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By Najah Farley

On Monday, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Florence v. Board of Freeholders that all individuals arrested and held in a correctional facility or jail could be subjected to a routine strip search as long as it only involves a visual inspection. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the controlling opinion, basing his reasoning largely on the balance between inmate privacy and the needs of institutions. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote a short concurrence, where he reiterated that there could possibly be exceptions drawn to the rule pronounced in this case. He then states that it is wise for the Court “to leave open the possibility of exceptions, to ensure that we ‘not embarrass the future.’”
[Read more…] about Embarrassing the Future?

By Craig Auster

One of the ways that the Obama administration has tried to engage the public is the “We the People” online petition tool.  On January 10^th a petition was launched asking the White House to “fully engage in efforts to ratify the 1972 Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).”  The petition needed to get 25,000 signatures in a month in order to get an official response—this one got 27,691.

What struck me is that in that same month period, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced he would lift the ban on women in military combat—removing an argument that was once used by opponents of the ERA — that women can’t serve in combat.
[Read more…] about Time for the ERA?

By Sushila Rao

Even as disturbing reports of alleged rapes continue to trickle in with alarming regularity, India’s Parliament recently passed the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013.  The notoriously inert legislative process received a shot in the arm when the brutal rape and murder of a student in Delhi in December 2012 engendered national protests.  A judicial committee headed by a former Chief Justice of India (the Verma Committee) submitted a list of recommended amendments in January 2013, and an ordinance was promulgated to put (some of) these measures into effect temporarily.  The 2013 Bill, once signed by the President, will replace the ordinance.
[Read more…] about India’s Parliament Passes New Law on Sexual Offenses

By Nick Nehamas

Abigail Fisher claims she didn’t get into the University of Texas at Austin because of her skin color. Fisher’s lawyers argue the school violated her constitutional rights by taking race into account when it denied her admission.

“There were people in my class with lower grades who weren’t in all the activities I was in, who were being accepted into UT, and the only other difference between us was the color of our skin,” Fisher says in a YouTube video. “I was taught from the time I was a little girl that any kind of discrimination was wrong. And for an institution of higher learning to act this way makes no sense to me.”
[Read more…] about Will the Supreme Court strike down affirmative action?

By Jonathan Peters

This is a guest post by Josh Stearns, the Journalism and Public Media Campaign Director of Free Press. He has published numerous reports on press freedom, journalism, media consolidation and public media, and he speaks regularly about community engagement, activism and the future of journalism. Before joining Free Press, Stearns coordinated policy and communications efforts for service-learning and higher education organizations. He holds a B.A. in English from St. Lawrence University and an M.A. in American studies from UMass Amherst. Follow him @jcstearns on Twitter.

Thirty years ago, Mother Jones was in a fight for its life with the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS granted the magazine nonprofit status in 1980, but a few years later it reversed course and tried to rescind that status. Doing so would have cost the magazine roughly $400,000 in back taxes and would have undermined the fledgling newsroom just as it was getting traction. Mother Jones fought the IRS and won the case. Last month, the magazine won a prestigious George Polk Award for its 2012 election reporting.
[Read more…] about Death, Taxes and Journalism: A Way Forward for Nonprofit News at the IRS