American Civil Liberties Union
How Airbnb is addressing its racial-bias problem
In response to growing complaints of racial bias among its users, Airbnb will beef up its nondiscrimination policy, do more to diversify its own workforce and offer implicit-bias training to its hosts, according to a report released Thursday after a three-month review by the company.
But the short-term rental site will not, for now, concede to critics one of their chief requests: abandoning the user photos that make it easy to identify online who is a minority.
"After thoroughly analyzing this issue, I came to believe that Airbnb guests should not be asked or required to hide behind curtains of anonymity when trying to find a place to stay," Laura Murphy, a former...
Related "American Civil Liberties Union" Articles
How Airbnb is addressing its racial-bias problem
In response to growing complaints of racial bias among its users, Airbnb will beef up its nondiscrimination policy, do more to diversify its own workforce and offer implicit-bias training to its hosts, according to a report released Thursday after a...
The injustice of deporting children without representation
A Department of Justice immigration judge recently made headlines for testifying that 3- and 4-year-old migrant children could be taught immigration law and could competently represent themselves in court.“You can do a fair hearing,” said Judge Jack H....
Why protections against 'sex discrimination' should include gays and lesbians
Legislation to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination in the workplace has languished for years on Capitol Hill, even as the Supreme Court has ruled that same-sex couples may marry and Congress has voted to allow gay Americans to serve openly in...
Published in Los Angeles Times on February 10, 2016 — Print headline: "Trump wins, Kasich survives"
Would you work for $1 to $3 a day?
Each year, tens of thousands of people being held in the federal immigration detention system are put to work scrubbing floors, cooking meals and landscaping grounds, among other menial jobs. They can work as much as eight hours a day and 40 hours a week....
$20-million settlement reached in guest-worker lawsuits
An Alabama marine construction company has agreed to pay $20 million to more than 200 guest workers from India who alleged they were kept in labor camps so squalid and crowded that one worker attempted suicide.
The settlement, announced Tuesday, resolves...
Don't hide L.A. County's legal bills
Los Angeles County pays a lot of money to private law firms to defend against lawsuits brought by people who assert they were beaten, mistreated or abused while in custody, especially in the county's notorious jails. In order to adequately assess how well...
Capitol minister aims to deliver state leaders from temptation
Amid the crush of lobbyists, lawyers and lawmakers packing the hallways of the Capitol in the final days of each legislative session, one figure moves through the corridors with noticeable serenity.
Tall and lean, Frank Erb might be mistaken for a...
New York foundations bankrolled Proposition 47
The power of nonprofit foundations to change state law was exemplified by the bankrolling of Proposition 47, a $9.5-million campaign that reduced drug possession and minor theft charges to misdemeanors. By contrast, opponents reported spending a total of...
Texas executes convicted killer with IQ of 67
A Texas inmate who had been described as intellectually disabled by civil rights advocates was put to death Thursday, officials said.
Robert Ladd, 57, was pronounced dead at 7:02 p.m. at Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville, according to a...
License-plate tracking by DEA trades away too much liberty
The military calls it "mission creep" — sending troops out for one purpose, then adding to their marching orders over time. This kind of metastasis is innocuous in some contexts, but not so benign when the government is collecting information about...
VA unveils settlement to provide veterans housing on West L.A. campus
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced a legal settlement Wednesday that will transform its sprawling West Los Angeles campus into a center of permanent housing for homeless veterans and curtail the controversial practice of leasing VA...
Prop. 47 brings a shift to longer time spent behind bars
For decades, Los Angeles County jail inmates divided their sentences by five, 10 or 20 to calculate the time they would actually spend behind bars.
Because of overcrowding, they left after completing as little as 5% of their sentences.
Now, as...
U.S. settles suit over misuse of West L.A. veterans campus
The federal government has agreed to settle a lawsuit accusing the Department of Veterans Affairs of misusing its sprawling West Los Angeles health campus while veterans with brain injuries and mental impairment slept in the streets, people familiar...
Sorting out U.S. visas for crime victims
As a society, we want people to report crimes and help bring criminals to justice. Without the cooperation of victims, the criminal justice system doesn't work very well. One particular problem for police and prosecutors is that people living in the...
Obama's renewed push to close Guantanamo prison is seen as promising
President Obama has recharged his campaign for closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center with a strategy legal experts say holds out new hope of achieving that signature objective of his presidency.
After years of being thwarted by Congress from...
Al Bendich, lawyer who defended Allen Ginsberg's 'Howl,' dies at 85
In a San Francisco courthouse in 1957, a poem went on trial. It was Allen Ginsberg's "Howl," the incantatory, profanity-laced paean to self-expression that became the centerpiece of one of the most important obscenity cases of the last century.
Among...
Women to participate for first time in Army Ranger course
About 60 women will be allowed to take the next Army Ranger course assessment, giving female soldiers their first opportunity in the all-male area of special operations forces — even though they will not become members of the regiment and will not serve...
Federal judge orders veterans agency to stop Westside construction
A federal judge on Thursday ordered the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to stop building on its West Los Angeles campus, ruling that officials had acted "in excess of their authority" by authorizing construction of an amphitheater on the contested...
Border drones are ineffective, badly managed, too expensive, official says
Drones patrolling the U.S. border are poorly managed and ineffective at stopping illegal immigration, and the government should abandon a $400-million plan to expand their use, according to an internal watchdog report released Tuesday.
The 8-year-old...
Two years in prison is plenty for Bob McDonnell
Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell was sentenced to two years in prison on Tuesday, a sentence much more lenient than the 10-plus years prosecutors had requested and a fraction of the 78- to 98-month sentence suggested by federal guidelines.
The sentence...