The Justice Beat (August 17, 2017)
Last weekend’s violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, (where two members of our team, including our CEO, have lived and gone to University) is first and foremost in our minds. Our hearts go out to the family of the young woman who died, to the community of Charlottesville, and those who, throughout America’s history, have fought for social justice and stood up to violence, hate and racism.
This week, The Justice Beat focuses on protected speech, gender and identity, and immigration
Protected speech
1. Days before this weekend’s deadly “Unite the Right” rally, the Southern Poverty Law Center discussed the event’s potential significance, incorporating commentary from local and University officials on citizens’ rights to hold and express beliefs.
2. Dahlia Lithwick, who writes about the courts and the law for Slate, pens a powerful piece about her hometown of Charlottesville having witnessed the recent invasion by white supremacist groups. She details the stark differences between these groups’ actual influence and their belief in their ability to disenfranchise the vulnerable.
3. The city of Charlottesville tried to revoke the permit from one of the rally organizers until a US District Court Judge ruled this would be an unlawful restriction of free speech. The organizer’s legal representation in this case may be surprising: the ACLU.
4. Political views are not a protected class. As more people are “outed” for having attended the rally in support of white nationalists, debate swirls around the question of whether these individuals have job protections or can be fired for their views.
5. A fired Google engineer has been broadly derided for penning a screed claiming biological differences cause women’s disadvantage in tech. He filed a case against the company under a section of law protecting workers’ rights activists. He might win.
Gender and identity
6. We continue to follow the narrative surrounding treatment of transgender people in the military. Now five transgender servicemembers have filed suit in federal district court challenging the apparent reversal of the military’s transgender service policy.
7. Following significant business leader and community opposition, a Texas bill to restrict bathroom access for transgender people has been abandoned by the Republican legislature. This outcome may impact similar bills being considered in other states.
8. A transgender woman and her husband suing Amazon for violating the Civil Rights Act are progressing in crowdfunding for legal costs. The suit alleges once coworkers discovered the woman was transgender they went so far as to endanger the pair’s lives.
Immigration
9. A filing hints at what the Trump administration will argue when SCOTUS takes up the immigration ban this fall. Namely: it’s inappropriate to probe POTUS’s motives re: national security decisions and campaign trail statements should not be considered.
10. A new milestone for a case involving a 98-year prison sentence, a clerical error, a unanimous legislative vote, a governor’s pardon, a massive petition and a determined agency: Rene Lima-Marin enters a final phase in his fight to avoid deportation.
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