Civil Rights News: Trayvon Case Recalls Civil Rights Era; What’s at Stake in Health Care Reform; Phone Program for the Deaf Abused

Compiled by Victoria Samuels, a Spring 2012 intern at The Leadership Conference Education Fund

Fla. Shooting Stirs Memories of Civil Rights Era

By Wil Haygood, Brady Dennis and Sari Horwitz
The Washington Post

The story of the shooting of the Trayvon Martin in Florida has caused many to remember the civil rights era of the 1960s. Bernadette Pruitt, a professor of history at Sam Houston State University in Texas, links the story of Trayvon Martin to that of Emmett Till.  “This so-called post-racialism is a figment of our imagination. Race, unfortunately, is still the barometer by which everyone is measured,” she said.

Health-Care Changes May Not All Disappear Even If Justices Overturn the Law

By N.C. Aizenman
The Washington Post

In 2010, the health care bill became a law that many Americans rely on today. Some of the provisions are not set to take effect until 2014, but a complex web of new rules has already extended coverage, and expanded benefits across the country. The question now is what happens to the existing provisions if the Supreme Court, which will hear challenges to the law next week, ultimately decides to go with its most sweeping option: overturning the law in its entirety? One of the provisions of the law was the requirement that insurers allow parents to keep adult children on their health plans until they are 26 years old. This has allowed many young adults to maintain health insurance coverage.

AT&T Accused of Improperly Billing for Service for Deaf

Bloomberg

The Justice Department is accusing AT&T of allegedly allowing scammers to abuse a calling service that was intended for the deaf.  As Bloomberg reports, the case revolves around a program mandated under the Americans with Disabilities Act that requires telecommunications companies to provide voice telephone services for hearing or speech-impaired callers.