A federal judge in Pennsylvania plans to hold a trial in a national test case over laws that threaten renters with eviction for making too many 911 calls. Lakisha Briggs, 33, says she did not call police when her ex-boyfriend threatened and brutally beat her at her home because this would have made her third call to authorities from her home she rented with a Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 8 voucher. A Norristown law orders landlords to evict tenants after three 911 calls within four months. City officials say it’s designed to promote peaceful neighborhoods and discourage nuisance calls. “She was so afraid to call the police after the third incident when her property was placed in a probationary period when her former boyfriend attacked her in her house. He bit and tore her lip, he struck her across her lip with a glass astray and then took shards of the glass astray and jabbed it into her neck. Before she passed out she refused to call police because she was afraid of losing her home,” said Peter Smith, a private lawyer working with the American Civil Liberties Union, told NBC10.com Thursday.
Dove is learning the hard way that New Jersey residents don't appreciate being referred to as "The Armpit of America."
Unilever, the brand's parent company, says it no longer plans to run a billboard featuring the well-known dig at the Garden State. The ad was intended to promote a new line of deodorants by encouraging people to see armpits in a more positive light.
The text of the ad read, "Dear New Jersey, When people call you 'The Armpit of America,' take it as a compliment. Sincerely, Dove." It featured a smiling woman in a white tank top raising an arm behind her head to expose an armpit.
Dove is known for its unconventional ads, including a campaign that celebrates "Real Beauty" by featuring women who don't look like the typical models featured in most other ads. But the latest campaign apparently hit the wrong nerve with New Jersey residents.
The news of the billboard, which was set to run in July, sparked complaints after the New York Times published a story about it last week.
"We take feedback from our community very seriously and have decided that we will not be running this billboard advertisement," Unilever said in an emailed statement Tuesday. "We did not wish to cause any misunderstanding and apologize for any offense."
The statement said the intention was to "call attention to the fact that armpits can and should be considered beautiful." It said women should accept that as "something that is okay."
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The company said it is working with its foundation to donate the billboard space to a charity.
Unilever's U.S. headquarters are based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
