Trial for Civil Rights Era suspect is delayed. James Bonard Fowler, the White Alabama trooper who will stand trial for killing a Black man at a civil rights rally a half century ago must wait another month or so before facing his accusers. The trial, originally scheduled for Sept. 11, will be held on Oct 20. Fowler allegedly shot Jimmie Lee Jackson in cold blood in Marion, Ala., in 1965 following civil rights demonstration. Fowler, who was indicted last year, says the shooting was self-defense.

Abercrombie is sued over a Muslim head scarf. Arguing that Abercrombie & Fitch violated the civil rights of a Muslim job applicant by denying her application because of her head scarf, a Muslim civil rights group has sued the popular clothing outlet. According to the lawsuit, filed at the Oklahoma City branch of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the district manager for the clothing store at Woodland Hills Mall told a young woman in late June that her hijab, a head scarf worn observant Muslim women, did not fit the Abercrombie image. “Employers have a clear legal duty to accommodate the religious practices of their workers,” said Razi Hashmi, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Oklahoma, which helped the girl file the complaint. “To deny someone employment because of apparent religious bias goes against long-standing American traditions of tolerance and inclusion.” The council declined to release the name of the plaintiff; she is younger than 18. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 stipulates that employers must attempt to accommodate the religious practices of an employee unless doing so would create an undue hardship for the employer.

Two cops are accused of cruising Harlem with a Black doll head on their antenna.

A prominent New York state Senator is wondering why New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg hasn’t spoken out against two White cops who rode around Harlem with the head of a human-sized Black doll impaled on their antenna. New Yorkers “deserve to hear from their mayor,” State Sen. Bill Perkins, a Democrat who represents Harlem, said outside the 25th Precinct station, where the officers were assigned. “The deafening silence speaks volumes.” Witnesses told authorities that they approached the officers and asked why they had the doll’s head on their antenna, but they merely laughed and threw it in the trunk. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says there is an investigation underway. Earlier, he said the officers were unaware that the head was there. Bloomberg has mentioned the investigation but called any conversations about the matter are counterproductive until all the facts are in. “I think we’re doing the right thing and stirring things up doesn’t add a heck of a lot,” Bloomberg said at City Hall. “We take any kind of racial slur very seriously.” Activists are demanding that police release any surveillance footage that may show how the doll head ended up on the car. Clarence Jones, a 27-year-old Black man, was arrested Sunday after trying to take pictures of the doll head with his camera phone. He was with Perkins during the protest. “I called them racist and they pointed at the doll head and laughed,” said Jones. Police alleged that they arrested him for driving away in an illegally parked car while he was being ticketed. His tooth was broken and arm was hurt during his arrest, he said. “This isn’t about a traffic ticket; this is about a baby doll head,” Jones’ attorney, Roger Wareham, said.