Civil Rights

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Colorado ‘treatment’ center held mentally disabled teen in solitary for 25 days

‘All I know is it was long, real long, and it felt like the worst thing ever.’
| 05.10.13 | 11:33 am | View Article

This story was originally published by The Colorado Independent.
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Fourteen-year-old Kiondre Davison had a habit of acting up in school and running away from home. Social services officials stepped in to help. They sent him to El Pueblo Boys and Girls Ranch, a teen treatment center in Pueblo, Colo.,

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Colorado treatment center draws scrutiny for alleged teen solitary policies

State asks facility to shut down 'reflection cottages' while regulators investigate
| 04.29.13 | 5:26 pm | View Article

This story was originally published by The Colorado Independent.  More…
A residential teen treatment center in Pueblo, Colo., is under fire for housing children in prolonged solitary confinement.

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‘He was freaking’: Friend says suspected killer of Colo. Corrections chief flailed from years of isolation

Former inmate dismisses gang-hit theory in shooting death of Tom Clements
Susan Greene | 03.26.13 | 5:23 pm | The Colorado Independent | View Article

This story was originally published by The Colorado Independent.
More…DENVER– In the weeks before his death, Evan Ebel, suspected killer of Colorado Department of Corrections Director Tom Clements, had broken ties with white supremacist prison gang 211 Crew and was debilitated by the transition from prolonged isolation to social contact,

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Maryland lawmaker cranks HIV-decriminalization gears with message bill

| 03.26.13 | 4:28 pm | View Article

*This article has been updated to reflect a correction.
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A Maryland lawmaker and a handful of local advocates have started the course to repeal the state’s HIV-specific criminal law, and if other states’ efforts are any indication, Maryland’s path will likely be a long and winding one.

Photo: Michigan state capitol building. Brian Charles Watson, via Wikimedia Commons. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Michigan_state_capitol.jpg

Mich. HIV data collection violates intent of statute, says lawmaker who helped create law

| 03.19.13 | 1:20 pm | View Article

LANSING, MICH. – Michigan’s health department is violating the legislative intent of an HIV-related statute – and maybe the law itself – by indefinitely collecting information on people who test for HIV at federally funded clinics, says a former state lawmaker, who helped pass sweeping health reforms in the wake More…

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Goal of UT parenting study was to influence SCOTUS decisions on gay marriage, docs show

| 03.11.13 | 9:07 am | View Article

UPDATE: This article has been updated to reflect a correction.
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The conservative funders who bankrolled a flawed and widely cited academic study that’s critical of gay parenting* choreographed its release in time to influence “major decisions of the Supreme Court,” documents show.

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DOJ investigates Denver for violating deaf prisoner rights

Susan Greene | 03.06.13 | 5:19 pm | The Colorado Independent | View Article

This story was originally published by TAI affiliate The Colorado Independent. More…
The federal Justice Department is investigating Denver for failing to provide sign-language interpreters for deaf prisoners. Investigators are seeking to determine whether Denver – which touts itself as “one of America’s most accessible cities” — is violating the Americans

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One in seven Fortune 500 companies gave to the Boy Scouts

| 03.04.13 | 9:37 am | View Article

Among the corporations that make up the current Fortune 500 — Fortune More… magazine’s yearly list of the top 500 American companies ranked by revenue — about one in seven, or 14 percent, each donated at least $10,000 to the Boy Scouts of America in 2010, despite the organization’s longtime ban