Civil Rights
Trans groups anxious as they wait to see if Lombardo signs bills protecting rights
While Republican-led legislatures across the country have advanced an unprecedented amount of anti-LGBTQ legislation this year, Nevada is considering several bills protecting the rights of transgender and gender nonconforming communities. Sy Bernabei, the executive director of Gender Justice Nevada, said organizers went to Carson City in April for LGBTQ Equality Day in order to speak […]
Lawmakers consider restrictions on using solitary confinement in prisons
Nevada lawmakers are reconsidering limits on how state prisons use solitary confinement after similar legislation failed to pass during the 2021 legislative session. The bill, which defines “segregation” or “solitary confinement” as more than 22 consecutive hours in a cell, would limit the use to 15 consecutive days, after which a multidisciplinary treatment team, including […]
Lawmakers propose solution to address racist covenants in legal property documents
History researchers at UNR estimate Washoe County alone has at least 11,000 racist covenants, legal property documents that once restricted anyone not white from purchasing or living in the home. While the covenants, a relic of the Jim Crow era, are unconstitutional and unenforceable, Democratic state Sen. Dallas Harris is proposing a way to redact […]
Heartbreaking abuse of children demands a major shift in outlook
News stories about the exploitation of children are particularly upsetting. They violate our most basic protective instincts. How could our society tolerate the systematic abuse of the very young? Yet recent reports on the trafficking of minors in the United States force us to confront our complicity in a grotesque injustice. The blockbuster New York Times […]
Senate passes bill fixing NV prison policy that denies visitation by people with criminal records
Vivian Jones just wants to embrace her son, who has been incarcerated at a state correctional facility for nearly 20 years. Speaking to state lawmakers in March, she said a past felony conviction has resulted in her being denied visitation with the Nevada Department of Corrections and that the only contact with her son, 36, […]
Biden rule on transgender athletes would set conditions on school sports bans
The Biden administration will advance a rule to make it more difficult for schools to exclude transgender youth athletes from competition based on their gender identity, a senior U.S. Education Department official told reporters Thursday. The proposed rule would prohibit blanket bans of transgender athletes competing in sports consistent with their gender identity. But it […]
Senate bill aims to protect Nevada doctors who provide gender-affirming care
For Rev. Li Arinee, life started at 45, when he received gender-affirming care. He testified in front of the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor Wednesday during a hearing for a bill that would provide protections for health care providers and patients visiting Nevada to obtain gender-affirming health care. “Before then, I attempted to self-remove […]
‘Homeless Persons’ Bill of Rights’ faces opposition from cities, counties, law enforcement
Lobbyists representing cities, counties and law enforcement told lawmakers they support the idea of ensuring the rights of people experiencing homelessness – just as long as that person can’t sue to ensure those rights. Referred to as “Homeless Persons’ Bill of Rights,” Senate Bill 142 was heard by lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee Friday. […]
Students, community leaders demand CCSD officer be fired, charged for violent arrest of 14-year-old
Students and community leaders are calling for the swift termination of a police officer caught on video slamming a Black high school student to the ground and pinning him underneath his knee. During a protest Friday night outside the Clark County School District administrative building, community leaders made several demands, including swift investigation of the […]
Not an isolated incident: Video of violent arrest heightens calls for more scrutiny of CCSD police
A recent video showing Clark County School District police officers arresting several Black teenage boys, with one officer slamming a student to the ground, has outraged the community and led activists to push for a stronger response from the district. While CCSD has offered little details about why officers stopped the teens, community groups recognize […]
How the distortion of Martin Luther King Jr.‘s words enables more, not less, racial division
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy of Texas is just the latest conservative lawmaker to misuse the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to judge a person on character and not race. In the protracted battle to elect Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House, Roy, a Republican, nominated a Black man, Byron Donalds, […]
Biden signs law extending marriage protections to same-sex and interracial couples
WASHINGTON — Same-sex and interracial couples had many of their marriage rights codified Tuesday when President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan marriage equality bill during a ceremony attended by thousands outside the White House. In a brief speech, Biden told supporters on the South Lawn that “marriage is a simple proposition — who do you […]