Comments on: U.S. Attorney’s Civil Rights Forum on Jan. 31

By: Carolyn Classen

Carolyn Classen — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:32:26 +0000

About 70 people listened to these speakers tonight informing us about the various Color of Law (wilful misconduct by federal/state/local officials) and Hate crimes reported in So. AZ, & the Shepard/Byrd act. Community members asked to be included in the So. AZ Hate Crimes Task Force, and for easier ways to report these crimes.

By: Carolyn Classen

Carolyn Classen — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:29:10 +0000

More detailed info on this forum from press release from Arizona’s US. Attorney:The forum is designed to inform the public about how they can report allegations of police misconduct, about the elements of a hate crime, and what to do if they have been a victim of a hate crime. Additionally, a portion of the forum will focus on the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which was signed by President Barack Obama in 2009. The act makes it a federal crime to willfully cause, or attempt to cause, bodily injury to another person with any dangerous weapon because of the person’s race, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin. “The Department of Justice has a duty to investigate community matters to ensure that an individual’s civil rights are not being violated by law enforcement misconduct or by an individual committing a hate crime,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Ann Birmingham Scheel. “As the Acting U.S. Attorney, I would strongly encourage those who feel their civil rights have been violated, and those who feel they have been victims of hate crimes, to have the confidence to report their situations to this office or to the FBI. The office’s Civil Rights Unit vigorously prosecutes crimes of this nature.” The Hate Crimes Prevention Act carries the names of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd because both were victims of hate crimes. Shepard was killed due to his sexual orientation in 1996. Byrd, who was targeted because he was African American, was murdered in 1998.

By: Ernie McCray

Ernie McCray — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:14:37 +0000

I would think so.

By: Carolyn Classen

Carolyn Classen — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 02:30:11 +0000

Yes Ernie, this forum is timely and should be quite informative & hopefully productive.

By: Ernie McCray

Ernie McCray — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:28:27 +0000

How timely considering that a couple of major hate crimes and civil rights abuses, in my view, have been perpetrated by the state of Arizona: 1070 and 2281 which have spurred a few instances of police misconduct.