest Indiana police more than a year after he alleged that officers sprayed him with pepper spray and knelt on him when they encountered him near a protest over George Floyd’s death.

Ex-cops accused of violating Floyd’s rights plead not guilty

September 15, 2021 | Associated Press

Four former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights pleaded not guilty Tuesday in a federal hearing that included arguments on several pretrial motions, including requests to hold separate trials.

Pro se civil rights filings continue to climb

September 15, 2021 | Katie Stancombe

Nearly 20 years’ worth of data tracking trends of federal civil pro se filings show that civil rights cases make up the second-highest percentage of filings, next to pro se prisoner cases. In recent years, a growing number of those cases have targeted law enforcement or other government actors.

Ex-cops accused of violating Floyd’s rights face arraignment

September 14, 2021 | Associated Press

Four former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights are scheduled to be arraigned in federal court Tuesday at a hearing that could also address some pretrial motions.

Lake Co. dad gets new trial after potential landlord denies rental because of kids

July 28, 2021 | Katie Stancombe

A new trial has been ordered for a Lake County father who was refused a rental home after telling the owner that he had children.

Case dropped against dead woman in Indiana hit-and-run case

July 21, 2021 | Associated Press

Prosecutors dropped their case against an Indiana woman who was charged in a hit-and-run crash during a southern Indiana protest last summer after learning she died in Colorado earlier this year.

Judge tosses most claims over clearing protesters in DC park

June 22, 2021 | Associated Press

A federal judge dismissed most claims filed by activists and civil liberties groups who accused the Trump administration of violating the civil rights of protesters who were forcefully removed by police before then-President Donald Trump walked to a church near the White House for a photo op.

Pendleton inmate represents himself in lengthy court battle

June 9, 2021 | Marilyn Odendahl

An inmate at the Pendleton Correctional Facility represented himself against a former guard for use of excessive force in a legal battle that lasted for nearly six years before culminating in March in an in-person bench trial and an award of $35,000.

Ashley HomeStore settles employment-rights case with Indiana guardsman

May 28, 2021 | IL Staff

Ashley HomeStore has agreed to pay an Indiana Army National guardsman $6,000 after he alleged he was fired from the store’s Greenwood location after returning from active duty.

Justices consider hearing a case on ‘most offensive word’

May 17, 2021 | Associated Press

In a case focusing on elevator graffiti, Robert Collier is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether a single use of the N-word in the workplace can create a hostile work environment, giving an employee the ability to pursue a case under Title VII of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Reversing Trump, US restores transgender health protections

May 10, 2021 | Associated Press

The U.S. will protect gay and transgender people against sex discrimination in health care, the Biden administration announced Monday, reversing a Trump-era policy that sought to narrow the scope of legal rights in sensitive situations involving medical care.

Sikh group wants probe of gunman’s possible supremacist link

April 21, 2021 | Associated Press

A Sikh civil rights organization called on law enforcement Tuesday to investigate whether a former FedEx employee who fatally shot eight people — four of them Sikhs — at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis last week had any ties to hate groups.

Biden praying for ‘the right verdict’ in Chauvin trial

April 20, 2021 | Associated Press

President Joe Biden said Tuesday he was “praying the verdict is the right verdict” in the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin. He said he believed the case involving the death of George Floyd, which has gone to the jury and put the nation on edge, was “overwhelming.”

Defense rests without Chauvin testimony at George Floyd murder trial

April 15, 2021 | Associated Press

The defense at the murder trial of former Officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd rested its case Thursday without putting Chauvin on the stand, presenting a total of two days of testimony to the prosecution’s two weeks.

Congressional panel votes to advance bill on slavery reparations

April 15, 2021 | Associated Press

A United States House panel advanced a decades-long effort to pay reparations to the descendants of slaves by approving legislation Wednesday that would create a commission to study the issue.

SCOTUS to consider civil forfeiture case of truck seized over 5 forgotten bullets

April 15, 2021 | Associated Press

Gerardo Serrano ticked off the border crossing agents by taking some photos on his phone. So they took his pickup truck and held onto it for more than two years. Now the U.S. Supreme Court might take up the case.

Muncie police face new excessive force, false reporting charges

April 14, 2021 | IL Staff

Three Muncie police officers are facing new allegations of using excessive force then attempting to cover up their actions after a new federal indictment. A fourth officer not previously indicted is now also being charged with a federal crime.

Ramsey Clark, attorney general under Johnson, dies at 93

April 12, 2021 | Associated Press

Ramsey Clark, the attorney general in the Johnson administration who became an outspoken activist for unpopular causes and a harsh critic of U.S. policy, has died. He was 93.

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