As jurors deliberated the fate of one of six police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray, Baltimore braced for a possible repeat of the protests, destruction and dismay that engulfed the city in April, when Gray died of a broken neck in the back of a police van. But instead of a dramatic conclusion, there was confusion.
Officials in another Indiana city have approved banning discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity ahead of an expected debate in the state Legislature over whether to pass a statewide law that supersedes any local ordinance.
The “RFRA fix” passed in April to quell discrimination fears about the Religious Freedom Restoration Act is now being challenged as unconstitutional by two organizations that were the most vocal proponents of the original legislation.
A large coalition of Indiana businesses is calling on Republican Gov. Mike Pence and the GOP-controlled Legislature to put LGBT civil rights protections into state law.
Officials in some Indiana cities with ordinances that provide protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents are worried that a bill lawmakers will consider in the 2016 session could undermine their local authority.
Indiana Senate Republicans released a proposal Tuesday that would extend state civil rights protections to LGBT people while also carving out broad exemptions for religious institutions and some small businesses that object to working with gay people.
Another business group has formed to lobby for extending Indiana's civil rights protections to members of the LGBT communities.