KKK wants ACLU help to adopt highway
By Mariano Castillo and Melissa Abbey, CNN
(CNN) - Having been denied participation in Georgia's adopt-a-highway program, a local Ku Klux Klan chapter has turned to the American Civil Liberties Union for help. And the civil rights organization may represent the group.
"We are considering next steps and whether or not we will support the group," said Debbie Seagraves, executive director for the ACLU of Georgia.
"We know this is unpopular," she admits, but if her organization helps the International Keystone Knights of the KKK, it is not because it agrees with their beliefs. It will be based on legal precedent and a legal view of whether the KKK's freedom of speech has been violated.
In a nearly identical case in Missouri in 2005, a court ruled that the state discriminated against the KKK by denying it participation in a program open to all organizations.
Illegal immigrants reveal secret
Jose Antonio Vargas, a journalist turned advocate, discusses why he came out as an illegal immigrant. He spoke to Time magazine about what it has been like in the year since revealing his immigration status.
CNN contributor Ruben Navarrette Jr. wrote that President Obama's immigration policy is a "shell game", and CNN's Fareed Zakaria recently took a look at how immigration systems work- and don't work–around the world.
What do you think: What role do immigrants play in defining American identity?
Opinion: When the son surpasses his father
Editor's note: LZ Granderson, who writes a weekly column for CNN.com, was named journalist of the year by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and a 2011 Online Journalism Award finalist for commentary. He is a senior writer and columnist for ESPN the Magazine and ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter: @locs_n_laughs
By LZ Granderson, CNN Contributor
(CNN) - My heart was pounding so hard, it felt as if it were trying to break free from my body.
I couldn't breathe.
I felt dizzy and feverish, and my eyes stung from all of the sweat dripping into them.
And as I was desperately trying to figure out what was happening to me, I suddenly had this debilitating thought: My God, my son is trying to kill me.
Why else would he be running so fast? And so far?
When my 15-year-old asked if I would go jogging with him, I didn't think anything of it. We've worked out together many times before, and though it's been a while since we went running, I play basketball and tennis every week, so I'm in great shape ... for a guy my age.
But something unexpected happened somewhere between me laying him down in his bassinet and me being on the cusp of lying down on the sidewalk I was running on: We got older.
More evidence to be released in Trayvon Martin case, judge rules
By the CNN Wire Staff
(CNN) - A judge has ordered the release of additional evidence in the Trayvon Martin case, including an autopsy report, photographs of the crime scene and details of what George Zimmerman said to police the night he shot the Florida teen.
Attorneys for Zimmerman had argued that his conversations with Sanford, Florida, police the night of the February 26 shooting should not be made public under a state law dealing with "the substance of a confession of a person arrested," but Circuit Judge Kenneth R. Lester Jr. ruled Tuesday that the law did not apply.
"The only element conceded by the defendant is that he shot and killed the victim, but he does not concede any other elements of second-degree murder. ... Since the defendant admitted at his bond hearing that he shot the victim, disclosure of those statements will not impact the defendant's right to a fair trial," Lester said in a written order. His ruling was in response to media requests for the release of more information in the case.
About In America
What defines you? Maybe it’s the shade of your skin, the place you grew up, the accent in your words, the make up of your family, the gender you were born with, the intimate relationships you chose to have or your generation? As the American identity changes we will be there to report it. In America is a venue for creative and timely sharing of news that explores who we are. Reach us at inamerica@cnn.com.
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