Alabama Town Running Debtors Prison Ordered To Pay $680K Settlement

“Hundreds of impoverished residents have faced unconstitutional and unjust treatment in Alexander City simply because they were too poor to pay fines and fees.”

Jack Burns
By Jack Burns
Lawyers for Vincent Bias have called on Alexander City Police Chief Willie Robinson (pictured) to resign.

Alexander, AL — The Southern Poverty Law Center has reached a $680,000 settlement in its lawsuit against the Alabama city of Alexander and its police chief Willie Robinson. The settlement was for depriving 190 of its residents their rights to due process (6th Amendment) and the unlawful seizure of their property (4th Amendment). Sheriff Robinson

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The Hate Spiral Of 2016: 701 Acts Of ‘Hateful Harassment’ Since Election Day

Southern Poverty Law Center has documented 701 incidents targeting Muslims, immigrants, LGBT people, women, blacks, and other minorities since Election Day.

MintPress News Desk
By MintPress News Desk
islamophobia

MINNEAPOLIS --- There have been at least 361 incidents of anti-Muslim violence and harassment in 2016, an average of more than one incident per day. Even before the election of President-elect Donald Trump, a wave of Islamophobic hate crimes and anti-Muslim incidents throughout the year drew comparisons to the aftermath of 9/11, when many

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As Schools See Hate-Fueled Attacks Rise, Millions Demand Trump Speak Out

‘The presidency is about many things,’ groups declare in letter to president-elect. ‘Chiefly, it is about setting an example through your leadership.’

Deirdre Fulton
By Deirdre Fulton
Washington area high school students sitting on a park bench, from left, Makeda Lydia, 14, Sarah Tewodros, 14 and Serwah Lydia, 17, protest on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Facing increased reports of hate-fueled harassment, vandalism, property destruction, and assault in the wake of Donald Trump's election last week, more than 100 faith, labor, and civil rights groups on Friday sent a letter to the president-elect, urging him to "loudly, forcefully, unequivocally, and consistently" denounce such acts. The

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Neo-Nazis Clash with Counter Protesters, 7 People Stabbed

Multiple people were reportedly stabbed in what the Sacramento Fire Department called a “mass casualty event” after counter-protesters crashed a rally in Sacramento organized by a far-right political group known as the Traditionalist Worker Party.

teleSUR
By teleSUR

Five people were transported to area hospitals after fascists were met by counter-protesters at a rally in California's capital. Multiple people were reportedly stabbed in what the Sacramento Fire Department called a “mass casualty event” after counter-protesters crashed a rally in Sacramento organized by a far-right political group known as the

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2015: The Year US Political Leaders Fanned The Flames Of A Nation ‘Awash’ In Hate

2015 saw a record rise in homegrown violence and extremism that matched the rise of discriminatory and hateful rhetoric from mainstream political figures.

Lauren McCauley
By Lauren McCauley
As police stand guard, armed anti-Muslim protestors, who did not want to give their names, stand across the street from a mosque during a demonstration in Richardson, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

2015 marked a year "awash" in hate, according to an analysis by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), as the number of extremist groups in the U.S. grew significantly, matching the rise of discriminatory and hateful rhetoric from mainstream political figures. The civil rights group's annual census (pdf) found that in the past year the number

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Video: Police Lieutenant Caught Bragging That His Supervisors Support Racist Hate Groups

The Southern Poverty Law Center recently sent a video of this meeting to the city manager, Brian Johnson. Johnson said that even if officers were proven to belong to Neo-Nazi groups or the Ku Klux Klan, this is no reason for them to be fired.

S. Wooten
By S. Wooten

The Southern Poverty Law Center is widely known for their work tracking hate crimes and hate groups, particularly those related to Neo-Nazism and the Ku Klux Klan. The SPLC reports that one police department in Alabama has knowingly hired neo-Confederate sympathizers and klansmen, in spite of the fact that this would obviously bias them against

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