WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2018
AN AMERICAN PRINT MEDIA PUBLICATION
CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS WANT ALABAMA’S NEWEST SENATOR TO HIRE MINORITIES
ERICA GARNER REMEMBERED
FOR HER RELENTLESS CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE
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By Stacy M. Brown Erica Garner, who became an activist for all who were wronged by the American justice system, died on Saturday, December 30. She was 27.
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Twitter account associated with Erica Garner spoke of her compassion for humanity. CNN reported that her family is controlling the account. “When you report this you remember she was human: mother, daughter, sister, aunt,” Garner’s account tweeted. “Her heart was bigger than the world. It really, really was. She cared when most people wouldn’t have. She was good. She only pursued right, no matter what. No one gave her justice.”
Investigating your police department’s handling of Hate Crime reports By Ken Schwencke Courtesy ProPublica As part of our Documenting Hate project, we posted a story detailing how and why law enforcement a g e n c i e s mishandle hate crime data, Make a public records which they’re request to your local asked to report annually to law enforcement the Federal agency for records Bureau of of bias-motivated Investigations. crimes reported to or investigated the We’re opening agency. up the records we collected for that story so journalists can assess how their local law enforcement agencies n Hate Crime, see page 2
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By Lauren Victoria Burke Black voters propelled Doug Jones’ to a historic victory in Alabama’s special election for Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ vacant Senate seat. Now, civil rights groups are calling on the Senator-elect to hire Blacks and other minorities to high-level positions in his Washington, D.C. office. In a letter to Jones, the groups recommended that the Senator-elect interview at least one person of color for every senior position in his office; commit to hiring As a new member of the diverse candidates; U.S. Senate … ensuring and hire at least one racial diversity among person of color as his [Sen.-elect Doug Jones’] legislative director, staff would enhance the chief of staff or his deliberation, innovation, c o m m u n i c a t i o n s legitimacy, and outcomes director. Seventeen groups of [the] office and of the signed the letter Senate as a whole. including the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies; the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; the National Action Network; the NAACP; and the National Urban League. “As a new member of the U.S. Senate, you have an opportunity to show your constituents that not only do their voices matter, but that their experiences and skills are vital to the work that you do to represent them,” n Civil Rights, see page 3
Garner famously and fiercely sought justice for her father, Eric Garner, who died from a police chokehold in Staten Island, New York on July 17, 2014. She led marches and demonstrations in New York City and other places, and even appeared on national television imploring the Department of Justice to review the circumstances that led up to her father’s death.
Erica Garner’s mother, Esaw Snipes, said, “She was a fighter, she was a warrior and she lost the battle. She never recovered from when her father died,” according to CNN. Snipes said that Garner suffered from the effects of an enlarged heart after giving birth to her son three months ago, CNN reported. n Garner, see page 3
Trump DOJ pushes for citizenship question on census, alarming experts By Justin Elliott The Justice Department is pushing for a question on citizenship to be added to the 2020 census, a move that observers say could depress participation by immigrants who fear that the government could use the information against them. That, in turn, could have potentially large ripple effects for everything the once-adecade census determines — from how congressional seats are distributed around the country to where hundreds of billions of federal dollars are spent. The DOJ made the request in a previously unreported letter, dated Dec. 12 and obtained by ProPublica, from DOJ official Arthur Gary to the top official at the Census Bureau, which is part of the Commerce Department. The letter argues that the DOJ needs better citizenship data
to better enforce the Voting Rights Act “and its important protections against racial discrimination in voting.” A Census Bureau spokesperson confirmed the agency received the letter and
said the “request will go through the well-established process that any potential question would go through.” The DOJ declined to comment and the White House did not respond to a request for comment.
New Federal pot rule sparks latest clash over states’ rights By Sudhin Thanawala The decision by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to rescind an Obama-era policy on federal marijuana enforcement sparked an outcry from Republicans and Democrats. They argue that Sessions is trampling on the rights of states that have decided to
legalize pot for medical or recreational use, or both. Pot remains illegal under federal law, and Sessions’ new direction lets federal prosecutors in states where marijuana is legal decide how aggressively to enforce that n Sessions, see page 7
Observers said they feared adding a citizenship question would not only lower response rates, but also make the census more expensive and throw a wrench into the system with just n DOJ, see page 2
MLK’S UNHERALDED VICTORIES RECORDED IN THE BL ACK ge 10 PRESS n See pa