The American radical right grew explosively in 2011, a third consecutive year of extraordinary growth that has swelled the ranks of extremist groups to record levels, according to a report issued today by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The rise was led by a stunning expansion of the antigovernment “Patriot” movement.
The SPLC joined a coalition of advocacy groups urging state governors to reject an offer by a for-profit prison company to buy and manage prisons – a proposal that threatens to burden taxpayers, drive up state debt and stymie efforts to reform a criminal justice system that imprisons people in record numbers.
Minnesota’s largest school district has agreed to adopt a wide-ranging plan to protect LGBT students from bullying and harassment, in a settlement that will resolve an SPLC lawsuit.
A congressional delegation led by U.S. Rep. John Lewis today laid a wreath at the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Ala., to honor the men and women who sacrificed their lives during the civil rights movement.
Latinos in Alabama have experienced harassment, hardship and discrimination, regardless of their immigration status, as a result of the state’s anti-immigrant law, HB 56, and the xenophobic climate it has created, according to a report released today by the SPLC.
Children and teens incarcerated in Mississippi will no longer be housed in a privately run prison or subjected to brutal solitary confinement under the terms of a groundbreaking settlement reached in an SPLC lawsuit.
A mother whose daughters were hit with pepper spray by a police officer at their school in Birmingham, Ala., joined the SPLC and a coalition of advocacy groups today to present the city council and Mayor William Bell with a petition signed by more than 25,000 people urging them to stop allowing police officers to discipline students with chemical weapons.
The Department of Justice’s decision to no longer defend a discriminatory law that denies spousal benefits to veterans in legal, same-sex marriages is welcome news for veterans who simply want equal treatment under the law.
A conference being held in the Atlanta area to promote so called “ex-gay” therapy lends an air of legitimacy to a harmful practice that has been discredited by scientific organizations.
In 2011, the Florida legislature passed a law that set juvenile justice back 40 years. The law, known as SB 2112, allows sheriffs to house young people in adult jails without the protections developed over the years for children in the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice.
