Cross Burned Next to Black Family's California Home

(NEWSER) - A federal judge in California dismissed a lawsuit challenging the Defense of Marriage Act yesterday, supporting the Obama administration's claim that a gay couple had not suffered "an injury in fact." The Justice Department filed a brief agreeing with the plaintiffs that DoMA is discriminatory, but said it was bound to defend the law until Congress repealed it. The judge said that since the couple had not shown personal harm, he lacked jurisdiction to tackle the constitutionality of DoMA. More»

Calif. panel rules dismissal amounts to discrimination

(NEWSER) - Firing an employee for breastfeeding during her break amounts to sex discrimination, California’s Fair Employment and Housing Commission ruled last week, awarding her $41,645 in damages, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Marina Chavez was fired from her job at a Los Angeles-area taqueria after breastfeeding her newborn on her lunch break in the family car. More»

Chumash student wants Indian icons removed from California high school

(NEWSER) - A student's demand that his high school remove Indian images linked to the sports program has sparked an uproar in Carpinteria, California, a town proud of its "Warriors." The student, who is of Chumash descent, doesn't object to the name Warriors but is opposed to Indian representations, such as a huge Indian head in front of the school. Some townsfolk consider the student a "pawn" of the American Indian Movement. More»

Private body not ruled by discrimination laws

(NEWSER) - A California court has ruled that a private school's expulsion of two girls for "conducting themselves in a manner consistent with being lesbians" was lawful, the Los Angeles Times reports. The court decided the religious school did not count as a business and was therefore exempt from discrimination laws. A lawyer for the girls—who deny they confessed their sexual orientation to the school's principal—said he plans to appeal the "very troubling" ruling. More»