A few random civil rights stories from today's interwebs.
- Civil rights organizations are attempting to enlist Hyundai - one of Alabama's largest employers - in their efforts to over turn HB 56, the states's immigration laws which "requires police, among other things, to check the identification and immigration status of anyone detained and suspected of being an illegal immigrant."
- Alabama's law is being challenged in the courts by Latino groups, notably LatinoJustice - here are it's observations of the arguments made regarding the law at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The court ruled to block implementation of parts of the law pending further appeals (see the decision here). The ACLU likes the outcome. And here is a statement from the ACLU on the rights of immigrants.
- Is immigration a Civil Right? An argument that it is not.
- Is the immigration battle the civil rights issue of this era? But perhaps gay marriage is the defining civil right issue.
- Remembering Bayard Rustin, a chief strategists for various civil rights causes during the 20th Century, who was born 100 years ago and died in 1987.
- David Frum reminds us that Mitt's dad George Romney was a moderate Republican back when they were "the strongest supporters of federal civil-rights legislation, and had been such since the 1930s. In percentage terms, more congressional Republicans voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 than did Democrats." As 2301s will see soon enough, this apparent discrepancy is easily addressed by pointing out that in 1964, the South allied with the Democratic Party, to day they ally with the Republican Party.
- Virginia Governor McDonnel is "on pace to restoring the civil rights of more felons than any of his predecessors. . . . In Virginia, people convicted of felonies are ineligible to vote, hold public office and serve on juries." In most other states, these rights are restored once punishment is served.
