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Balancing Security And Access In The Nation\u27s Capital: Managing Federal Security-Related Street Closures And Traffic Restrictions In The District Of Columbia
No full textThis report was prepared in December 2003 in order to stimulate a dialogue on the role the District of Columbia government should play with the federal government in attempting to achieve an appropriate balance between physical security and open access to public space when deciding on traffic restrictions around or near federal buildings or federal sites in the District of Columbia. A summary of this report was presented at the UDC/DCSL Law Review November 2003 symposium In the Aftermath of September 11: Defending Civil liberties in the Nation\u27s Capital. Since this report was prepared there has been an ebb and flow of traffic restrictions imposed and rescinded at various times in line with varying security concerns, usually with little prior consultation with the District government. This report is presented here largely as it was written in December 2003, without attempting to update it to reflect subsequent developments. While the details of the restrictions may change from day to day, the basic concerns outlined in the report and the recommendations for improving coordination between the federal and District governments are still relevant today
How Racial Profiling And Other Unnecessary Post-9/11 Anti-Immigrant Measures Have Exacerbated Long-Standing Discrimination Against Latino Citizens And Immigrants
No full textLatinos are uniting with other immigrant communities and people of color in being extremely concerned about unnecessary post-9/11 actions that have led to civil liberties and civil rights violations.1 Although the Latino voting power has presumably increased, infringements of Latinos\u27 and Latinas\u27 civil rights appear to be on the rise. This is because many of the measures taken in the name of fighting terrorism have not been effective at finding terrorists, but have resulted in civil liberties and civil rights violations. Lessening of civil liberties and due process protections disproportionately affects Latino communities, who are less likely to have access to counsel and other legal and economic safeguards that other Americans enjoy.2 Furthermore, Latino communities are about forty percent immigrant, and it is immigrants who are being wrongfully targeted since 9/11. 3 The wrongful targeting of immigrants and people of color who may look like immigrants has led to serious infringements of Latino civil rights since 9/11. This article and the author\u27s November 2003 Senate Judiciary Committee testimony document and analyze some of the most egregious infringements of Latino immigrants\u27 rights in the post-9/11 climate
Wrongful Convictions: It Is Time To Take Prosecution Discipline Seriously
No full textRon Williamson, who came within five days of execution, and Dennis Fritz, who served twelve years of a life sentence, were released from prison in 1999. They were innocent men, wrongfully convicted of the rape and murder of Debra Carter. Arrested five years after her murder and tried separately, the cases against them rested on testimony of a jailhouse informant, a jail trainee, and unreliable hair evidence. Fortunately, there was DNA evidence in the case, and scientific testing exonerated Fritz and Williamson. The evidence instead implicated Glen Gore, the person who should have been the prime suspect. Many of these facts came to light only when Fritz and Williamson filed a civil rights actionlafter Williamson\u27s conviction for murder was overturned (primarily on grounds of ineffective assistance of counsel)