Legal
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Supreme Court Will Hear Byron Allen's Racial Discrimination Suit Against Comcast
If you’re suing a person or company for racial discrimination, do you need to prove that race was the sole factor for the discrimination, or merely a contributing factor? That’s the legal decision the Supreme Court will soon decide. On Monday, the high court agreed to hear a case filed against Comcast, the country’s largest…
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It’s Almost Decision Time for the US Supreme Court, With Questions Regarding Census 2020 and Gerrymandering High on the List
With the start of each June, the countdown begins to when the Supreme Court is expected to hand down decisions in cases that came before them in the term, and among the biggest items this term were cases involving census 2020 and partisan gerrymandering. How the nation’s highest court rules in these cases could lead…
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R. Kelly Pleads Not Guilty to 11 New Sex-Related Felony Charges
Robert “R.” Kelly appeared at a brief hearing at Cook County Court in Chicago on Thursday for an arraignment regarding the 11 additional sex-related felony charges against him. The 52-year-old artist pleaded not guilty to the charges. According to Billboard, the new charges include four aggravated sexual assault charges. Those four counts each carry a…
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So Ebony Magazine Took Us to Court
OK, so remember that whole #EbonyOwes thing? Of course, you do. Because if you’re an avid reader of The Root, you remember us broaching this subject from the first time it became a trending topic in 2017, all the way up to our final update last November, aptly titled “Dear Ebony Magazine: FU, Pay Your…
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The Supreme Court's Latest Ruling Makes It Easier for Cops to Arrest Black Lives Matter Protesters
It was a ruling that failed to register widely in terms of national news, but could have potentially devastating effects for protesters around the country—and anyone tasked with keeping police officers accountable. On May 28, the Supreme Court made it more difficult for people who say they were arrested for exercising their free speech rights…
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Trump Administration to Require Visa Applicants to List ‘Social Media Identifiers,’ Previous Phone Numbers
According to CBS News, the State Department is now requiring nearly all applicants for United States visas to submit their social media usernames, previous email addresses and phone numbers, a vast expansion of immigrant and visitor screening under the Trump administration. Applicants for certain diplomatic and official visas are exempt from the new measure. The…
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What’s Pimpin’, Pippen? NBA Great Scottie Pippen’s Suing a 5-Year-Old and Her Parents in Dispute Over Damages to His $10,000,000 Mansion
It’s a damn shame when you put up folks in your home and they — literally — piss all over it. That’s the charge NBA great Scottie Pippen is making in a lawsuit he’s filed against lawyer-turned-standup comic Lindsay Glazer Woloshin and her family — including her 5-year-old — whom he accuses of trashing his…
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Remy Ma Faces New Charges in Assault Case
Reminisce “Remy Ma” Mackie is facing four misdemeanor charges for allegedly assaulting her Love & Hip Hop: New York co-star Brittney Taylor back in April. According to official records reviewed by TMZ, on Friday she was charged with two counts of assault in the third degree, one count of aggravated harassment in the second degree,…
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Texas Authorities Deny Withholding Sandra Bland Video
The Texas Department of Public Safety is denying the office withheld a cellphone video of the killing of Sandra Bland during a 2015 traffic stop. Bland, 28 from just outside Chicago, used her phone to film a white state trooper who drew his taser and yelled “I will light you up!” while demanding she step…
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Judge Unseals Records in Jussie Smollett Case
A Chicago judge ruled Thursday to make public the arrest records and ultimate case dismissal for Jussie Smollett, the Empire actor embroiled in controversy earlier this year after authorities accused him of faking a racist and homophobic attack on himself. The ruling comes in response to a demand by various news media, which argued opening…