National Law Journal Researchers’ Case Claims Computer Law Chills Push to Uncover Online Discrimination For years, courts have recognized the use of so-called racially diverse “testers” in the enforcement of federal fair housing laws and Title VII’s ban on job discrimination. A new generation of testers is now exploring discrimination online—whether big-data algorithms could discriminate in finance, employment, real estate and other areas. A group of researchers and journalists […]
Whistling ‘Dixie’ If anything, even Perot was a latecomer. In the opening pages of Nut Country: Right-Wing Dallas and the Birth of the Southern Strategy (University of Chicago Press), Edward H. Miller takes note of a name that’s largely faded from the public memory: H. L. Hunt, the Texas oilman. Hunt was probably the single richest individual in […]
Massachusetts AFL-CIO comes to defense of five Teamsters charged in extortion case Daniel Medwed, a Northeastern University law professor who lectures about criminal prosecutions, said third-party filings are typically made before appeals courts or before states’ and the nation’s highest court because the “stakes are higher” and the decisions have wider implications. But, he said, the union’s decision to intervene in the case now before a trial […]
Meet the lawyers facing off on gay marriage The Supreme Court will first hear from civil-rights lawyer Mary Bonauto who is representing 16 gay and lesbian couples forbidden by states to marry. Ms. Bonauto, who is 53, has never argued a case before the Supreme Court, but few were surprised when last month gay rights groups announced her star role in Tuesday’s arguments. […]
To rebuild the middle class, don’t stop with free community college In his State of the Union address last week, President Obama spoke eloquently of “middle-class economics,” or as he put it, policies to help “working families feel more secure in a world of constant change.” One of these is his proposal to make community college free for any student who maintains a minimum GPA. Students and […]
‘Equal pay for equal work’ isn’t so simple Last Tuesday, President Obama’s State of the Union address reiterated the statistic that working women in the United States “make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns” and went on to call for “equal pay for equal work.” Obama was promoting the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would require employers to prove that any wage […]
WGBH Obama’s confident, defiant tone drives conservative commentators crazy There’s plenty of fulminating in conservative media circles today over President Barack Obama’s unabashedly liberal State of the Union address. Some of it is offered in world-weary tones suggesting that, once again, the grown-ups have to explain to the kids that the president doesn’t know what he’s talking about. “Mr. Obama’s income-redistribution themes are familiar,” […]
Teamster’s beating subject of trial testimony Roger Abrams, a professor at Northeastern University School of Law who specializes in labor law, said that the public should realize union activity, “whether it’s a strike, whether it’s talking to employers, is not necessarily a tea party and it’s not necessarily polite conversation.” With state and federal laws allowing union members to engage in […]
Foreign Affairs Putin’s western allies Given that one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s stated reasons for invading Crimea was to prevent “Nazis” from coming to power in Ukraine, it is perhaps surprising that his regime is growing closer by the month to extreme right-wing parties across Europe. But, in both cases, Putin’s motives are not primarily ideological. In Ukraine, he […]
Al Jazeera The struggle for Central Asia: Russia vs China It has become increasingly clear in the past few years that Russia has no intention to relax its grip over the former Soviet bloc. Ukraine has recently become a good case in point. Although Moscow is clearly preoccupied with keeping its western borders and geopolitical interests safe, it has not forgotten about the East. Russian […]
Foreign Affairs Get ready for a Russo-German Europe The last few weeks have revealed some important truths about Europe. Prior to the crisis in Ukraine, most Americans and Western Europeans had become used to a Franco-German Europe. In this version of Europe, which was designed after World War II to dampen one of the greatest state rivalries in history, France and Germany made […]
Foreign Affairs Get Ready for a Russo-German Europe The last few weeks have revealed some important truths about Europe. Prior to the crisis in Ukraine, most Americans and Western Europeans had become used to a Franco-German Europe. In this version of Europe, which was designed after World War II to dampen one of the greatest state rivalries in history, France and Germany made […]