By The Editors
The U.S. Supreme Court today declared that the nation’s laws banning discrimination in lending can and should be enforced by all levels of government, not just federal agencies.

By The Editors
In a controversial and closely-watched case, Ricci v. DeStefano et al, the U.S. Supreme Court today ruled in favor of white New Haven firefighters who claimed the city had discriminated against them on racial grounds because it scrapped an officers’ promotion test in which 17 white firefighters and one Hispanic firefighter met the requirements for promotion. In the test a number of black firefighters passed but none scored high enough to be considered for promotion.

By Stacey Patton
On June 18, the United States Supreme Court ruled that convicts cannot access DNA evidence to try to prove their innocence. Stacey Patton, Senior Editor ofTheDefendersOnline, talked with Peter Neufeld, Co-Director of The Innocence Project, a national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent further injustice.

By Ralph Richardson
Michael Jackson died yesterday of cardiac arrest. And when he died, I believe a little piece of us died with him. Just like when Kurt Cobain, Tupac and Biggie died tragically. I am completely stunned, completely in shock, and I am completely at a loss for words. I’m sitting here right now, sitting here as the world mourns the loss of a father, a son, a brother and a genius. No matter what they say he was a genius, our genius.

LDF News and Media Today:
A sampling of Race, Justice, Equality and Democracy in the news.
By Mel Gagarin

Settlement in Missouri Victory for Low-Income Voters, Kos

All Black Unit Gains Respect Once Denied

Judge Napolitano’s Dred Scott’s Revenge

Gay Rights Movement Beyond Marriage and the Military

Long Before ‘Thriller’ Jackson Shattered Racial Barriers

If You Want to Talk About the Ricci Case…

By The Editors
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), which had filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, said in a statement that the Court’s action “is likely to make it more difficult for courts to provide meaningful and lasting remedies for clear violations of federal law.”

LDF News and Media Today:
A sampling of Race, Justice, Equality and Democracy in the news.
By Mel Gagarin

GOP will question Sotomayor’s ability to defend Constitution
Equal marriage strategy discussed in Chicago
Voting’s changed
Rwanda: Lawmakers make mess of reproductive rights bill
Anti-affirmative action measure to go on ballot in Arizona
Recalling Douglass in the age of Obama
Coates: Obama and Father’s Day

By George Alexander
The upcoming King film has the potential to force us to reexamine his ideas and positions not only in an historical context but to also see their relevance today and for the future of an ever changing and more complex world.

By Stacey Patton
Last week’s Supreme Court ruling, which denies prisoners the constitutional right to post-conviction DNA testing that could prove their innocence, says something bigger about the quality of justice in America.

By Pamela Newkirk
Senna’s characters are not the stuff of fiction, but are drawn from her real life. From shards of truths, half-truths, legend, and a searing search into her personal history, Senna reveals a larger truth of America’s character of racial mixing, undue pride and shame, and unreconciled identities.