Justice/Civil Liberties

Cropped image of a Michigan Department of Community Health brochure on HIV testing. Read the full brochure here.

Not-so-confidential HIV testing

The Michigan health department has been secretly collecting information on people who test for HIV at federally funded clinics. For a decade.
| 03.04.13 | 9:02 am | View Article

Since 2003, the Michigan Department of Community Health has been secretly collecting the names, dates of birth, risk categories, and other demographic information of people submitting for confidential HIV testing at grant-funded locations throughout the state and storing them in a massive database, a months-long investigation by The American Independent More…

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President’s AIDS council calls on feds to help states repeal HIV-criminalization laws

Advisory group says these statues are ‘unjust’ and fuel the epidemic
| 02.11.13 | 3:22 pm | View Article

The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) passed More… a resolution last week that calls for an end to federal and state HIV-specific criminal laws and prosecutions.

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UT releases docs related to controversial parenting study

| 02.01.13 | 7:03 pm | View Article

The University of Texas at Austin has begun releasing university records surrounding UT sociology professor Mark Regnerus’ controversial “New Family Structures Study,” following the Texas Office of the Attorney General’s recent ruling in favor of an American Independent records request. More…

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Lawmakers seek to bar discrimination against LGBT jurors

| 01.28.13 | 1:59 pm | View Article

Lawmakers in the U.S. House and Senate recently introduced bills banning discrimination against prospective jurors based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Last year, an American Independent investigation revealed numerous instances of likely discrimination against LGBT jurors in both state and federal courts.
Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.) introduced the More…

Lacey stop

Attorney: City pursuing criminal charges because HIV-positive woman won’t waive civil liability

| 01.17.13 | 11:34 am | View Article

DEARBORN, MICH. – Dearborn prosecutors are continuing to pursue a marijuana possession charge against an HIV-positive woman because she refuses to waive her right to sue the city over alleged discrimination, the woman’s attorneys say. More…

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Va. bill would remove abortion funding for women with totally incapacitated fetuses

| 01.16.13 | 12:38 pm | View Article

A proposal in the Virginia General Assembly to eliminate state funding for certain abortions could force some low-income women to carry to term a fetus with a low likelihood of survival. More…

FDA screen shot

Texas abortion drug bill could mean more side effects and higher costs

| 12.20.12 | 1:08 pm | View Article

A GOP lawmaker is looking to make Texas the latest state to restrict the use of abortion medications in a way that some experts warn could increase the drugs’ side effects while making them more expensive. More…

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Middle East Forum bankrolls free speech defenses for critics of ‘Islamist threat’

| 12.20.12 | 11:56 am | View Article

When the people sounding alarms over the ‘Islamist threat’ run into trouble with the law, the Middle East Forum’s Legal Project is increasingly the go-to funder tapped to mount defenses here and abroad. More…