Feb 24 George Zimmerman will not face federal charges in Trayvon Martin’s death By Anna Sillers The Justice Department announced on Tuesday that George Zimmerman, known for fatally shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012, will not face charges. Continue reading
Feb 17 Watch 8:16 Millions in limbo as judge halts Obama’s immigration action By PBS News Hour President Obama’s executive actions on immigration have been delayed after a federal judge in Texas ruled it didn't follow proper legal procedure. Alan Gomez of USA Today and Stephen Legomsky of Washington University Law School join Judy Woodruff to discuss… Continue watching
Jan 16 Watch 5:36 Will federal reforms on civil forfeiture mean more police accountability? By PBS News Hour The Justice Department is changing the federal rules on civil forfeiture. Local police departments around the country have used the controversial practice to raise nearly $3 billion by seizing property from people who are suspected but not convicted of a… Continue watching
Jan 08 Cleveland police forced Tamir Rice’s sister to the ground, footage reveals By Joshua Barajas According to new security footage released Thursday, Cleveland police handcuffed the 14-year-old sister of Tamir Rice and kept her nearby in a patrol car after a police officer shot the boy within seconds of arriving to the scene. Continue reading
Jan 07 With number of English learners growing, school districts get federal guidance on honoring students’ civil rights By Kyla Calvert Mason For the first time this year, non-white children make up a larger portion of the country’s public school students than white children. Within that growing racial diversity is an increasing linguistic diversity. There are about 5 million public school students… Continue reading
Dec 21 Watch 8:34 Whistleblowers win with False Claims Act, but does it actually deter fraud? By PBS News Hour Last year alone, the federal government and its whistleblowers -- people incentivized by the False Claims Act to expose fraud in companies that work with the government -- recovered nearly $6 billion in lawsuits that exposed wrongdoing. But some question… Continue watching
Dec 21 Top payouts to federal false claims whistleblowers in fiscal year 2014 By Saskia de Melker In the last fiscal year, the federal government recovered a record $5.69 billion under the False Claims Act. And as recoveries have increased, so have the awards for those whistleblowers who play a crucial role in exposing cases of fraud. Continue reading
Dec 18 Transgender government workers now protected under Civil Rights Act By Joshua Barajas Claims of workplace discrimination against transgender people will now be covered under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Attorney General Eric Holder announced in a memo released Thursday. Continue reading
Dec 16 How the Islamic State lures Westerners with a humanitarian approach By Eric Tucker, Sadie Gurman, Associated Press WASHINGTON — The three teenage girls from Colorado swapped Twitter messages about marriage and religion with recruiters for the Islamic State group, then set out for Syria with passports and thousands of dollars in stolen cash. Authorities intercepted them in… Continue reading
Dec 11 Justice Department: Majority of campus sexual assault goes unreported to police By Kimberly Hefling, Associated Press WASHINGTON — Only about 20 percent of campus sexual assault victims go to police, according to a new Justice Department report providing insight into why so many victims choose not to pursue criminal charges. Continue reading