Feature Archives

The Lawyers’ Committee filed a lawsuit today on behalf of Latino voters against the Madera Unified School District (MUSD), charging that the school district’s at-large method of election is racially polarized and violates the California Voting Rights Act of 2001 (CVRA). The suit challenges the school district’s discriminatory voting system and seeks to protect the Latino community against vote dilution.

California based political prisoner Sara Olson was released from prison on March 17, 2008 and re-arrested 4 days later. What was behind this bizarre incident which played out in the mainstream media? For the first time anywhere, Sara tells her story about what was behind her release and re-arrest.

This week, motorcycle bike clubs, riders, and supporters in the Modesto and greater Central Valley area made a historic show of solidarity against the police harassment of local bike club, “Most Envied”, of West Side Modesto.

Dozens of couples arrived early to get their marriage licenses in Fresno this morning. Tinasha Broadus and Alicia Rice were the first in line and the first same sex couple to be married. A family member arrived at 4:30 AM at the Fresno County Clerk’s office to hold Tinasha and Alicia’s place in line. Everything ran smoothly, there were no counter-protesters, and the first couple got their license and were married within one hour.

The homeless and their advocates achieved an enormous victory on June 6th when a federal court in Fresno approved a settlement of over $2 million for the destruction of their personal property. The settlement is the largest of its kind in the entire country.

Utah Phillips, a seminal figure in American folk music who performed extensively and tirelessly for audiences on two continents for 38 years, died Friday of congestive heart failure in Nevada City, California a small town in the Sierra Nevada mountains where he lived for the last 21 years with his wife, Joanna Robinson, a freelance editor.

A U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of California has ruled that the City of Fresno's practice of immediately seizing and destroying the personal possessions of homeless residents violates the constitutional right of every person to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.