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  1. #1
    Senior Member florgal's Avatar
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    DOJ: Alamance Co. NC Sheriff altered procedures to target latinos

    DOJ: Alamance sheriff altered procedures to target Latinos

    Posted: Tuesday, July 1, 2014 10:00 am
    McClatchy Regional News
    GRAHAM — The U.S. Justice Department alleges in its latest filing with a federal court in its lawsuit against Sheriff Terry Johnson that the Sheriff’s Office changed its booking procedures in order to facilitate its targeting of Latinos shortly after entering into a 287(g) memorandum of agreement in 2007.
    On Friday, the DOJ and attorney Chuck Kitchen, representing Johnson, filed their proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law in the lawsuit.
    “Prior to 2007, individuals arrested on misdemeanors were permitted to gain release on bond prior to booking into the jail,” the DOJ wrote. “However, ACSO changed its procedures so that every person arrested and brought to jail, including those arrested for minor offenses, had to be fully booked into the facility, allowing an opportunity for an inquiry into the immigration status of Latino arrestees. A magistrate working at the jail explained that this change resulted in ACSO booking significantly more Latino individuals for minor offenses. These new procedures were neither mandated nor suggested within the 287(g) MOA.”
    The jail no longer houses 287(g) inmates after the Department of Homeland Security terminated the program with the county in September 2012. The termination was a result of the Justice Department’s report stemming from a two-year investigation into claims of discrimination against Latinos committed by Johnson and his department. Johnson has denied the accusations.
    The program trained and authorized local law enforcement and jailers as federal Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers for the purpose of deporting people in the country illegally.
    Kitchen’s proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law in the lawsuit stated the termination of the 287(g) program eliminated the Sheriff’s Office’s ability to investigate potential immigration violations by individuals detained in the county jail.
    The DOJ’s latest filing with the court also argues, “The Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection of the laws and the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures are fundamental constitutional rights that safeguard individuals from unjustified treatment by the police. The Alamance County Sheriff’s Office routinely violates these core protections by unlawfully targeting Latinos in its law enforcement operations. This unconstitutional conduct erodes trust in law enforcement, discourages residents from reporting crimes, and inhibits effective policing.”
    “Sheriff Johnson has consistently and explicitly instructed officers to apply different standards to Latinos than non-Latinos in their law enforcement operations,” the DOJ stated. “By issuing these directives to specifically target Latinos, Sheriff Johnson has expressly classified residents of Alamance County on the basis of their ethnic identity.”
    Kitchen stated in his filing that “the burden of proof is on the Plaintiff to establish that there is unequal treatment of Latinos by the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office, and that the treatment is the result of intentional or purposeful discrimination.”
    “The Plaintiff has failed to carry its burden that Latinos are given unequal treatment by the Defendant or that unequal treatment is repeated, routine, or of a generalized nature,” Kitchen stated.
    Kitchen filed a motion Sunday requesting a federal judge to exclude testimony by undisclosed witnesses in the DOJ lawsuit against Johnson, who is accused of illegally targeting Latino drivers.
    Kitchen stated in his motion, “The Plaintiff’s Witness List lists Blanca Nienhaus, Erik Meijia and Roberto Cesar Garcia-Rico as potential witnesses. None of these three witnesses have previously been disclosed.”
    “Failure to identify witnesses or provide required information normally results in the exclusion of the testimony of the witness unless the non-disclosure is substantially justified or is harmless,” Kitchen stated.
    Kitchen’s motion stated, “The Plaintiff has not furnished contact information for two of the witnesses, Blanca Nienhaus and Erik Meijia. Without contact information, the Defendant may not be able to locate the witnesses if the Court were to order depositions to be taken.”
    “If the witnesses are allowed to testify, the Defendant may not have designated the correct individuals to rebut any allegations they may make,” Kitchen stated. “The Defendant would then have to request the Court to allow it to bring in those witnesses, which could delay the proceedings.”
    The two parties failed to reconcile during a mediation conference June 17 in Durham, after a hearing June 13 in Winston-Salem. The trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 4.
    In June 2010, the DOJ first notified Alamance County and Johnson of an investigation into allegations of discriminatory policing and unconstitutional searches and seizures. On Sept. 18, 2012, the department issued a formal findings letter detailing ACSO’s alleged discriminatory policing practices against Latinos.
    The DOJ invited the Sheriff’s Office in 2012 to negotiate a court-enforceable agreement to remedy the alleged violations. The Sheriff’s Office declined the offer, which led to the DOJ’s decision to sue Johnson in December 2012.


    http://www.news-record.com/news/arti...7a43b2370.html

  2. #2
    Super Moderator Newmexican's Avatar
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    The numbers game. Latinos aren't native to NC and since there are so many illegals in NC that are Latino, it only stands to reason that the arrest for immigration violations would be higher for that group. Latino it is not a race, it is a mixed race ethnicity so to me, the DOJ is in actuality protecting a leftist political group of common ethnicity,
    Last edited by Newmexican; 07-01-2014 at 04:28 PM.

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