On November 2, Americans will cast their votes. In Texas voters will decide on races ranging from the Governorship to Membership on the State Board of Education. The stakes in this election are very high. For example, in some states legislatures may be called on to determine whether some children born in the United States should be denied citizenship. See “[G]roup challenges outright citizenship birthright” http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-10-20-citizenship20_ST_N.htm
One would expect the Latino community to be as engaged as other Americans. Instead, a recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center found that Latinos are poised to stay at home on November 2.
Hispanic registered voters appear to be less motivated than other voters to go to the polls. Just one-third (32%) of all Latino registered voters say they have given this year's election "quite a lot" of thought. In contrast, half (50%) of all registered voters say the same. And when it comes to their intent to vote, half (51%) of Latino registered voters say they are absolutely certain they will vote in this year's midterm election, while seven-in-ten (70%) of all registered voters say the same.
To read “Latinos and the 2010 Elections”, go to: http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=127
In related news, at least one group is encouraging Latinos not to vote to express their anger. See “Nevada Senate race turns uglier with Hispanic ad” at: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gmTtEk9l6ocbQ73_6cZwY801zMTQ?docId=49a82f3328304b9fa284c713aa2c7d0c
What can you do?
First, you should vote. Early voting has already begun and it is usually simpler and faster to vote before Election Day.
Second, encourage your children, family members and friends to vote. If they have not yet voted, maybe it is time to remind them that many Americans, Latinos included, made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve their right to live in a democracy and their voting rights.
Third, encourage your local bar association to work with schools to teach high school youth about the importance of voting. The Annenberg Foundation has developed a free civics curriculum titled “Democracy in America”. Chapter 13 of the curriculum “explores the crucial role of strategy in the two-stage electoral campaign system; the opportunities for citizens to choose, organize, and elect candidates who will pursue policies they favor; and the need for campaigns to increase voter turnout by educating citizens about the importance and influence of their vote.” To see the course description, topic overview and related video, go to: http://www.learner.org/courses/democracyinamerica/dia_13/
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: A few weeks ago the Hispanic Bar Association of Austin held its annual Hispanic Heritage Luncheon. As part of the luncheon, the HBAA sponsors an essay contest for middle school students. These essays provide tremendous insight into the concerns of our youth. The essays are now available on the Hispanic Issues Section website: http://www.texashispanicissuessection.com/ . The student essays can be viewed by clicking the “Student Essays” tab on the left side of the Home page. The essays are very moving.
PS2: The Dallas Hispanic Bar Association would like to extend an invitation to Section members to attend their inaugural Labor and Employment CLE presentation. The CLE presentation is scheduled for one hour and will cover a series of topics from I-9s to English-only rules to litigation issues involving undocumented workers. The CLE presentation will be a lunchtime presentation and will be held at the Belo Pavilion. Panelists will include Marcos Ronquillo of Godwin Ronquillo P.C., Maricela Siewczynski of the Siewczynski Law Firm, and Gail Salcido of Fluor Enterprises, Inc. Fred Gaona of Spencer Crain Cubbage Healy & McNamara, pllc will serve as the moderator. Please see below for more details:
· Description: Dallas Hispanic Bar Association CLE
· Date: Wednesday, November 3, 2010
· Time: 12:00 PM
· State: TX
· Title: "The Emerging Hispanic Workforce – From I-9s to English Only Rules and Beyond"
· Speakers: Marcos Ronquillo, Maricela Siewczynski, Gail Salcido and Fred Gaona
· CLE Credits: MCLE 1.00*
PSS: The Hispanic Issues Section will be sponsoring a CLE program at the State Bar Building in Austin on February 22. If you attend you will be able to participate in afternoon and evening events sponsored by MABA and the HBAA. Please save this date on your calendars.
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
Demographic Profiles of Latino Eligible Voters in 27 States
Washington, DC – The Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center, today released statistical profiles of the Latino eligible voter populations in 27 states. Derived from the 2008 American Community Survey, these profiles provide key demographic and socioeconomic information about Latino eligible voters and all eligible voters (U.S. citizens ages 18 and older). They also contain Latino population estimates for congressional districts in the 27 states.
The Center also launched a new feature on its website called Mapping the Latino Electorate. This interactive feature provides key eligible voter statistics in the nation's 50 states and the District of Columbia along with Hispanic population estimates in 435 congressional districts.
http://www.capitalwirepr.com/pr_description.php?id=212c87d3-ee2b-5ecd-72fa-4cb8b3fc586c
GOP group challenges outright citizenship birthright
PHOENIX — Republican lawmakers in 15 states Tuesday announced a nationwide effort to change the way the 14th Amendment is interpreted and stop granting citizenship to babies born in the USA to illegal immigrants.
A national coalition called State Legislators for Legal Immigration is coordinating the effort.
Arizona state Sen. Russell Pearce said Kansas lawyer Kris Kobach, who helped draft Arizona's tough immigration law now on appeal in the federal courts, is working with him and Republican state Rep. John Kavanagh to draft a bill that all the states could use as a model on the citizenship issue.
Pearce said a bill draft is written and will be ready for consideration when the Arizona legislative session starts in January.
He would not say exactly how they will propose denying citizenship but said the legislation would not be retroactive.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-10-20-citizenship20_ST_N.htm
Latinos for Reform Head Robert de Posada Defends Controversial 'Don't Vote' Ad
ABC News' Huma Khan reports: The brains behind the controversial ad that urges Hispanics not to vote isn't backing down, despite backlash from the Latino community and a repudiation from Republican candidates.
Robert de Posada, head of Latinos for Reform, a conservative independent expenditure that sponsored the ad, said he’s not planning to buy any more airtime. But he'll continue to push the ad on the Internet. The "Don’t Vote" ad was pulled by Univision after it aired five times on radio in Nevada.
Hispanic leaders both nationally and in Nevada denounced the ad as the “height of cynicism” and as an "ugly" example of "overt voter suppression,” a charge that de Posada denies.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2010/10/latinos-for-reform-head-robert-de-posada-defends-controversial-dont-vote-ad.html
Medical college staffer gets American Bar Association policymaking post
Starting next month, a member of the Commonwealth Medical College staff will begin playing a big role in making policy that will help Hispanics with civil rights, voting rights and access to the court system.
American Bar Association President Stephen Zack selected Ida Castro, vice president for social justice and diversity at TCMC, as one of 15 members of a newly formed Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities. The commission will hold a number of public hearings across the country that will feature testimony from lawyers, judges, legal and social science scholars and elected officials in the Latino community.
"I think it's a big step for the ABA," Ms. Castro said. "The concern is ... how do we as Americans address the needs of the Hispanic community?"
http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/medical-college-staffer-gets-american-bar-association-policymaking-post-1.1049127
Grupo de abogados estudiará problemas legales de hispanos
El Colegio de Abogados de Estados Unidos investigará los temas legales más relevantes para la comunidad hispana en Estados Unidos, tales como derechos civiles y electorales.
Stephen Zack, presidente de la agrupación conocida por sus siglas en inglés ABA, anunció el jueves la creación de una comisión que estudiará el tema.
El grupo celebrará el 12 de noviembre en Chicago la primera de cuatro audiencias públicas para recoger testimonios de las comunidades sobre las disparidades en el sistema de justicia, como la inexistencia o poca calidad de traducciones al español en procesos judiciales, por ejemplo. Las siguientes audiencias serán en California en enero, Nueva York en marzo y Texas en mayo.
http://www.elnuevoherald.com/2010/10/15/820071/grupo-de-abogados-estudiara-problemas.html
Minority Report: Hispanics must be integrated into our profession, our law schools and our courts
To advance the ABA’s mission to defend liberty and pursue justice, the association has appointed a Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities. The commission will work to fulfill America’s promise to Hispanics, and in so doing will enrich our legal system and its service to all of society. Hispanic-Americans are the largest and fastest-growing minority category in this country, and make up more than 20 percent of our population, while only 3 percent of lawyers are Hispanic.
In a recent study, the Pew Hispanic Research Center noted that of the country’s 16 million Hispanic children, 89 percent are second and third generation with at least one U.S.-born parent. We must equip our next generation of Hispanic-American citizens with what they need to succeed as lawyers, judges, corporate executives, educators and politicians. We must ensure these future leaders are prepared to preserve and strengthen our justice system and rule of law for all Americans.
Cesar Alvarez, who will chair the commission, is a leader in the national legal and Hispanic communities. Emilio Estefan, an award-winning producer, musician and civil rights advocate, will serve as honorary chair.
The new ABA commission—as well as its advisory committee of respected attorneys, judges, educators and organizational and community leaders—will identify and advance solutions to important legal issues affecting Hispanics throughout the United States. The commission itself includes leaders from an array of racial and ethnic communities. It will address key issues such as voting rights, immigration, civil rights and access to the courts by holding regional hearings to engage leaders and the broader community, and to inform development of ABA policy and a comprehensive report to propose action by congressional and administration policymakers.
http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/minority_report/
For Rancho High students, a real-life lesson in politics in Angle exchange
Whatever happened in Room 513, a small lecture hall in cavernous Rancho High School, it was, by any standard, one heckuva civics lesson.
The exchange Friday between Sharron Angle, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate, and about 130 largely Hispanic students in the standing-room-only room was, by turns, surprising, evasive and enraging, according to students who were there.
It was the buzz of Rancho High by Monday morning and, because of news coverage and a YouTube video over the weekend, a national bone of contention in the poisonous race between Angle and Democratic incumbent Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader.
In a meandering question-and-answer session, Angle, who has made a stance against illegal immigration a mainstay of her campaign, had been asked why her television commercials seemed to stereotype Latinos as thugs.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/oct/20/rancho-high-students-real-life-lesson-politics/
Nevada's Angle says immigrant ads not about race
LAS VEGAS -- U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle defended a series of campaign advertisements that use images of sullen, dark-skinned men and a map of Mexico to blast rival Sen. Harry Reid's immigration record.
Angle, a tea party favorite who has rallied for stricter border enforcement, played down her usual conservative rhetoric in a brief discussion with a Hispanic high school group Friday in Las Vegas. The students asked her to explain her repeated use of TV spots denounced by national pro-immigrant and Hispanic organizations as race-baiting attacks.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2010/10/16/politics-us-nevada-senate-angle_8018797.html
11 Tucson teachers sue Arizona over new 'anti-Hispanic' schools law
Tucson, Arizona (CNN) -- Eleven Tucson, Arizona, educators sued the state board of education and superintendent this week for what the teachers consider an "anti-Hispanic" ban looming on Mexican-American studies.
The suit comes in a state already roiled by a controversial immigration law that is being challenged in court.
On Tuesday, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne defended the new law, which will go into effect December 31. The law authorizes the superintendent to stop any ethnic studies classes that "promote the overthrow of the United States government ... promote resentment toward a race or class of people ... (or) advocate ethnic solidarity instead of treatment of pupils as individuals."
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/10/19/arizona.ethnic.studies.lawsuit/?hpt=T2
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Texas
Mexican American Legislative Caucus member raising eyebrows with ad
AUSTIN — “We have to crack down on illegal immigrants who break our laws, escape unpunished and take jobs away from Texans.”
Is it a campaign ad by a Republican lawmaker who favors bringing an Arizona-style immigration crackdown to Texas? By GOP Gov. Rick Perry?
Nope. It's by state Rep. Patrick Rose, a Dripping Springs Democrat who belongs to the Mexican American Legislative Caucus — and that's why it's raising some eyebrows.
When I asked the caucus chairman, Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, about it, he said the group wants to take a “measured look” at the matter. (He describes caucus membership criteria as “you either have to be brown or have a brown heart.”)
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/mexican_american_legislative_caucus_member_raising_eyebrows_with_ad_104673514.html
Houston native wrongly deported for 85 days
Nearly three months after U.S. immigration officials dumped Luis Alberto Delgado in Mexico despite his insistence that he is a U.S. citizen, the 19-year-old was permitted to re-enter the country last weekend with the U.S. government's blessing.
Delgado said U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents cleared him to return to the United States on Friday, roughly 85 days after he was detained by immigration officials and pressured to sign papers that cleared the way for his removal to Mexico.
Delgado said he gave immigration agents a copy of his birth certificate showing he was born at Houston's Ben Taub Hospital, a state of Texas identification card and a Social Security card.
Isaias Torres, a Houston immigration attorney who took Delgado's case pro bono, said he believes the U.S. government was "at best, very negligent" in its handling of the case.
U.S. immigration officials have faced scrutiny in recent years over allegations that they have deported U.S. citizens, including a high-profile case of a mentally disabled Los Angeles man who was lost for months in Mexico in 2007.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/immigration/7199653.html
Celebrating Hispanic heritage
Laughlin Air Force Base hosted a Luncheon Friday in honor of National Hispanic Heritage month.
Friday marked the end of the celebration, which began September 15.
Guest speaker Judge Alia Moses Ludlum gave her personal experience of being both a woman and Hispanic working in the Federal Judicial system.
“It was a long and at times arduous journey to become the first female district judge in the western district of Texas, since it’s inception in 1857,” she said.
http://www.delrionewsherald.com/story.lasso?ewcd=c939e23646fa5e3b
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Pennsylvania
Witness: Pa. teen threatened 'war' in beating case
SCRANTON, Pa. — One of the defendants charged with a federal hate crime in the beating death of a Mexican immigrant threatened to start a "civil war" if Hispanics in the small Pennsylvania coal town retaliated, a witness testified Tuesday.
Jesse Gomez told jurors at the trial of Derrick Donchak and Brandon Piekarsky that Donchak made the statement to him two days after the assault on Luis Ramirez, a 25-year-old illegal immigrant.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gtcSK8qaGGVDikaEFhYD_pgjOLrwD9IQAQQG0?docId=D9IQAQQG0
Shenandoah hate crime trial: Oct. 13 updates
In her closing argument, Assistant Attorney General Myesha K. Braden said Ramirez fell victim to a racist attack by young men full of hate.
"Four people attacked one person because of his race and because they didn't want people like him living in their town," she said.
The evidence showed racist language was used, that Ramirez was retreating at first and that four people joined in the beating, according to Braden.
http://republicanherald.com/news/shenandoah-hate-crime-trial-oct-13-updates-1.1048168
Jury deliberations begin in Pa. hate crime case
SCRANTON, Pa. — Two men charged with a hate crime in the fatal beating of a Mexican immigrant waited Thursday to learn their fate, more than two years after the assault angered Hispanic groups and exposed simmering ethnic tensions in a small former mining town.
Prosecutors alleged that Donchak and Piekarsky beat and kicked Ramirez because they didn't like Hispanics and wanted them out of their town. Donchak is also charged in a plot to cover up the attack and obstruct an FBI investigation.
"They showed no remorse that night ... no sense of responsibility for having beaten a man to the point of death," Justice Department prosecutor Myesha Braden told jurors Wednesday in her closing argument.
Both defendants are charged with a hate crime under the Fair Housing Act. Donchak faces two additional counts that he conspired with Shenandoah police to cover up the crime. The accused officers are scheduled to go on trial early next year.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gtcSK8qaGGVDikaEFhYD_pgjOLrwD9IRJ4QG0?docId=D9IRJ4QG0
2 Pennsylvania Men Guilty in 2008 Killing of Mexican
WASHINGTON — A federal jury found two young Pennsylvania men guilty of a hate crime on Thursday in the 2008 beating death of a Mexican immigrant. The verdict was welcomed by Hispanic organizations, which saw the trial as a national test case for the treatment of Latinos.
The men, Derrick Donchak and Brandon Piekarsky, were found guilty of violating the civil rights of Luis Ramírez, an illegal immigrant, when they and a group of football players beat him in Shenandoah, Pa., in July 2008. He died shortly after from head injuries.
The men face sentences of up to life in prison. Mr. Donchak faces up to 20 years more on an obstruction of justice charge and 5 years on a conspiracy charge. They are to be sentenced on Jan. 24.
“The verdict sends an important message that hate crimes are not to be tolerated,” said Clarissa Martinez, director of immigration at the National Council of La Raza, a Latino civil rights organization. “In this case, justice has been made.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/15/us/15scranton.html?_r=1
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USA
Amendments 5 & 6 would reshape Fla. redistricting
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Every 10 years, after the release of the U.S. Census count, lawmakers in Tallahassee battle over how Florida's legislative and congressional districts should be redrawn.
This time, the fight is happening beforehand.
Two proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution on the Nov. 2 ballot would set new standards for how the districts are sketched. Amendment 5 deals with legislative districts, while Amendment 6 addresses U.S. congressional districts. Like all state constitutional amendments, each requires a 60 percent majority to pass.
The battle has pitted several of Florida's best-known black and Hispanic lawmakers against advocates who argue the current methods create gerrymandered districts that protect political power and incumbency while producing noncompetitive races.
The black and Hispanic lawmakers argue that the new standards could threaten Florida's six congressional districts where blacks and Hispanics are either in the majority or close to being in the majority. The black or almost-black-majority seats currently are held by Reps. Corrine Brown, Alcee Hastings and Kendrick Meek, all Democrats, while the Hispanic-majority seats are held by Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, all Republicans.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/11/1867806/amendments-5-6-would-reshape-fla.html
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General Interest
The Movie That Made a Supreme Court Justice
Around the time that Justice Sonia M. Sotomayor was entering college, the man who would eventually become her husband took her to see a film by Sidney Lumet. It was “12 Angry Men,” from 1957, about a jury deliberating on the case of a young man accused of murder.
That film turned out to be a pivotal moment in the life of Justice Sotomayor, who at the time had been considering a career in law. In particular, she was inspired by a moment in the film in which one of the jurors, a naturalized American citizen, expresses reverence for the American jury system.
“It sold me that I was on the right path,” she told an audience Sunday evening at the Fordham University School of Law after a screening of the film. “This movie continued to ring the chords within me.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/18/nyregion/18sonia.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
US Latinos want ads pulled
The largest Hispanic rights group in the United States has called for candidates in the upcoming elections to stop running ads that "stereotype and denigrate" Latinos and other minorities.
"The ads coming from certain states are offensive and there must not be any room for discrimination or stereotypes in elections," said Margaret Moran, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) in a statement.
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/us-latinos-want-ads-pulled-20101020-16t4c.html
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