Civil Rights Groups Decry Ted Cruz’s Muslim Surveillance Comments

Muslims across the country and groups including the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Anti-Defamation League condemned Cruz’s statements, but many said his reaction was nothing new.

Associated Press
By Associated Press
Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas speaks to the media about events in Brussels, Tuesday, March 22, 2016, near the Capitol in Washington. Cruz said he would use the "full force and fury" of the U.S. military to defeat the Islamic State group. (AP/Jacquelyn Martin)

DEARBORN, Mich.  — Some American Muslims feel they are once again on the defensive following presidential candidate Ted Cruz's suggestion that Muslim-dominated neighborhoods should be subject to increased surveillance in the wake of the deadly attacks in Brussels claimed by the Islamic State militant group. "We're targeted even if it's not our

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Federal Government Files Civil Rights Suit Against Ferguson

Ferguson has been under Justice Department scrutiny since 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was black and unarmed, was fatally shot by white officer Darren Wilson 18 months ago

Associated Press
By Associated Press
Michael Brown lays dead in the street after being shot and killed by police in Ferguson, Missouri.

FERGUSON, Mo. — The latest on efforts by Ferguson to reach a consent agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to improve police and court practices in the St. Louis suburb (all times local): 4:20 p.m. The Justice Department has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Ferguson, one day after the city council voted to revise an

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Report: US Teachers Beat Black School Children Twice As Much As Whites

A new report reveals black school children get beaten twice as much as whites in the U.S. with out-of-school-suspension rates four times higher.

teleSUR
By teleSUR
Third graders Danielle Levin, 8; Paige Simpson, 8; and Daniella Gama-Diaz, 8; from left, work on a lesson at Eagle Elementary School in West Bloomfield Township, Mich., Thursday, March 9, 2006. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

There was at least 57,000 incidents of educators beating Black children in the United States in a single year, according to a recent study by the Brookings Institute, highlighting that "Black children are twice as likely as White children to be subject to corporal punishment" at school. The disproportionality in corporal punishment in the U.S.

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Police Target Prominent Civil Rights Lawyer That Cost City Big In Lost Lawsuits

Although the right to film police is protected by the First Amendment, the well-known advocate laments: “They’ve got the guns, and badges, and they want total control of the situation they’re in.”

MintPress News Desk
By MintPress News Desk
BLM protesters outsideof the Minneapolis Police Department's Third Precinct Nov. 25, 2014. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

MINNEAPOLIS --- Perhaps few people are more aware of their constitutional rights than Jordan Kushner, a lawyer renowned for defending the civil rights of everyone from Black Lives Matter activists to people dressed like zombies. Now he's facing trial for exercising his own fundamental First Amendment rights. In November, Kushner attended a

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The Legacy Of Julian Bond: Civil Rights Leader Dies At 75

Julian Bond, an important leader of the 1960s civil rights movement and former member of the Georgia House of Representatives, died at the age of 75 on Saturday.

Sam P.K. Collins for Think Progress
By Sam P.K. Collins for Think Progress

Civil rights leaders, activists, lawmakers, and students of history are mourning the death of lifelong civil rights leader Julian Bond, who passed away at the age of 75 on Saturday in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida after a brief illness. “With Julian’s passing, the country has lost one of its most passionate and eloquent voices for the cause of

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Civil Rights Group Asks DOJ To Intervene Over Muslim-Free Zones

“There must be a clear statement from the Department of Justice that such unconstitutional business practices will not be permitted,” wrote the communications director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil rights group.

MintPress News Desk
By MintPress News Desk
Jace Firearms in Whitesburg, KY.

WASHINGTON --- Alarmed by the growing number of businesses in America declaring themselves to be “Muslim-free zones,” a civil rights group is demanding an investigation from the federal government into the legality of this practice. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is the country’s largest and oldest advocacy group for Muslim

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