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Legal Voice sues on behalf of former Gonzaga student
8/31/2010

Today Legal Voice filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of Jane Doe, a former student at Gonzaga University. The suit alleges that Gonzaga’s failure to respond appropriately to Jane Doe’s report of sexual assault violated her federal right to equal access to education.

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Proposition 8 overturned!
8/4/2010

Legal Voice applauds Judge Vaughn Walker's decision to overturn California's ban on same-sex marriage.

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Court issues order delaying pharmacy refusal trial, pending outcome of Board of Pharmacy rulemaking
7/12/2010

A federal court in Tacoma granted an order delaying the trial of the Stormans et al. v. Selecky et al. lawsuit, originally scheduled to begin in late July.

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State seeks delay in trial to defend patients' access to medications

7/7/2010

Today the State of Washington filed a motion to delay Legal Voice's Stormans et al. v. Selecky et al. lawsuit involving a challenge brought by two pharmacists and a pharmacy to a Washington State Board of Pharmacy rule requiring all licensed pharmacies to fill patients’ prescriptions, regardless of an individual pharmacist’s personal beliefs about a particular medication.

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Legal Voice E-News, Spring 2010

5/26/2010

A quarterly update about our work - court cases, legislative advocacy, community outreach and more.

Already in 2010 we have witnessed exciting progress in our cases on abusive litigation and patients' rights to obtain prescriptions. Washington’s recent legislative session saw several battles over women's rights to be safe and healthy. Plus, a bevy of Legal Voice events and new legal information publications are in the works.

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Settlement reached in case of woman shackled during labor

5/19/2010

Legal Voice is pleased to announce a victory this week in our work to defend women’s rights to be safe wherever they are.

The Washington State Department of Corrections will pay Casandra Brawley, a formerly incarcerated woman, $125,000 to settle a claim that she was restrained while in labor. Legal Voice and Seattle law firm Peterson Young Putra represented Ms. Brawley, who was restrained during labor leading up to the delivery of her baby boy at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tacoma in April of 2007.

This settlement follows Legal Voice’s successful advocacy for a new law in Washington to forbid state prisons, county jails and juvenile correctional facilities from shackling incarcerated women who are in labor or recovering from labor.

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Legal Voice calls on Congress to stop workplace discrimination

4/22/2010

Legal Voice has joined over 200 organizations across the country in calling on Congress to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) now. ENDA would prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity throughout the United States. We need ENDA to stop workplace discrimination - please join us in calling on your representatives in Congress to pass ENDA now!

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  • endaNOW   A coalition of local organizers and concerned citizens committed to the passage of comprehensive federal legislation which protects individuals from employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity

Washington State Supreme Court protects immigrants’ access to the courts
4/15/2010

Legal Voice is pleased with today’s decision of the Washington State Supreme Court that a litigant’s immigration status should not have been considered in a civil case. In Salas v. Hi-Tech Erectors, an injured worker sued his employer for severe injuries he suffered when he fell off a defective ladder. The jury, after learning about the worker’s immigration status, found for the employer. Legal Voice filed an amicus curiae brief, as did several immigrants’ rights, workers’ rights, and civil rights organizations, urging the Washington Supreme Court to overturn the ruling because immigration status is not only generally irrelevant to a person’s civil lawsuit, but is an extremely volatile issue likely to prejudice a litigant.

In our brief, Legal Voice stressed the impact that admission of immigration status would have on battered immigrant women, for whom fear of immigration consequences is already a powerful disincentive to seeking help from the police and the courts. Allowing admission of immigration status in this context provides an abusive spouse one more tool of control, and puts battered women and their children at risk. Legal Voice applauds today’s decision, and will continue its work to ensure equality and justice for immigrant women.

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Setting the record straight on minors' health care rights

3/25/2010

Yesterday, local media in Seattle reported a story about a mother angry that her teenage daughter obtained an abortion without the mother’s knowledge or consent. Her daughter was apparently referred for the abortion through a health clinic located in, but not operated by, her daughter’s public high school.

Legal Voice is disappointed that the media reported on this story without investigating the law protecting minors’ rights in this state. Whether or not this mother was upset about it, her daughter, like all other minors in Washington State, has the legal right to obtain reproductive health services – including prenatal care, abortion, and birth control – with or without her parents’ knowledge or consent.

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Governor Chris Gregoire signs bill to stop shackling in Washington state
3/23/09

Today, Washington became the seventh state to restrict the practice of shackling incarcerated women. The bill, passed overwhelmingly by both houses of the Washington Legislature, was signed into law by Governor Gregoire.

Today’s bill signing coincides with action in the federal court case brought by Legal Voice in June 2009 on behalf of Casandra Brawley, whose constitutional rights
were violated when the Washington State Department of Corrections, against its own policy, shackled Ms. Brawley while she was in labor.


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Legal Voice hosts End of Session Brown Bag Lunch
3/11/09

Join Legal Voice lobbyist Pam Crone and other Legal Voice staff for a lunchtime discussion to wrap up the 2010 Washington Legislative Session. We will celebrate our successes, acknowledge defeats and talk about some of the work that went on behind the scenes during this very intense legislative session.

End of Session Brown Bag Lunch

  • Thursday, March 25 2010
  • 12:00 noon – 1:30 p.m.
  • Legal Voice office
  • Map

Bring your lunch! We’ll provide beverages and interesting conversation.

Please RSVP to Michelle Johnson: MJohnson@LegalVoice.org

Legal Voice supports bill to limit shackling of pregnant women
1/14/09

Legal Voice applauds legislation introduced in the Washington State Legislature this week to protect pregnant incarcerated women from inhumane treatment. The bill would limit the ability of prisons, jails, and other Washington correctional facilities to use shackles and other restraints on pregnant incarcerated women. Such practices are especially barbaric during labor, delivery, and immediately after childbirth.

“It defies common sense to risk a pregnant woman’s health, safety, and dignity by shackling her while she is in the process of giving birth,” said Sara Ainsworth, Senior Counsel at Legal Voice.


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New bill aims to protect women's health from deceptive "clinics."
1/13/09

Limited service pregnancy centers are non-profit organizations – not medical clinics – that typically offer free pregnancy tests and other pregnancy-related services, but often distribute false or misleading information about abortion, pregnancy, contraception, or sexually transmitted infections.

Today, legislators in Washington State introduced bills that would protect women’s health by improving accuracy, transparency and privacy at limited service pregnancy centers. Legal Voice and other women’s rights advocates are calling the bill long overdue.


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