Hispanic Issues Section News Summary, Issue 43

Dear Hispanic Issues Section Members:
The Section is now on the internet. With the help of the State Bar (especially SBOT Web Designer Lily Hewgley), the Hispanic Issues Section now has a web address. You can find our website at:
http://texashispanicissuessection.com/

Currently, the site is limited to very basic information such as the bylaws and Section Council members. Our hope is to expand the website to include more links and more materials. If you would like to suggest content for the website, please send me your suggestions.

The Section is also planning to host a CLE event at the State Bar Building in Austin on February 22, 2011. We plan to have presenters and panels that will warrant your attendance and the investment of your time. The legislature will be in session and we hope that you take advantage of the opportunity to visit with your Representatives and Senators after the CLE program is over. The evening will tentatively end with a reception for State Legislators. Steve Aleman, Chair of the CLE Committee, is hard at work on this project and we appreciate his efforts.

As always, I hope you find the referenced news articles informative.

Best Wishes.

Prepared by
John Vasquez
Chair
Hispanic Issues Section, State Bar of Texas
johnvasq@gmail.com


PS: If you are helping a small non-profit as a Board Member or contributor, you may want to take special note of yearly registration requirements for non-profits which are due by October 15. Failure to timely register may adversely affect the charitable status of the organization and the tax deductibility of donations. To learn more, read the following excerpt from a the San Antonio Express-News:

If you are associated with a nonprofit organization or contribute to one, especially small ones, a large deadline is looming Oct. 15.
An obscure portion of a pension-protection law approved by Congress in 2006 requires nonprofits, also called 501(c)3s, to register yearly with the Internal Revenue Service, initially by May 15, 2010.

Large nonprofits, those with yearly revenues of $25,000 or higher, already did this with forms known as 990s, but Congress wanted the smaller ones to do so also, just to know who was out there and where they were.

The problem is that hardly anyone was informed about the requirement. Nonprofits that fail to comply could lose their tax-exempt status. Contributors who deducted donations could be ordered to pay income taxes on the amounts years later, if they were audited, if the nonprofit had lost its tax-exempt status.

. . . accountant Alan Sandersen of Sugar Land believes many nonprofits still have no idea of the requirement or the penalties involved.

Sandersen is with Sandersen Knox & Co., an accounting firm that works with many nonprofits.

Sandersen is sounding the alarm at an Internet site it has created:www.501exempt.com. Nonprofits can check their status through the database maintained at the website.

For many organizations, the task can be as simple as answering only eight questions on a form.

The Urban Institute has made this easy with links and instructions athttp://epostcard.form
http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/local/tax_surprise_awaits_some_non-profits_102636589.html?showFullArticle=y


NOTE: This News Summary is a service of the Hispanic Issues Section of the State Bar of Texas. If you would like to support HIS, visit
http://www.texasbar.com/sections and click “MyBarPage” (near the top of the page, middle column) to join online. For further information, contact the Sections Department at 1-800-204-2222 or (512) 427-1463 ext. 1420.

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Top News

EDITORIAL: Border News
A nonpartisan study on illegal immigrants in the United States came out Wednesday. Here is the gist: Unauthorized immigration peaked three years ago, and is sharply receding. It is declining all over, but especially in housing-bust states like Florida, Nevada and Virginia.

Harsher enforcement probably has something to do with it. But so does the Great Recession, and while the total population of illegal immigrants has fallen somewhat, to about 11 million, there is no exodus. They are not flooding in as much, but they are not flooding out.

These striking findings, from the Pew Hispanic Center, suggest that it is probably time to focus on assimilating the people who are here and show no signs of leaving. It also argues for fixing immigration, so that when the economy roars to life again, we will be ready to handle a new influx that is lawful, orderly and above-ground.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/opinion/05sun2.html
To find a link to the complete report “U.S. Unauthorized Immigration Flows Are Down Sharply Since Mid-Decade”, go to:
http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=126

Appeals court blocks Pa. town's immigration law
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that Hazleton, Pa., may not enforce its crackdown on illegal immigrants, dealing another blow to 4-year-old regulations that inspired similar measures around the country.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia said that Hazleton's Illegal Immigration Relief Act usurped the federal government's exclusive power to regulate immigration.

"It is ... not our job to sit in judgment of whether state and local frustration about federal immigration policy is warranted. We are, however, required to intervene when states and localities directly undermine the federal objectives embodied in statutes enacted by Congress," wrote Chief Judge Theodore McKee.
See also:
Pa. mayor to take immigration law to Supreme Court
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hkWhluTKRQkgDRIl8zJOqQQSeo-gD9I4LCCG2

LULAC President: Discrimination persists
An anti-Hispanic movement is sweeping across the United States, the national president of LULAC said Thursday.

Arizona's immigration law, talk of repealing the 14th Amendment and other measures aimed at undocumented immigrants are part of a movement spreading state to state, said Margaret Moran, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens.

"It's a domino affect. It's all about targeting Latinos," said Moran, who is from San Antonio and was elected president in July.

Moran was in El Paso to formally announce the group's national convention coming to the civic center in 2013. LULAC, which just had is 80th anniversary, is the nation's oldest and largest Hispanic civil-rights organization.
http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-news/ci_15982459

Border activist's littering conviction is overturned
A federal appeals court on Thursday overturned the littering conviction of an Arizona activist who left gallon-size bottles of water for illegal immigrants crossing into the United States through a desert wildlife preserve.

Daniel Millis of NoMoreDeaths.org had been convicted of violating a statute prohibiting the dumping of garbage in an area designated as a refuge for endangered species.

In a 2-1 ruling, judges of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said water didn't meet the definition of waste. They also took note of Millis' practice of removing empty water bottles he found while on his missions to avert dehydration deaths in the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge.

Two U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officers stopped Millis and three other activists Feb. 22, 2008. Officer Allen Kirkpatrick spotted the plastic water bottles in the back of Millis' SUV and, upon learning that the occupants had placed other bottles along the trails, cited him for "dumping of waste."

Millis admitted that he had placed the water bottles in the refuge but defended his actions, saying "humanitarian aide is never a crime."
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-border-water-20100903%2C0%2C2187946.story

Family Fight, Border Patrol Raid, Baby Deported
A few days before her daughter Rosa’s first birthday, Monica Castro and the girl’s father had a violent argument in the trailer they all shared near Lubbock, Tex. Ms. Castro fled, leaving her daughter behind.

Ms. Castro, a fourth-generation American citizen, went to the local Border Patrol station. She said she would give the agents there information about the girl’s father, a Mexican in the country illegally, in exchange for help recovering her daughter.

Ms. Castro lived up to her side of the deal. But the federal government ended up deporting little Rosa, an American citizen, along with her father, Omar Gallardo. Ms. Castro would not see her daughter again for three years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/us/21bar.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

Home Mortgage Lender To Pay $1.5 Million In Discrimination Settlement: Company charged Hispanic borrowers higher fees for home loans, FTC charges
A California-based mortgage lender and its owner will settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that they illegally charged Hispanic consumers higher prices for mortgage loans than non-Hispanic white consumers. The price disparities could not be explained by the applicants' credit characteristics or underwriting risk, the FTC said.
"We will continue to be vigilant in enforcing fair lending laws and we're not going to tolerate discriminatory practices by mortgage lenders," FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said. "Lenders who allow discretion in pricing loans can't escape liability simply by burying their heads in the sand. Those lenders must monitor discretionary pricing to ensure that American borrowers are treated equally based on their credit -- not their race, national origin, or gender."

The FTC filed a complaint in federal court on May 7, 2009, alleging that Golden Empire Mortgage, Inc. and Howard D. Kootstra violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) in pricing mortgage loans. They allegedly gave loan officers and branch managers wide discretion to charge some borrowers, in addition to the risk-based price, "overages" through higher interest rates and higher up-front charges.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/09/home_mortgage_lender_to_pay_in_discrimination_suit.html

Court finds criminal’s sentence can be increased if they are illegal immigrants
When U.S. District Judge Mark Bennett sentenced two Hispanic men on drug-related charges, he took into account that both men had entered the U.S. illegally. Although the men cited discrimination in their sentencing appeal, judges on the 8th Circuit Court have ruled that Bennett acted appropriately.

The court relied on a 2001 case, U.S. v. Lopez-Salas, in making its determination that Bennett sentenced the two men appropriately. According to the referenced case, “a person’s legal status as a deportable alien is not synonymous with national origin.”
http://iowaindependent.com/44032/court-finds-criminals-sentence-can-be-increased-if-they-are-illegal-immigrants
(Note: The Eighth Circuit opinion (7 pages) upholding the District Court decision is referenced at the bottom of the news article.)

Latino voters support Democrats but may not vote for them, poll reports
There is good news and bad news for Democrats in a new poll ahead of the 2010 elections - Latinos support the party, but about half of those questioned say they might not show up at the polls on Nov. 2.

The gap between support and motivation provides an opening for Republicans, who have had an up-and-down relationship with Latinos over the last few years: George W. Bush made inroads, but John McCain then lost ground to Barack Obama. Recently, the GOP has done little to court these voters on issues such as education, immigration and health-care legislation.

But Republicans hold one big advantage over Democrats in key races this cycle that could matter more than any one issue - they have more high-profile Latino candidates running for statewide offices.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/05/AR2010100505553.html
To find a link to the Pew Center Report “Latinos and the 2010 Elections: Strong Support for Democrats; Weak Voter Motivation”, go to:
http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=127

Will Arizona's immigration law motivate Latino voters?
Groups that have been working to increase turnout among Hispanic voters are pondering this question: Are they mad enough?

Polls predict low turnout among Latinos in November, but Hispanic civil rights and civic participation organizations are hoping outrage over "anti-immigrant" rhetoric and the uptick in laws targeting illegal immigrants will counter apathy in the electorate.

The groups are pushing voter turnout with an ad campaign they are calling "Vote for Respect."

The campaign, which was released Wednesday and will air on Spanish-language media, is a stark black-and-white video with the faces of many Latinos saying they "believe in the promise of America."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/06/AR2010100605120.html

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Texas

Mexican-American community 'beacon' dies: Former judge Alfred Hernandez was the first Hispanic to take the bench in Houston
Former Judge Alfred J. Hernandez, a native of Mexico whose political voice and influence spanned some 50 years and stretched from Houston's near northside to the White House, died Saturday. He was 93.

Hernandez — the first Hispanic to take the bench in Houston - was a driven activist determined to improve life for others, namely those of Mexican and Latino heritage, said longtime friend Dorothy Caram.

"He was a quiet man with a forceful voice, who represented Mexican-Americans well," Caram said. "He was a great model who understood that change required work, determination, planning and education."

Hernandez was born in Monterrey, Mexico, in 1917. When he was 4, his family moved to a tiny house just north of downtown Houston.
He spoke only Spanish - perhaps an impetus behind his literacy program endorsed by President Lyndon B. Johnson that years later evolved into Head Start.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7188151.html

Class of First-Time Freshmen Not a White Majority This Fall Semester at The University of Texas at Austin
AUSTIN, Texas — For the first time in the history of The University of Texas at Austin, fewer than half of the fall semester's first-time freshmen are white students, according to a preliminary analysis.

The report, provided by Kristi Fisher, associate vice provost and director of the Office of Information Management and Analysis, shows the number of first-time freshmen who identified their ethnicity/race as "white" on admissions information total 47.6 percent. The university's overall total white student population, including graduate, Pharmacy Doctorate and law students, is 52.1 percent.

The figures reflect changes in the demographics of Texas. The Office of the State Demographer, Texas State Data Center, estimates the state's ethnicity in 2010 to be 45.1 percent Anglo (white), 38.8 percent Hispanic, 11.5 percent black and 4.6 percent other. The state's ethnic/race distribution by 2020 is projected to change to 37.6 percent Anglo (white), 45.2 percent Hispanic, 11.2 percent black and 6 percent other.
http://www.utexas.edu/news/2010/09/14/student_enrollment2010/?AddInterest=2221

Report: 1 out of 3 Texas children under the age of 8 has an immigrant parent
A new report says that one out of every three Texas children under the age of eight has an immigrant parent, significantly higher than the national average. The Urban Institute found that nationally one of four children has an immigrant parent. The study looked at data from 2008. About 43% of these children have a parent from Mexico. About 13% of children with an immigrant parent live in Texas. That's about 1.1 million children, ranking the state as having the second highest rate in the nation, behind only California.
http://irvingblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/09/report-1-out-of-3-texas-childr.html
To read the Urban Institute report “Young Children of Immigrants: Leading America’s Future”, go to:
http://www.urban.org/uploadedpdf/412203-young-children.pdf

Dallas-area nonprofits want to boost lagging Hispanic representation on boards
Hispanic volunteers on nonprofit boards are highly sought after these days.

More social service agencies are serving a greater number of Latinos in this struggling economy. But conversely, the number of Latinos serving on nonprofit boards is stagnating.

And this has caused a level of concern at many agencies that believe they need to reflect the community they serve.

The level of poverty has increased among Hispanics during this recession. But it had already begun an upward trend and is now the highest of all ethnic groups in the area.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/localnews/columnists/molivera/stories/DN-olivera_28met.ART.State.Edition1.35f5030.html

An Interview With Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman
The day she joined the Texas Supreme Court, Eva Guzman learned she would have a challenger in the Republican primary.

The former Houston appellate justice, appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to take Justice Scott Brister’s suddenly vacant seat last October, won her primary against Rose Vela by a comfortable margin — but not before several minor dustups between the two candidates. When news of a Guzman endorsement from Cathie Adams, then serving as chair of Republican Party of Texas, came to light, Vela's camp complained it was being punished for her husband's endorsement of U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the governor's race. Vela’s husband, a Corpus Christi-area attorney, told The Associated Press that an ally of the governor's urged him to renounce his support of Hutchison if he wanted his wife to nab the judicial appointment that ended up going to Guzman.
http://www.texastribune.org/texas-courts/texas-supreme-court/an-interview-with-supreme-court-justice-eva-guzman/

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USA

Arizona cop's challenge of immigration law fails
A federal district court has dismissed a challenge filed by a Tucson police officer against Arizona's tough new immigration law.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton said Tuesday that Tucson officer Martin Escobar lacks the legal standing to sue, according to court documents.
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-09-01/justice/arizona.immigration.law_1_immigration-law-immigration-status-martin-escobar?_s=PM:CRIME

Legal nonprofit sues Tulare over voting rights
TULARE, Calif.—A legal nonprofit organization is suing the City of Tulare, claiming that Hispanic residents are not getting equal representation under the current voting system.

Attorneys for the San Francisco-based Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights said that electing City Council members to at-large seats instead of from districts diminished Hispanic voters' strength in elections.

Only one Hispanic has been elected to Tulare's five-member City Council in the past 20 years even though the city is nearly 55 percent Hispanic.
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_15944835?nclick_check=1

Justice Department lawyers sue Arizona sheriff in civil rights probe
Washington (CNN) -- Justice Department civil rights lawyers filed suit against Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona on Thursday after talks collapsed on a deal to provide federal investigators with documents they requested.

The suit, filed in federal court in Phoenix, Arizona, claims the Maricopa County sheriff has failed to cooperate with the investigation into alleged discrimination against Hispanics by Arpaio's law enforcement officials.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/09/02/arizona.sheriff.justice.dept/
To read the federal court pleading, go to:
http://www.azcentral.com/ic/pdf/0902justice-department-lawsuit-on-arpaio.pdf
See also:
U.S. government sues Ariz. sheriff in civil rights probe (includes video of Sheriff’s news conference)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-09-02-arizona-sheriff-arpaio_N.htm?csp=34news
Uncooperative Arpaio Could Cost County $113 Million in U.S. Funds
http://newamericamedia.org/2010/09/county-to-loose-fed-funding-thanks-to-sheriff-arpaio.php

Internal memo accuses Sheriff Arpaio's department of wrongdoing
Reporting from Denver — Top officials in the office of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio used its anti-corruption unit to conduct politically motivated investigations, misled the public about a campaign fund that helped Arpaio win reelection and surveilled the Arizona lawman's campaign rivals, according to an internal memo from a high-ranking officer.

The 63-page memo, first reported Thursday by the Arizona Republic, blames Arpaio's longtime No. 2 man, Chief Deputy Dave Hendershott, for the alleged criminal wrongdoing.

It comes as a federal grand jury is examining whether Arpaio and allies in the local prosecutor's office abused their power by investigating and prosecuting political foes. Arpaio's department is also the subject of a separate federal civil rights investigation into whether it uses racial profiling while enforcing immigration laws.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-joe-arpaio-20100918,0,1430379.story

Yellowstone County won't appeal discrimination case
BILLINGS (AP) — Yellowstone County commissioners will not to appeal a recent discrimination case in which a jury awarded nearly $1 million to three sheriff’s officers.

Last month, deputies Chris Romero and Roger Bodine, as well as civil transport officer Dave Valdez, were awarded a total of $945,000 in damages. The officers said commanders treated them differently because they are Hispanic and retaliated against them when they complained.

Jurors determined the men were retaliated against and experienced discrimination, but not because of their race — a conclusion that elicited different responses from attorneys on both sides.
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20100901/NEWS01/100901002

Ohio restricting Puerto Rican birth certificates
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Elizabeth Torres was stung when her 19-year-old son said he'd been turned down for a state-issued Ohio identification card because his birth certificate from Puerto Rico was considered invalid.

"We're not illegal aliens, we are citizens of this country," Torres said. "We have everything, all the documents and all that, but we are not treated as such."

People born in Puerto Rico are finding that older birth certificates from the U.S. territory are not being accepted when applying for a state ID or driver's license at the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, a reaction to concerns about possible fraud that a national Hispanic group said smacks of racial discrimination.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ikSPrkhGgoVcpaxL6NN4zBwco9YwD9HVBCPG3

U.S. files new suit on Ariz. immigration issue
The Justice Department filed another lawsuit against immigration practices by Arizona authorities, saying Monday that a network of community colleges acted illegally in requiring noncitizens to provide their green cards before they could be hired for jobs.

The suit against the Phoenix area Maricopa Community Colleges was filed less than two months after the Justice Department sued Arizona and Gov. Jan Brewer (R) over the state's new immigration law. It also comes as the department is investigating Joe Arpaio, the sheriff in Maricopa County, who is known for tough immigration enforcement.

In Monday's lawsuit, Justice officials said the colleges discriminated against nearly 250 noncitizen job applicants by mandating that they fill out more documents than required by law to prove their eligibility to work. That violated the federal Immigration and Nationality Act, the department said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/30/AR2010083004923.html
See also:
Feds file new Arizona immigration lawsuit, this time to protect workers
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2010/0831/Feds-file-new-Arizona-immigration-lawsuit-this-time-to-protect-workers

Border Sweeps in North Reach Miles Into U.S.
ROCHESTER — The Lake Shore Limited runs between Chicago and New York City without crossing the Canadian border. But when it stops at Amtrak stations in western New York State, armed Border Patrol agents routinely board the train, question passengers about their citizenship and take away noncitizens who cannot produce satisfactory immigration papers.

“Are you a U.S. citizen?” agents asked one recent morning, moving through a Rochester-bound train full of dozing passengers at a station outside Buffalo. “What country were you born in?”

When the answer came back, “the U.S.,” they moved on. But Ruth Fernandez, 60, a naturalized citizen born in Ecuador, was asked for identification. And though she was only traveling home to New York City from her sister’s in Ohio, she had made sure to carry her American passport. On earlier trips, she said, agents had photographed her, and taken away a nervous Hispanic man.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/30/nyregion/30border.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=immigrants&st=cse

Taveras would be first Hispanic mayor of Providence
Providence, Rhode Island - Angel Taveras on Tuesday won the Democratic nomination in the Providence mayor's race, pushing the Harvard-educated lawyer closer to becoming the first Hispanic leader in the capital city's history.

Taveras, a 40-year-old former city housing court judge, won easily with 49 percent of the vote, compared with 29 percent for City Councilman John Lombardi, who briefly served as mayor in 2002 after Vincent "Buddy" Cianci was sent to prison for corruption, and 20 percent for influential state Rep. Steven Costantino.
http://www2.turnto10.com/news/2010/sep/15/9/taveras-wins-ri-dem-primary-providence-mayor-ar-232066/

More than half of trooper's citations were to Hispanics
RALEIGH, N.C. — About 54 percent of a Highway Patrol trooper's pending traffic cases involved Hispanic drivers, far more than other troopers in his district.

WRAL News found Wednesday that 104 of trooper Michael L. Potts' 191 pending citations were written to Hispanic drivers.

Five other master troopers in the same district have a combined 939 pending tickets, with 62 , or 6 percent, issued to Hispanics.

In 2002, a Superior Court judge dismissed a DWI charge against a driver on grounds that trooper Clinton Carroll was targeting Hispanics.
http://www.wral.com/news/local/wral_investigates/story/8297334/

4th Circuit Becomes New Front in Battle Over Judges
With this week's confirmation of Nashville, Tenn., lawyer Jane Stranch to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, there's a new focus in the sparring over judicial nominees.

Albert Diaz, a nominee for the 4th Circuit, has been waiting longer for Senate confirmation than any other pending appellate nominee. President Barack Obama nominated Diaz, a former military judge now on the North Carolina trial bench, in November 2009. Diaz (pictured above) has awaited a vote since getting the unanimous support of the Senate Judiciary Committee in January.

Obama, in a speech Wednesday night, took what for him is an unusual step — singling out Diaz by name as a stalled judicial nominee.
http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2010/09/4th-circuit-becomes-new-front-in-battle-over-judges.html

Racial profiling case faces delay
Redding, California - A hearing this week in federal court that could determine whether drug agents on Interstate 5 near Redding are pulling over suspected drug runners because of their race or ethnicity was put off until later this month.

Assistant federal defender Lauren Cusick said Thursday that U.S. Eastern District Judge Morrison C. England on Wednesday continued the hearing until Sept. 29. England had heard three days of testimony this week but had a scheduling conflict, she said.

The hearing concerns a motion filed by the federal defender’s office in a trial of two suspected drug runners. The defender’s office contends that their clients were targeted because they are Hispanic. Drug agents deny the allegations.
http://www.redding.com/news/2010/sep/16/racial-case-faces-delay/

Dept. of Human Rights dismisses charge against Gaylord policeman
Minnesota - A charge of discrimination against Gaylord Police Officer Eric Boon has been dismissed by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.

In October of 2008, Centro Campesino filed a Charge of Discrimination against Boon. Centro Campesino filed the charge on behalf of itself and approximately 20 aggrieved Latino immigrant residents of Gaylord and the surrounding area. The charge stated that since 2004, Latino immigrant residents reportedly had been discriminated against, harassed, and retaliated against on the basis of their race and national origin.

The Department of Human Rights completed its investigation approximately two months ago. That investigation determined that there was No Probable Cause to believe that Boon engaged in an unfair discriminatory practice. The Department of Human Rights issued an order dismissing the charge.
http://gaylordhub.com/2010/09/16/dept-of-human-rights-dismisses-charge-against-gaylord-policeman/

NYC stops hiring firefighters amid bias suit
NEW YORK — City officials on Friday said the Fire Department of New York won't hire any firefighters until a new entry exam is created to replace one a federal judge said discriminated against minorities, which is expected to take at least a year.

A federal judge had ordered the city to choose one of five temporary methods for selecting applicants who had already passed the rejected exam as a way of adding to the department in the meantime. But the city's law department said in a letter to the court that they wouldn't select one because they all involved some sort of race-based quota.
"The hiring quotas ... are bad public policy, and we believe not justified by the law," said Corporation Counsel head Michael Cardozo.

Of the 11,214 uniformed members of the FDNY, 355 are black, 722 Hispanic, 82 Asian and 6 Native American. Most city residents are minorities.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h0Yum4q2zo5cWjU8yWGlx63tV-gwD9I9SB708

Abuse lawsuit against Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office settled for $600,000
A man who accused a Maricopa County Sheriff's deputy of abuse and racial discrimination over a 2009 traffic stop has won a $600,000 settlement.

In February 2009, Armando L. Nido was arrested after Deputy James Carey tried to pull him over in Tempe for a broken taillight, according to a notice of claim filed with the county and other public records.

Nido stopped and started his car several times during the course of Carey's traffic stop, which is common for drunken-driving suspects, MacIntyre said. Nido claimed he was afraid to stop because of the "pattern and practice" of sheriff's deputies to treat Hispanic residents differently because of their ethinicity. When Nido finally came to a complete stop in front of his home, Carey tried to block Nido's car and hit the suspect with his squad car, pinning Nido underneath it.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/10/06/20101006joe-arpaio-office-discrimination-suit-settlement06-ON.html

Charlotte soft drink bottler settles racial bias claim: Coca-Cola Consolidated ordered to compensate black, Latino job seekers
Coca-Cola Bottling Company Consolidated of Charlotte has agreed to pay $495,000 in back wages and interest to 95 African-American and Hispanic job seekers for racial discrimination.

The applicants applied in 2002 for sales support positions at the company’s Black Satchel Road distribution facility in Charlotte. The settlement follows an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

In addition to back pay, the Coca-Cola bottler agreed to make offers of employment to the applicants until at least 23 are hired. Those hired will receive retroactive seniority benefits they would have accrued from July 1, 2002, if not for the discriminatory actions of the company.
http://www.thecharlottepost.com/index.php?src=news&srctype=detail&category=Business&refno=3027
See also “Charlotte Coke Bottler Settles Discrimination Case”
http://www.wfae.org/wfae/1_87_316.cfm?action=display&id=6543

Hospice Provider To Pay $50,000 To Settle EEOC Suit For National Origin Discrimination, Retaliation
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - A Delaware Corporation which provides hospice services nationwide will pay a former employee's estate $50,000 to settle a discrimination suit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

The EEOC's lawsuit, Civil Action No. SA09CA0796PM, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division, alleges that VistaCare, Inc. subjected a Latino registered nurse at Kerrville, Texas facility to discriminatory treatment because of his national origin. The nurse lodged a verbal complaint about the company's vice president / general manager making ethnically derogatory comments about him and that she was attempting to get him fired. Subsequently, the nurse filed a charge with the EEOC, alleging that the vice president had referred to him by ethnic slurs, attempted to block his pay raises and promotion, had made negative comments on his work evaluation and was attempting to get him fired, all because of his national origin. Shortly after filing the charge, VistaCare fired him as retaliation, the EEOC reported.
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/stock-alert/vsta_hospice-provider-to-pay-50-000-to-settle-eeoc-suit-for-national-origin-discrimination-retaliation-1187734.html

Catholic Charities of Chicago has settled a defamation lawsuit filed by the agency’s former Latino Affairs chief.
The Chicago archdiocese had a check delivered last week to Heriberto López Alberola as part of a settlement with him.

The archdiocese’s social-service arm, Catholic Charities, hired López in 2007 to direct its Latino office. López eventually raised questions about Catholic Charities accessibility to Latinos and about the agency’s compliance with a U.S. law banning discrimination by groups that receive federal funding.
http://www.wbez.org/Content.aspx?audioID=44803

EEOC's bias suit targets hotel on Eastside: Black staff at Hampton claim they were fired for complaints of unfair pay
A federal lawsuit filed Thursday by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the owners of an Eastside hotel claims black housekeeping employees were fired after they complained that Hispanic workers were paid more for doing the same work.

The suit, which alleges a pattern of racial discrimination against the hotel's housekeeping staff and job applicants, also said the black workers were openly told they'd be fired and replaced because Hispanics cleaned better and complained less.
http://www.indystar.com/article/20101001/LOCAL1803/10010388/1003/BUSINESS/EEOC-s-bias-suit-targets-hotel-on-Eastside

N.C. Judge Diaz may be closer to Senate confirmation for federal court
Of all the judicial nominees awaiting confirmation by the U.S. Senate, none has waited longer than Charlotte, N.C.'s Albert Diaz. Now supporters hope the wait is about to end.

Diaz, who would be the first Hispanic judge on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, is among the nominees the U.S. Senate could consider before its expected recess this week.

It was in January that the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously endorsed him for the post. None of the 22 other judicial nominees endorsed by the committee has waited as long.

Both Republican Sen. Richard Burr and Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan say they support his confirmation. At least three Democratic attempts to get him confirmed fell through when a single Republican objected.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/28/1846070/nc-judge-diaz-may-be-closer-to.html

NM poll: Majority support Ariz. immigration-check law
ALBUQUERQUE - New Mexico voters strongly disapprove of the state's policy of giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, and a majority of them give a thumbs-up to Arizona's new immigration law, according to a poll released Sunday by the Albuquerque Journal.

According to the poll, 53 percent favor Arizona's law, 35 percent disapprove, 7 percent have mixed feelings and 5 percent don't know or wouldn't say.

Hispanic voters agreed with the majority on the state's driver's license policy and supported the city of Albuquerque's new policy of checking immigrant status of anyone who is arrested. However, only 39 percent of the Hispanics polled said they supported the Arizona law and 48 percent opposed it.
http://azstarnet.com/news/national/article_2812b431-2b67-5388-8cb3-f014fb073686.html?print=1

Pa. men face 2nd trial in immigrant beating death
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — One night two summers ago, an illegal immigrant from Mexico brawled with a gang of white teens from Shenandoah, an old mining town in the coal fields of northeastern Pennsylvania.

The fight's outcome is not in dispute: 25-year-old Luis Ramirez wound up dead. The question for a jury is did two former high school football stars commit a federal hate crime.
Brandon Piekarsky and Derrick Donchak are charged in connection with the attack — a case brought by the U.S. Justice Department's civil rights division after an all-white jury acquitted the defendants of state charges last year.

A separate indictment charges Shenandoah's former police chief and two officers with sabotaging the investigation into Ramirez's death by altering evidence and lying to the FBI. They are scheduled to go on trial early next year.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gtcSK8qaGGVDikaEFhYD_pgjOLrwD9IKCIH80?docId=D9IKCIH80

Shenandoah hate-crime beating case heads to trial in federal court in Scranton
For the second time in less than a month, the rolling hills of an old Pennsylvania coal town will be the setting for a high-profile federal court case involving immigration.

Jury selection, which will include each juror being individually questioned, begins this morning at the federal courthouse in Scranton for the trial of Brandon Piekarsky and Derrick Donchak, two Shenandoah-area men charged with a hate crime in the fatal beating of an illegal Mexican immigrant on a street in Shenandoah. Prosecutors claim the fatal beating was inflicted on the man for only one reason: He was Hispanic.

Last month, the spotlight fell on Hazleton, another small city about 17 miles away, when a federal appeals court issued a long-awaited ruling on the city's anti-illegal immigration ordinances. The appeals court said Hazleton's ordinances were unconstitutional.
http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/shenandoah-hate-crime-beating-case-heads-to-trial-in-federal-court-in-scranton-1.1043152

Pa. teen testifies on fatal assault of immigrant
SCRANTON, Pa. — Two former high school football players who witnessed the fatal beating of a Mexican immigrant in Pennsylvania testified Thursday that a third member of their group kicked the victim in the head as he lay unconscious in the street.

Brandon Piekarsky, now 18, and Derrick Donchak, now 20, are charged with a federal hate crime in the July 2008 attack on 25-year-old Luis Ramirez, who died after brawling with a tight-knit bunch of white athletes in Shenandoah, an old mining town riven by ethnic tensions between whites and a burgeoning Hispanic population. Donchak is also charged in a plot with Shenandoah police to cover up the crime.

Prosecutors allege that Piekarsky kicked Ramirez in the head, a theory bolstered Thursday by testimony from two of the defendant's childhood friends.

Both Scully and Lawson said it was commonplace for white students at Shenandoah Valley High School to use ethnic slurs against Hispanics, admitting they did so themselves.
"Is it fair to say there were a lot of white people using racial slurs because of the Hispanics moving into Shenandoah?" asked Gerard Hogan, a Justice Department prosecutor. "Yes," Lawson said.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gtcSK8qaGGVDikaEFhYD_pgjOLrwD9IN0O0G3?docId=D9IN0O0G3

'Interest' in Md. suspect in duck's death
The Montgomery County man suspected of slashing the tires of his Hispanic neighbors’ cars also is under suspicion for stealing a duck from one of their backyards and cutting its head off, according to police arrest records filed in court Thursday.

Detectives call Steven Ray Armstrong a "person of interest" in the duck incident, according to a police spokeswoman. A witness told police that Armstrong, 52, was seen near the duck owner’s house at the time the pet went missing from its cage, according to the arrest documents.

The duck was found decapitated three days later on a nearby street in the victim's, and suspect’s, Wheaton-area neighborhood.

Armstrong was charged this week in one tire slashing case. Detectives say he is motivated by a dislike toward Latinos and could be responsible for slashing the tires of at least 20 vehicles owned by Hispanics.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/dan-morse/police-investigate-tire-slashe.html?hpid=newswell

Sims gets 80 years, minimum, in Hispanic slayings
TIFTON, LOUSIANA — Stacey Bernard Sims was sentenced Thursday to serve a minimum of 80 years in prison after he entered guilty pleas on 17 counts related to the Sept. 30, 2005 murder of six Hispanic men during several home invasion robberies.

According to a press release from District Attorney Paul Bowden, Sims entered the guilty pleas Aug. 12 and Tift County Superior Court Judge Bill Reinhardt imposed the sentence Thursday.

Sims, of Moultrie, entered guilty pleas to six counts of murder, four counts of armed robbery, four counts of aggravated assault and three counts of burglary in connection with three separate home invasions early in the morning of Sept. 30, 2005. Sims received six life sentences for the six murders, plus 80 years without the possibility of parole on the four armed robbery counts and 140 years on the remaining aggravated assault and burglary counts.
http://moultrieobserver.com/local/x500717589/Sims-gets-80-years-minimum-in-Hispanic-slayings

2 Spartanburg teens charged in crime spree against Hispanics: Sheriff says more arrests are possible
North Carolina - Two Spartanburg teenagers face armed robbery and weapon charges after deputies say they robbed Hispanic individuals at gunpoint during a crime spree.

Wright said the men terrorized the Hispanic community — mostly in the Una area — and police are looking into whether the crimes meet the criteria of hate crimes. It is unclear why the men targeted Hispanic individuals, but the investigation is in the early stages.

The men could be involved in two home invasions in the area, the sheriff said.
http://www.goupstate.com/article/20101001/ARTICLES/10011021/1051/NEWS01?Title=2-Spartanburg-teens-charged-in-crime-spree-against-Hispanics&tc=ar

Torrington strives to close rift with Hispanics
TORRINGTON, CONN — Six months have passed since a Dominican-American teen was chased down on a city street and beaten, a crime that exposed a long-simmering ethnic rift in the city. Official efforts to bridge that gap drew praise, with some reservations, from Hispanic leaders in recent interviews.

There is much work still to be done, they agreed, and progress requires effort from all residents.

Three defendants in the beating case have learned their fate, including Bryon Cronin, 18, a passenger in the minivan driven by Kerry Langdeau, 35, mother of fellow defendant Dilyen Langdeau, 18, who has pleaded guilty to a felony assault charge. Cronin was sentenced to a year in prison Thursday in Bantam Superior Court on various charges unrelated to the March 6 incident. Kerry Langdeau, who drove onto a sidewalk in pursuit of the fleeing Hispanic teen, was granted a special form of probation for first-time offenders in June, and ordered to take hate crime diversionary classes.
http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2010/09/26/news/local/509909.txt

_______________________________________
General Interest

Latino Republican walking a tightrope in Nevada race
Reporting from Las Vegas — For years, Brian Sandoval has been a rising Republican star, a trailblazer touted as a symbol of the party's increasing diversity.

Square-jawed and handsome, he was elected Nevada's first Latino attorney general, showcased at the 2004 Republican National Convention and appointed the state's first Latino federal judge.

Battling for the GOP nomination, Sandoval endorsed the measure and came out against driver's licenses for illegal immigrants as part of a rightward shift that left Merida and other Latinos angry and confused. Reid opposes the law, which requires police to determine the status of people they stop and suspect are illegal immigrants.

He compounded the upset with an off-air comment during an Univision interview, reportedly stating his children wouldn't be stopped by Arizona police because they "don't look Hispanic."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-latinos-gop-20100831,0,5348847,full.story

Student’s Work Leads to Insights on Immigrants — and a Documentary Film
It is an unlikely story: A young man works in the kitchen of a restaurant, where his experiences inspire him to pursue a PhD — the highest degree academia offers — in pursuit of deeper insights into one of society’s most challenging problems. His dissertation research leads to a documentary film and eventually the creation of a nonprofit organization.

For Roy Germano, a political science doctoral candidate in the Department of Government, the many undocumented Mexican workers he met at age 23, working at that restaurant, were the catalyst for what has since become his life’s work: understanding and aiding Mexican immigrants to the United States and the families they leave behind.
http://giving.utexas.edu/2010/09/01/germano-immigration-research/?AddInterest=2221
To visit the Movie website and view a trailer, go to:
http://www.theothersideofimmigration.com/HOME.html

Opinion: A heavy price to ending birthright citizenship
We can already see the future of our nation if it renounces birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants, and it isn't pretty. Dragging economies, new forms of fraud, a disenfranchised underclass, children deported to places they have never even visited — countries that do not have birthright citizenship have experienced these problems and more, and have been forced to reconsider their practices. Germany, Israel and Japan are just three of those countries, and their experiences have much to teach us.

The current debate about the future of the Constitution's 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship for all born on U.S. soil, centers on the question of individual fairness: Should these children have the right to U.S. citizenship although their birth on U.S. soil was the result of their parents' unauthorized presence here? The debate is really about what citizenship and belonging mean in the United States — profound and important issues but not ones that draw easy consensus. But if we ask what will happen to our society as a whole if we eliminate birthright citizenship, the facts become easy to see.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-weise-birthright-20100902,0,120869.story

Police disperse crowd near Westlake site where officer shot a day laborer to death. At least 22 people are arrested.
As Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck defended the fatal shooting of a day laborer and officials called for calm, protesters and officers clashed Tuesday night in Westlake near the site of the incident.

About 300 demonstrators gathered at the LAPD's Rampart Station. Some in the crowd hurled eggs at police cars and others threw objects at the station windows, prompting officers in riot gear to push the throng along 6th Street.

Officers fired non-lethal projectiles at protesters near Union Avenue and 6th, where Manuel Jamines was fatally shot Sunday afternoon by an officer who said Jamines refused commands to drop a switchblade.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lapd-shooting-20100908,0,3007915,full.story

After Police Shooting, Frustrations Grow
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Corn roasting on sidewalk grills. Latin music blasting from shops. Colorful signs touting tongue-twisting names like Atitlán and Quetzaltenango. The central Los Angeles neighborhood could almost be plucked right out of Guatemala City. Long ago a well-heeled area of Los Angeles, the Westlake district surrounding MacArthur Park has in more recent decades become a densely packed enclave of Central American immigrants fleeing brutal civil wars and grinding poverty in their home countries.

Last week, the bustling community turned into a hotbed of unrest after a police officer shot and killed Manuel Jaminez, a 37-year-old Guatemalan day laborer, who allegedly lunged at him with a knife. The shooting last Sunday set off three days of protests by people who felt that the shooting was an unfair and unnecessary use of police force.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/us/12westlake.html?_r=1

Opinion: I was an 'anchor baby'
I was an "anchor baby." According to family lore, the day I was born at Hibbing Memorial Hospital in Minnesota in the early 1960s was also the day my parents received their deportation papers. They had come to America from war-torn Korea on student visas that had run out. Laws at the time prohibited most Asians from immigrating, so they were told to leave, even with three American children.

The 14th Amendment, with its guarantee that anyone born here is an American, protected my siblings and me from being countryless. Today, in the growing clamor over illegal immigration, there have been calls to repeal this amendment, with the pejorative "anchor baby" invoked as a call to arms. The words suggest that having a child in America confers some kind of legal protection on illegal parents, that it gives them a foothold here.

But in reality, merely having a baby on American soil doesn't change the parents' status. As a so-called anchor baby, my existence did nothing to resolve my parents' situation; if anything, it only added to their stress.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-lee-anchor-baby-20100908,0,7268797.story

Commentary: Arizona Pols in the Hot Seat
The past 24 hours have not been kind to Arizona leaders Gov. Jan Brewer and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

It started with Brewer, whose opening statement in last night’s debate with gubernatorial contenders, including Attorney General Terry Goddard, was painful to watch. Whether it was stage fright or just the result of a really bad day is hard to know, but Brewer, known for her brash statements, found herself struggling for words and appeared ill prepared.

Normally, Brewer comes off as a strong person, although she is not that accessible. On a recent reporting trip to Arizona, I was told that Brewer declined to be interviewed for a story about how the state’s controversial immigration law was affecting business. And she has a reputation, among many I spoke with in Phoenix, for being media-shy—unless the message is very brief or she’s talking to Fox News.
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/09/02/arizona-pols-in-the-hot-seat.html

Kindergartens see more Hispanic, Asian students
The kindergarten class of 2010-11 is less white, less black, more Asian and much more Hispanic than in 2000, reflecting the nation's rapid racial and ethnic transformation.
The profile of the 4 million children starting kindergarten reveals the startling changes the USA has undergone the past decade and offers a glimpse of its future. In this year's class, for example, about one out of four 5-year-olds will be Hispanic. Most of today's kindergartners will graduate from high school in 2023.

More Hispanic children are likely in the next generation because the number of Hispanic girls entering childbearing years is up more than 30% this decade, says Kenneth Johnson, demographer at the University of New Hampshire's Carsey Institute. "It's only the beginning."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/2010-08-27-1Akindergarten27_ST_N.htm?csp=hf

Judge in immigration case receiving threats
PHOENIX - The federal judge who halted parts of Arizona's immigration law is getting "thousands" of e-mails and phone calls, many in opposition to her ruling - and a few threatening her life.

"It's not unusual in a case like this where there's a lot of issues involved and a lot of emotions involved when a decision is made that the judge gets some inappropriate communications," said David Gonzales, the U.S. marshal for Arizona.

So Gonzales said the messages sent to U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton were anticipated. He said most of those were in opposition to her decision to grant the injunction against SB 1070 sought by the U.S. Justice Department. A smaller number were in favor.
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/border/article_7129a221-0dbe-50d3-828b-55543e8f7718.html

Latina, Latino and Hispanic stand for many voices
If our readers are any indication, there is no definitive consensus on whether people who can trace their roots to Spanish-speaking nations prefer to be known as Latinos, Hispanics or a mix of other terms that they suggested in their responses to our unscientific online survey.

We asked Hispanosphere readers —and those who follow us on social media sites Facebook and Twitter— to answer a few questions over the last three days about ethnicity and to tell us how they want to be known.

The numbers were pretty close with a majority of 48 percent saying they prefer the terms “Latino” or “Latina” and 44 percent saying they prefer to be known as “Hispanic.” Perhaps not surprisingly, the third highest rating went to “Other,” an answer where readers offered a multitude of disparate suggestions.
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_hispanicaffairs/?p=3324

Lely students question reason for redoing homecoming court nominations: Some claim school officials don't like racial makeup of group
Naples, Florida - Ten students who thought they would be part of the homecoming court at Lely High School might not be standing in front of their peers on game day.

Lely High School confirmed it is holding a revote for the homecoming court, a move some students said was racist.

Eight of the students named to the senior court are black and two are Hispanic, according to the students.

“It’s definitely wrong. Everyone who got on the court are on there for a reason,” said senior Marie Tetithonne, 18. “If the majority of students had not been black, no one would have said anything and this would not have been an issue.”

Principal Ken Fairbanks said the school is voting on the homecoming court again today, but it is not because school officials or students didn’t like the racial makeup of the court.
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2010/sep/15/lely-students-question-reason-redoing-homecoming-c/

The Deadline for EEO-1 Reports Is Fast Approaching
Time is running out for filing EEO-1 reports. The EEO-1 report is a government form that requires employers to describe their workforce in terms of job categories, ethnicities, races, and genders. Private employers with 100 or more employees, as well as private employers that have federal government contracts of $50,000 or more and 50 or more employees, must file an EEO-1 report every year with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s EEO-1 Joint Reporting Committee.

The EEO-1 report must be filed by no later than Sept. 30.

In 2007, the EEOC revised its EEO-1 report for the first time in 40 years. The major changes in the new EEO-1 form include revised race, ethnic, and job categories. One particularly noteworthy change was made to the former category of ‘officials and managers.’ This category was divided into two levels: executive/senior-level officials and managers, and first/mid-level officials and managers. Another revision added a ‘two or more races’ category in the race/ethnicity section of the form. Other revisions included: dividing the ‘Asian and Pacific Islander’ category into ‘Asian’ and ‘Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander’; ‘Black’ became ‘Black or African American’; and ‘Hispanic’ became ‘Hispanic or Latino.’
http://www.businesswest.com/details.asp?id=2662

Opinion: GOP chairman changes immigration tune on Spanish TV
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele went on Spanish television recently, saying that Arizona's SB 1070 didn't “reflect the beliefs of all Republicans.”
I don't recall him saying anything remotely close to that in English media. I don't blame him for saying that. The political reality is that the future of all political parties in the United States must include room for Latinos; the increasing numbers of Latino voters speaks for itself.

So when the GOP chairman found himself before a niche Latino audience, he softened the immigration rhetoric.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/columnists/victor_landa/gop_chairman_changes_immigration_tune_on_spanish_tv_102099683.html

Disciplinary Actions for Substance-Abusing Attorneys Vary Widely
An Indiana lawyer shows up at the courthouse drunk and gets into a car accident. His license is suspended, but stayed, for 180 days. A New Hampshire attorney and admitted alcoholic takes on what turns out to be a meritless case and conceals the defeat from clients. He is disbarred.

An Iowa attorney and self-described alcohol abuser involved in a series of disciplinary actions, including taking a client's money and abandoning a divorce case, gets a license suspension. He can apply to renew it in six months. Meanwhile, a Florida attorney who's been sober and in a 12-step program since his arrest on drug charges in 2004 is disbarred for the six-year-old offense.

Each of the four cases involved substance abuse -- and each had a very different outcome. The decisions, all from the past two years, show how broad the inconsistencies are in the way courts dole out punishment for substance-abusing attorneys. Whether because of uneven precedent, murky ethics rules or a hard-line stance against recognizing addiction as a mitigating factor in misconduct, courts can give attorneys little more than a slap on the wrist in some cases. In others, careers are finished.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202472239042&src=EMC-Email&et=editorial&bu=Law.com&pt=Law.com%20Newswire%20Update&cn=LAWCOM_NewswireUpdate_20100920&kw=Disciplinary%20Actions%20for%20Substance-Abusing%20Attorneys%20Vary%20Widely

Effort under way to name East Chicago court building after Arredondo
Sept. 21--EAST CHICAGO -- Lake Superior Court Judge Calvin Hawkins has started an effort to name the court building at 3711 E. Main St. in honor of Circuit Court Judge Lorenzo Arredondo.

Arredondo is retiring at the end of the year.

In a letter to Lake County Commissioners he mailed Monday, Hawkins said Arredondo deserves the recognition because he was the first Latino judge to serve in Indiana and the longest-serving Latino trial judge in the nation. Elected six times, he is in his 34th year in office.

Earlier this year, Arredondo received the Hispanic National Bar Association's highest award -- the Lincoln-Juarez Award -- "for lifetime achievement of dedication, passion and commitment to the rule of law."
http://www.leagle.com/unsecure/news.do?feed=yellowbrix&storyid=150096242

GOP Taps Hispanics in Fall Test
A deep lineup of Hispanic Republicans is running for high office this year, giving the party new avenues to court the growing bloc of Latino voters who have largely deserted the GOP in recent years but will be crucial in the 2012 presidential election.

In a twist, many of these candidates are defending the strict, new Arizona law and other measures cracking down on illegal immigration—appealing to white conservatives and to the portion of Hispanic voters who share concerns about border security.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703793804575512210776190450.html

Rubio's views don't match many Hispanics'
Is Republican U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio anti-Hispanic?

It's an obnoxious question, considering that Rubio is Cuban-American. An impertinent reporter (I swear it wasn't me) asked it after a recent debate in which Rubio said he favors making English the official language of the United States. Backed by key supporter U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, the proposed measure would not require the government to provide ballots and other documents in Spanish.

During the debate aired by the Spanish-language network Univision, Rubio also defended Arizona's crackdown on illegal immigrants, opposed allowing undocumented workers to earn legal status and rejected a bill that would grant citizenship to their children who attend college or serve in the military.

These positions put Rubio -- riding a conservative backlash against President Barack Obama to the head of the Senate race -- at odds with a majority of Hispanics, prominent Hispanic Republicans, and his political mentor, former Gov. Jeb Bush.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/24/1841454/rubios-views-dont-match-many-hispanics.html

Tennessee civil courts lack interpreter funds
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The legal needs of non-English speakers and other vulnerable populations in Tennessee are vastly underserved, in violation of federal law.

The Tennessee Supreme Court's Access to Justice Commission, which is working to fix inequities in the civil courts, has created a committee tasked with improving the system for people with language barriers and those with disabilities.

According to The Tennessean newspaper, a shortage of interpreters in the state and money to pay them is one of the most pronounced problems and one of the hardest to fix.

While no hard data exist, judges, lawyers and advocates know anecdotally there are not nearly enough interpreters to go around for Tennessee's burgeoning immigrant population. For example, there is only one state-certified Arabic interpreter in Tennessee. The shortage can lead to months long delays for people or force them to participate in legal proceedings they can't fully understand.
http://www.wmctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13257168
See also “Needs of non-English speakers straining court system”
http://www.tullahomanews.com/news/view_article.asp?idcategory=9&idarticle=9409