Latino

May 14 2013

Woman tells 911 she witnessed police beat man to death

EAST BAKERSFIELD, CALIF. — The 911 call is accusatory. The woman flatly tells the dispatcher she just witnessed several police officers in East Bakersfield, California, beat a man to death.

The woman — identified by the local newspaper as Salina Quair, 34 — happened upon the scene as she left Kern Medical Center, where the father of four would later die.

Feb 25 2013

Black family in Glassell Park

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A 19-year-old Latino man was sentenced today to 25 years and four months in state prison for threatening a Black family in Glassell Park with a shotgun while shouting racial epithets.

Ivan Alquicira was convicted of three counts of assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of making terrorist threats, with enhancements for hate crimes, gang involvement and firearms possession.

Feb 1 2013

A battle of neighboring cities

Lancaster mayor R. Rex Parris, an attorney, and the Malibu law firm Shenkman & Hughes have joined together in a suit against the city of Palmdale under the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA). The case, filed on behalf of plaintiff Juan Jauregui, seeks to end Palmdale’s at-large system of electing city council members in favor of geographic council districts.

Mar 27 2012

Black, Latino radio audiences ‘dramatically’ undercounted

SAN FRANCISCO—California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced a settlement with Arbitron Inc., the nation’s dominant provider of radio audience ratings, over allegations that the method it used to collect ratings information discriminated against radio stations with predominantly African American and Latino audiences. The settlement is the result of a consumer protection lawsuit filed jointly by the state of California and the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Oct 14 2011

Racial profiling and unlawful search and seizure

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Claims of racial profiling and unlawful search and seizure are outlined in a federal lawsuit filed against Glendale and Los Angeles officials for what a civil rights group describes as a “roundup” of Latino high school students who were questioned during their lunch period.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.