A Shelby County Circuit Court Jury in Memphis, Tenn., decided yesterday that civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was the victim of an assassination conspiracy. After only three hours of deliberations, the jury came back with their decision in favor of King’s family, who filed a wrongful death lawsuit last year against former Memphis […]
The French Cabinet adopted draft legislation intended to increase women’s participation in public life by asking political parties to put equal numbers of women and men on candidate rosters for local, regional and European elections and penalizing parties that do not comply by cutting government funds. The French government revised the Constitution in June to […]
The Ohio House Criminal Justice Committee recommended a bill on Tuesday to outlaw late-term abortions. The House has scheduled a floor vote on the bill for today. The bill would establish the offense of “partial-birth feticide,” which would result in a second-degree felony for any doctor who performed the procedure. Backers of the bill want […]
A school board in Orange County, CA rejected on Tuesday a proposal to form the Gay-Straight Alliance Club at El Modena High School. Anthony Colin and fellow student Heather Zetin filed a lawsuit last month against the school board after they refused to make a decision on the club for the second time. Although approving […]
In a White House ceremony commemorating the 51st anniversary of the universal Declaration of Human Rights, the President and First Lady condemned the Taliban and voiced great concern for the plight of Afghan women and girls living under the gender apartheid policies of the Taliban militia. The President proclaimed, “The real genius of the Declaration […]
Exxon Mobil Corp., formed after Exxon’s acquisition of Mobil last week, has abolished a Mobil policy that provided health-care coverage to partners of gay and lesbian employees. Under the new policy, current gay and lesbian employees of Exxon Mobil Corp. will retain domestic-partner benefits but newly-hired employees will not receive the domestic-partner benefits. Exxon Mobil […]
According to the Federal Reserve Board, women control over half the personal wealth in the United States. Women also donate twice as much money as men, according to a study by the National Science Foundation. And, in a new study revealed at a conference on women and philanthropy at Simmons College last month, the National […]
A report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics said on Sunday that men commit around 13 million violent crimes each year, more than six times the number of crimes committed by women (2.1 million). The National Crime Victimization Survey, released Sunday, reported these figures based on statistical averages gathered between the years of 1993-1997 from […]
Rose Bird, the first woman to serve on California’s Supreme Court, has died of breast cancer at the age of 63. Bird was appointed to the court in 1977 by then-Governor Jerry Brown and served until she and another Brown appointee was removed by voters through a confirmation election. Bird helped strengthen environmental and consumer […]
Mattel, the maker of the Barbie doll, is suing Seal Press, the publisher of Adios, Barbie. Mattel is charging that the publisher infringed on Mattel’s trademark by using Barbie items in the cover illustration and also of trading on Barbie’s recognition for book sales. Faith Conlon, publisher of Seal Press, stated that the suit was […]
State officials in Florida have okayed production of “Choose Life” license plates just one day after delaying the plate. The Florida National Organization for Women filed a lawsuit against the plate and the attorney general halted production, predicting that the design would be defeated in court. Supporters of the plate, which portrays a crayon sketch […]
An influential group of Canadian and American women is asking Ottawa to take steps to restore women’s rights in Afghanistan. The Taliban fundamentalist regime has denied women their basic human rights including education, work, and the ability to leave their homes without a close male relative. The group, including Sally Armstrong, editor-at-large of Chatelaine magazine, […]
Tori Murden today became the first woman and the first American to row across the Atlantic Ocean alone. She completed the 3,000-mile journey in nearly 12 weeks, which began in the Canary Islands in September and ended today in the French Caribbean Island of Guadeloupe. Murden battled Hurricane Lenny, which cost her time, but managed […]
Researchers reported Tuesday that women are up to three times more likely than men to develop lung cancer from smoking, and that women smokers’ risk for lung cancer remains higher than men’s risk even after they kick the habit. Genetic factors offer at least a partial explanation for women’s increased risk. The Journal of the […]
Throughout his campaign, Governor George W. Bush has been muddling the issue of abortion and claiming he won’t use any litmus tests for nominating Supreme Court justices. However, an interview with Tim Russert on NBC’s Meet the Press proved very revealing. During the interview, Bush stated that his two favorite Supreme Court justices are Antonin […]
A federal appeals court said Wednesday that the First Amendment guarantee of religious freedom does not exempt churches from sexual harassment lawsuits. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 3-0 to reinstate the lawsuit of John Bollard, who sued the California Province of the Jesuits in 1996 saying he was sexually harassed by a […]
Kuwaiti women’s rights advocates are making plans for their next attempt to gain political rights for women despite the Parliament’s second rejection of their rights on Tuesday in a 32-30 vote. Kawthar al-Jowan, who leads the political committee of the Union of Women’s Association declared that “We are studying different tactics. We have to gain […]
A direct-mail company is suing the Christian Coalition for almost $400,000, saying it hasn’t received a payment since last Spring and that it has helped to raise over $7 million for the group. The Christian Coalition has undergone serious restructuring in the last year. The coalition was forced to split into two groups earlier this […]
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemned the Taliban for their complete disregard for the life and welfare of Afghan citizens in an annual report on the condition and future of the war-torn nation. Human rights atrocities committed during Taliban offensives and highlighted in the report included the execution of women and children, forced displacement, looting and […]
U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens issued an order that temporarily blocks enforcement of Wisconsin and Illinois laws restricting abortions. Stevens has jurisdiction over the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which declared last month the laws in Wisconsin and Illinois constitutional. Had Stevens not intervened, the two laws restricting women’s […]
