A new state civil unions law has failed to ensure that same-sex couples in New Jersey enjoy the same rights as married heterosexuals, an official report said on Tuesday.

On the first anniversary of the law's implementation, the Civil Union Review Commission said some employers in New Jersey have refused to provide benefits to the partner of employees in a civil union.

New Jersey last year became the third state to pass a civil unions law after its Supreme Court affirmed that same-sex couples have the same rights as heterosexual couples, but left the state legislature to decide whether to enshrine those rights in an institution called marriage.

Lawmakers opted for civil unions, to the dismay of gay-rights activists who argued that true equality can only be achieved by allowing gays and lesbians to marry.

In Massachusetts, the only state to have legalized same-sex marriage, the law prompted many employers to provide equal benefits to same-sex partners, the report said.

The panel of official and legislative appointees established as part of the law blamed the failure of some New Jersey employers to recognize civil unions on a federal law that allows self-insured companies -- an estimated 50 percent of all employers in the state -- to choose not to offer benefits to same-sex partners.

In addition, the federal Defense of Marriage Act says any federal statute or regulation that provides benefits to spouses applies only to partnerships between one man and one woman.

Steven Goldstein, chair of Garden State Equality, a leading gay-rights group in the state, said about 2,500 New Jersey couples have formed civil unions since the law was passed, and about a fifth have complained to his group that their unions have not been recognized by employers.

The Cochran Firm is featured in an exciting, exclusive, in-depth and inside interview featuring some of the firm’s best trial lawyers, Brian Dunn and Randy McMurray, discussing 

Civil Rights and Employment Discrimination. They discuss the cases of Kevin Norwood v. City of Los Angeles , Joseph Ward-Wallace v. City Los Angeles and Paula Neiman v. Inspired By Media, Inc. Et Al. Messrs. Norwood and Ward-Wallace, both of whom are represented by the Cochran Firm, are Los Angeles firefighters who allegedly suffered racial discrimination on the job. Mr. Norwood alleges he was the victim of racial prejudice while he was in the Training Academy of the Los Angeles Fire Department, and unduly suffered as result of these actions. Mr. Ward-Wallace was also a firefighter with the City of Los Angeles who allegedly was the target of racial discrimination when he was assigned to his first fire station. Both he and Mr. Norwood have Caucasian wives, and both men claim this status motivated the acts of alleged racial discrimination against them at the fire department.

Ms. Neiman’s case involves a contract she signed concerning the creation of a script for an audio bible. She alleges defendants used her script to secure financing for this project and then told her the undertaking had been abandoned, when in reality the project continued with major celebrities committed to this endeavor.

Brian Dunn has handled many high profile police misconduct cases, including those of Reginald Denny and Geronimo Pratt. Mr. Dunn was also instrumental in prosecuting the litigation surrounding the tragic shootings of Tyisha Miller and Mario Paz, cases which not only brought multimillion dollar settlement awards to the plaintiffs, but additionally resulted in unprecedented changes in the departmental policies of the Riverside and El Monte Police Departments. He is a member of the State Bar of California and the State Bar of Nevada, and has practiced in the United States District Courts for the Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, and was recently admitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada. Brian is a Member of the Consumer Attorneys' Association of Los Angeles and the American Trial Lawyers Association.

Randy McMurray has published articles and has been an invited speaker for Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Consumer Attorneys of California, Consumer Attorney Association of Los Angeles, Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles and Mealey Publications. He is also a member of the Langston and National Bar Associations, California Association of Black Lawyers, American Trial Lawyers Association, Consumer Attorney of California, Consumer Attorney Association of Los Angeles and Multi-Ethnic Bar Association. He is on the Board of Governors of CAALA, the Board of Directors of the Diversity in Law Foundation, served as an Associate Editor of The Advocate, the journal of the Consumer Attorneys' Association of Los Angeles and the Education Committee of Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles. 

Founded over 40 years ago by famed attorney, Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., The Cochran Firm, as it is known today, has established itself as one of the premier plaintiffs' litigation and criminal defense law firms in the United States. With 20 offices located in 15 states, The Cochran Firm has brought together into one firm, a diverse group of some of the most highly-experienced and respected men and women dedicated to bringing quality representation for injured people, their families, and the ordinary citizen.

Named to The National Law Journal's Plaintiffs' Hot List, The Cochran Firm has been profiled as one of America's top plaintiffs' law firms. The Hot List is a compendium of the country's top 12 plaintiffs' law firms doing the "most to shape the law in America." In 2005, The Cochran Firm was named to The NLJ 250 list, The National Law Journal's survey of the largest law firms in America. Notably, The Cochran Firm held the exclusive position of appearing concurrently on both of these celebrated lists.

The Cochran Firm is the execution of Johnnie's vision to have "a diverse law firm which reflects society and is capable of handling cases throughout America." The attorneys and staff at The Firm are committed to upholding the standards of excellence set by its founding partner in representing all of their clients. You can reach the Cochran Firm at 323-931-9884, www.cochranfirm.com.  

The Iowa House Human Resources Committee on Tuesday approved SF427, a bill to extend the state's civil rights protections to gays and lesbians. The bill, which still awaits passage by the full Iowa House, was passed by the full Senate last week and would officially add gender identity and sexual orientation to the categories protected from discrimination in Iowa's civil rights code. If approved by the full House, the legislation would complement passage earlier this year of a bill to protect gay and lesbian students from harassment in schools. While Democrats support the measure, some Republican representatives expressed concerns about the scope of the protections offered. They worried how it may affect workplace ethics and increase employment lawsuits by giving businesses limited deference to set their own policies. Governor Chet Culver said he will sign the legislation if it passes.

Like many states, Iowa is struggling to refine its gay rights laws. Over the past few months, Washington Senate has passed a civil unions law, while Rhode Island and New Jersey have moved to recognize gay couple married in other states. Meanwhile, Indiana has joined a number of states in banning gay marriage and Hawaii has shelved its proposed civil unions legislation.

Attorney General Bill McCollum is gaining some support in his bid to block Gov. Charlie Crist and the rest of the state's Clemency Board from streamlining the state's process for restoring civil rights to convicted felons. McCollum's office Tuesday distributed letters from the Florida Police Chiefs Association and the state's Fraternal Order of Police urging a go-slow approach to Crist's restoration proposal, expected to be voted on later this week.

"It is important to ensure that likely repeat offenders, and particularly violent offenders, are not treated as law-abiding citizens," wrote FPCA President W. Nolan McLeod, the police chief of Live Oak. "With Florida already experiencing a sharp increase in violent crimes, the FPCA urges members of the Clemency Board to retain the current five-year waiting period to ensure felons are crime and arrest free."

About 950,000 Floridians convicted of felonies have not had their civil rights restored -- barring them from voting, serving on juries and holding occupational licenses.

President James Preston, president of the Florida FOP, echoed the call that a five-year delay be maintained between the completion of a felon's sentence and the restoration of rights.

Crist has been trying to build support among Clemency Board members to allow the restoration of civil rights once a felon's sentence is completed and any court-ordered financial restitution is made. The state's current system has proved cumbersome, requiring ex-offenders to complete a detailed application and, in some cases, win full approval from the Clemency Board in a public hearing.

The Clemency Board comprises Crist, McCollum, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Bronson.

McCollum has distanced himself from Crist's approach, saying he wants to maintain the five-year delay for those convicted of serious offenses, supporting the standard sought by the law enforcement officials. But Sink supports Crist, leaving Bronson as a potential swing vote in the new governor's effort to end the prohibition against felons' voting, a holdover from the state's 1868 Constitution.

Bronson said he has let the governor's staff know he thinks violent criminals should continue to be required to go before the Clemency Board if they want their rights restored.

Authorities did not violate a couple's constitutional right to travel by stopping them from crossing the Mississippi River Bridge to escape the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a federal judge has ruled.Two of the hundreds of people who were not allowed to cross the bridge following the Aug. 29, 2005 storm included that claim and others in a lawsuit against Jefferson Parish authorities. In the decision made public Tuesday, the judge also declined to give the lawsuit class-action status, saying the plaintiffs waited too long to ask for it.

"Although the right to interstate travel is clearly established by our jurisprudence, the United States Supreme Court has not decided the question of whether the Constitution protects a right to intrastate travel," U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon wrote.

A trial on the remaining issues in Tracy and Dorothy Dickerson's case — including whether police used excessive force and whether the Dickerson's freedom-of-assembly and equal protection rights were violated — is set for early next year.

The Dickersons were among hundreds who tried to flee New Orleans for safety on Sept. 1, but said that police from suburban Gretna confronted them and forced them to turn around. Police later said they blocked the evacuees because there were no supplies or services for them on the other side of the river.

Civil rights activists, many who claimed the law enforcement officers' actions were racist, held two protest marches across the bridge in the months after the hurricane.

Attorneys for the Dickersons did not return phone calls on Tuesday.

Defendants in the Dickerson case include the city of Gretna, its police department, Chief Arthur Lawson, Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office and Sheriff Harry Lee. An attorney representing them in the case supported the judge's reasoning.

"The court has clearly determined that what the city of Gretna did was not a violation of their constitutional rights," said Franz Ziblich, Gretna's attorney.

Pittsburgh police Cmdr. Catherine McNeilly said today she doubts her successful civil rights lawsuit against the city will stop top officials from retaliating against city employees who blow the whistle on government wrongdoing.

Flanked by her lawyers at a news conference this afternoon, McNeilly spoke for the first time about the $85,000 settlement the city will pay her for emotional and professional damage she suffered as a result of being demoted to lieutenant on Dec. 7, after she made public confidential police personnel records. McNeilly said the city improperly retaliated against her after she protested Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's nomination of former Operations Director Dennis Regan to the post of public safety directory.

WASHINGTON – Former Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics agents, Gregory Reynolds and John Forman, were sentenced yesterday for using excessive force to violate the civil rights of two motorists they assaulted during an unjustified traffic stop. Reynolds received 30 days in jail and 11 months of home detention; Forman received 12 months of home detention. Both defendants pleaded guilty in late 2006 to willfully violating the civil rights of the victims.

The sentences arise from an Aug. 29, 2004 incident when the defendants stopped two motorists as they drove away from a local nightclub. According to documents filed in federal court, a third agent who was with the defendants on the night of the assault used anti-gay slurs to refer to one of the victims as they left the nightclub. The third agent then ordered Reynolds and Forman to pursue the victims in their vehicle. The defendants then conducted a stop during which they used unnecessary physical force to remove the victims from their truck. As a result of the assault, one of the victims suffered a spiral fracture to his arm and lacerations to his face and was transported to a hospital. The defendants followed the victim to the hospital where they confronted him, and tried to get him to agree that he would not file a complaint against them if they would not charge him with driving under the influence of alcohol. The victim ordered the agents to leave, and accordingly, Reynolds and Forman filed a DUI charge against him. Forman later testified falsely against the victim in Hinds County Justice Court in relation to the DUI charge.

“In our country, all Americans are treated equally under the law, and are entitled to the full protection of our civil rights laws,” said Wan J. Kim, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The federal government will continue to vigorously prosecute law enforcement officers for using excessive force against our citizens.”

This case was investigated by FBI special agent Phillip McDonald, and was prosecuted by special litigation counsel Paige Fitzgerald of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.