civil rights litigation
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The sentencing of former Illinois sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson to the maximum 20-year prison term for the killing of Sonya Massey marks a consequential moment in the legal treatment of police use-of-force cases—one that extends beyond a single courtroom in Springfield. Grayson, 31, was convicted in October of a lesser homicide offense after fatally shooting…
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Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon has flatly rejected a request by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi seeking access to the state’s voter registration rolls, calling the demand unlawful and an attempt to coerce the disclosure of private voter data. In a statement released following a letter Bondi sent to Governor Tim Walz, Simon said:…
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Wrongful Conviction Overturned After 19 Years as Shooter’s Letter and Confession Lead to Exoneration
A New York man who spent nearly two decades in prison for a murder he did not commit has been fully exonerated after the actual gunman confessed, capping a decades-long miscarriage of justice that began when critical evidence was ignored. Emel McDowell was 17 years old when he was arrested and charged with murder following…
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Ben Crump to Law Students: Master English, Be Prepared, and Bring Passion to Civil Rights Litigation
Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump is urging aspiring lawyers not to underestimate one of the most basic — yet essential — tools for success in the legal profession: mastery of the English language. In a recent discussion with law students, Crump explained that precision in both written and spoken word can determine whether an…
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In 1973, in the heart of Montgomery, Alabama, two young Black sisters—Mary Alice and Minnie Relf—were subjected to an irreversible medical procedure they never consented to. At just 14 and 12 years old, the girls were forcibly sterilized by a federally funded clinic. Their mother, who could neither read nor write, had unknowingly signed a…
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The case of People v. The Klan—more formally known as Donald v. United Klans of America—stands as a pivotal moment in American legal history, marking one of the most significant legal victories against the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). This lawsuit, filed in 1984 by Beulah Mae Donald, the mother of lynching victim Michael Donald, not…
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Elaine McAlister, a 31-year-old Black nurse and mother, is suing Kansas City Airport police after she was wrongfully arrested and jailed for four days in a case of mistaken identity. The lawsuit, filed on January 31 in Platte County, Missouri, accuses officers Kyle Greenwalt and Matthew Zils of false arrest, racial discrimination, and harassment. The…
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Kiah Duggins, a 30-year-old law professor at Howard University School of Law, tragically lost her life in a midair collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport. The crash, which took place Wednesday evening, Jan. 29, 2025 over the Potomac River, killed all 67 individuals…
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