In Advance Of Holiday Weekend, ACLU of Arizona Offers “Bust Card,” Urges Racial Profiling Victims to Report Abuses

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, June 30, 2010

CONTACT: Jon O’Neill at 602-773-6007, joneill@acluaz.org

PHOENIX – Amid growing concern that people are being targeted by law enforcement even before Arizona’s new racial profiling law takes effect, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona today issued an updated “Know Your Rights” bust card that spells out the rights and responsibilities of citizens and non-citizens when they are stopped by police.

The bust card is being issued in conjunction with “Travel Alerts” posted today by other ACLU affiliates that warn travelers their civil rights could be violated while passing through or staying in Arizona. Racial profiling victims are also being urged to contact the ACLU of Arizona with any complaints they may have.

The unconstitutional law – known as SB 1070 – is not scheduled to go into effect until July 29, but the ACLU of Arizona has already received complaints from people who believe they were profiled by law enforcement because they look “foreign.” Since April, the ACLU of Arizona has received a steady increase in reports involving individuals who were asked to confirm their identity or citizenship status.

SB 1070 requires law enforcement agents to demand “papers” from people they stop who they suspect are “unlawfully present” in the United States. If individuals are unable to prove to officers that they have permission to be here, they may be detained indefinitely without probable cause to believe they have committed a crime.

“In Arizona, SB 1070 has caused relations between community members and police to go from bad to worse,” said ACLU of Arizona Executive Director Alessandra Soler Meetze. “Two of the largest police departments in the state – DPS and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office – have had to defend against accusations of racial profiling in Court. On top of that, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for suspected civil rights violations.”

The ACLU and other organizations filed a lawsuit challenging the Arizona immigration law in May, but until the law is struck down, the ACLU warns that individuals should be aware of their rights if stopped by police, especially while they are traveling on busy highways during the July 4th weekend.

The case challenging SB 1070 is the third ACLU lawsuit against government officials in Arizona on behalf of a besieged minority community. In August 2009, the organization filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Latino citizen and lawful resident who were forcibly transported by MCSO deputies to the site of a worksite raid. In addition, the group’s lawsuit challenging unlawful stops of Latino drivers and passengers by MCSO is moving forward following the discovery of thousands of documents MCSO had previously failed to disclose. The parties are scheduled to go back to court July 16.

“Our goal is to protect Arizona residents from misconduct by law enforcement, and to make sure they know their rights should they be subject to it,” added Meetze. “Unfortunately, we’re already hearing stories about individuals being harassed by police based on their accent, appearance, or where they come from. It is important for people to understand that they have the right to politely decline additional questioning, to refuse a consent search, and to ask to speak to an attorney. These rights are not just reserved to citizens of this country but are available to everyone.”

The downloadable ACLU “bust card” contains information on coping with vehicle stops and questioning by police, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and the FBI. In addition, the ACLU has made available a Q&A flier in both English and Spanish. The organization is urging individuals who have experienced racial profiling by police to complete a new online complaint form at: http://www.acluaz.org/intake/html/ or call 602-650-1854.

To view the “bust card” on your mobile device, go to:

English: http://mobile.aclu.org

Spanish: http://mobile.aclu.org/espanol

More information about the Arizona law, including an ACLU video and slide show, can be found at: www.acluaz.org.

To read the ACLU of Arizona’s report documenting the on-going problem of racial profiling by the Arizona Department of Public Safety, visit: http://www.acluaz.org/DrivingWhileBlackorBrown.pdf

Alessandra Soler Meetze

Executive Director

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Arizona

P.O. Box 17148

Phoenix, AZ 85011-0148

Phone: 602-773-6006 (direct) or 602-650-1854 (general)

Fax: 602-650-1376

Visit us on-line at: www.acluaz.org

En Español: http://www.acluaz.org/en_espanol_main.html

Arizona’s Citizens Clean Elections Commission (CCEC) has announced the legislative debate schedule for their qualified candidates. Log onto www.azcleanelections.gov for updated info, but here’s the preliminary schedule for contested State House legislative districts in the Tucson area (for the August 24 primary):

C indicates “Clean” candidate, T indicates Traditionally funded candidate (per CCEC website)

July 07, 2010
Candidate Debate
LD 26 Republican Candidates House of Representatives
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Pima Community College Northwest Campus
7600 N Shannon Road
Tucson, AZ
(Wade McLean- C, Terri Lynn Proud – T, Rep. Vic Williams – T)

July 08, 2010
Candidate Debate
LD 27 Democrat Candidates House of Representatives
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Pima Community College District Office
Community Board Room
4905 E Broadway
Tucson, AZ
(John Martin Bernal – C, Eric Bustamante- C, Dustin Cox- T, Bob Gilby – C,
Sally Ann Gonzales – C, Sami Hamed – C, John Kromko – C, Dr. Macario Saldate – C)

July 13, 2010
Candidate Debate
LD 28 Democrat Candidates House of Representatives
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Pima Community College District Office
Community Board Room
4905 E Broadway
Tucson, AZ
(Rep. Steve Farley – T, Ted Prezelski – C, Mohur Sidhwa – C, Tim Sultan – C,
Bruce Wheeler – C)

July 20, 2010
Candidate Debate
LD 30 Republican Candidates House of Representatives
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Pima Community College East Campus
8181 E Irvington Road
Tucson, AZ
(Brian Abbott – C, Rep. David Gowan – C, Kurt Knurr – C, Parralee Schneider – C,
Doug Sposito – T, Rep.Ted Vogt – T).

Not all legislative candidates in these races are running “clean” so refer to their website for further information (link is “2010 Candidate Listings with Funding Amounts”). 133 candidates are participating “clean” out of the total of 267 statewide candidates running.

“Participating candidates are required to attend the event and traditional candidates are encouraged to attend” per CCEC. Two will be elected from each Legislative District for the
Arizona House of Representatives.

For further info, email them at ccec@azcleanelections.gov, or call 602-364-3477, toll free (from 928 and 520 area codes) 1-877-631-8891.

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If you don’t have the time to fly over to Puerto Rico, stay here and taste authentic Puerto Rican food at El Coqui restaurant, 5443 E. 22nd Street (just west of Craycroft). The restaurant is named after the coqui frog, beloved in Puerto Rico. Photos and metal/wood mementos of the small frog are displayed in the restaurant.

Some friends who have visited Puerto Rico invited me to dinner and we were all surprised at how delicious the food was. We tried the Ensalada de la Casa (house salad) with marinated grilled shrimp, the Pechuga del Pollo (grilled chicken breast), and Templeque coconut pudding. The latter was very similar to our haupia coconut dessert back home in Hawaii. But the other two dishes were uniquely Caribbean and not like Polynesian cuisine at all.

El Coqui opened a few months ago and is a family style restaurant, with live music on the weekends. Next time I’m aiming to try the tilapia or salmon on the menu and their Fried Stuffed Plantains (like bananas I think). They even serve exotic guanabana (sour sop) and tamarindo drinks.

The restaurant is open Tuesday to Saturday, 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday 11 to 9 p.m. Closed Monday. Phone # is 520-790-5357.

Viva el coqui?

Note: The coqui frog has invaded the east side of the Big Island of Hawaii where I am from, and is causing a community wide effort to slow their spread to the westside of the island. Having no natural enemy, these tiny frogs have been multiplying rapidly and are considered an invasive species. Though beloved in their native Puerto Rico, Hawaiians are attempting chemical eradication (and other methods) with little success. In the long run, the loud chirping at night (dusk to about 3 a.m.) may have to be tolerated and accepted.

coqui frog, beloved or a threat?

I hear them increasing in numbers every time I go home for a visit and believe me, they are LOUD. Sometimes you can’t hear the speaker at a meeting if there are coqui frogs outside the building (decibel readings have been measured at 80 to 90). According to the Hawaii Dept. of Agriculture website, the problem is that “In some areas, populations may exceed 10,000 frogs per acre, which consume more than 50,000 insects per night. As such, coqui may endanger native Hawaiian insect populations, including plant pollinators, and compete with Hawaii’s native birds.”

As far as I know, the coqui frog has not spread to any of the other Hawaiian islands as yet.

Viva el coqui, but not in Hawaii.