Lawyers

• Alexander Acosta, Trump's Labor Nominee, Spoke Out Against Discrimination in 2011

  Alexander Acosta, who is President Trump's new pick for labor secretary, once defended the civil rights of the Muslim American community.

• Civil Rights Group Protests Against Kentucky's New Ultrasound Abortion Law

  The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit to express its disapproval over Kentucky's new abortion laws, including the need to perform an ultrasound prior to an abortion.

• Carnival, Fathom Travel face class-action lawsuit over Cuba regulations

  Carnival Corp and Fathom Travel are facing a lawsuit filed by two passengers for discrimination. The passengers filed the suit after they weren't given access to board the cruise due to their Cuban birth,

• Recording police activities not protected under the First Amendment? Civil rights group to challenge unusual court ruling

  A district court judge in Pennsylvania ruled that silently recording police activities in public is not under the protection of the First Amendment unless intended to criticize or challenge the police.

• 2 polygamous town, Utah and Arizona, sued over civil rights violation

  The U.S. Department of Justice claims that a polygamous controls the Arizona-Utah border towns of Colorado City and Hildale. The particular religious sect denied housing and police services to non-church members.

• Kentucky to pay lawyers $1 million for same-sex marriage case

  A federal judge awarded a team of Kentucky attorneys more than $1 million for their role in the landmark United States Supreme Court case that struck down bans on same-sex marriage. The state will have to pick up the $1.1 million tab.

• White South Carolina policeman charged with murdering black man

  A white South Carolina police officer was arrested and charged with murder on Tuesday after a video showed him shooting eight times at the back of a 50-year-old black man who was running away after a traffic stop and died at the scene.

• For police reformers, California city shows a rough road

  In 2000, police in Oakland, California became a symbol of the worst of American law enforcement after a band of rogue officers known as "The Riders" were accused of beating suspects, planting evidence and falsifying reports.

• Scandal-plagued former Washington mayor Marion Barry dies

  Marion Barry, the scandal-plagued former mayor of Washington, D.C., who was jailed for smoking crack cocaine before making a surprising return to office, died early on Sunday aged 78.

• Slain U.S. civil rights workers among Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients

  Three civil rights workers slain in Mississippi in 1964 will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, joining actress Meryl Streep and singer Stevie Wonder among the 19 recipients of America's highest civilian honor this year, the White House said on Monday.

• Federal charges appear unlikely in Ferguson police shooting: Washington Post

  U.S. Justice Department officials probably will not bring civil rights charges against a white Ferguson, Missouri, police officer whose fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager set off rioting in August, the Washington Post reported on Friday.

• Maine nurse fights Ebola quarantine, says will not be bullied

  Saying she will not be bullied by politicians, a Maine nurse is giving the state an ultimatum: Lift her Ebola quarantine by Thursday or she will disregard the restrictions and go to court.

• Missouri officer says he feared for life before shooting unarmed teen: report

  A white police officer who shot and killed an unarmed black teenager in Missouri in August told investigators he was in fear for his life after the young man grabbed at his gun, which was discharged twice in his patrol car, the New York Times reported.