New Florida law requires photo-lineup conductors to be unaware of suspect's identity

From [HERE] A new Florida law requires administrators of police lineups to be unaware of the suspect’s identity when quizzing eyewitnesses.

Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday signed the Eyewitness Identification Reform Act into law, which requires law enforcement to conduct so-called blind lineups in which the employee conducting the photo and in-person lineups would not know which person is the suspect.

On Oct. 1, agencies must either have a person who does not know the suspect’s identity conduct the lineup or use an alternative method that “achieves neutral administration and prevents the lineup administrator from knowing which photograph is being presented to the eyewitness,” according to the law.

Suggested alternative methods include using an automated computer program to flash photos to witnesses directly, or placing photos into randomly numbered folders hidden from the administrator’s sight.

Legislators hoped the new procedures would address concerns that witnesses could be influenced by “having an officer present who knows which person is the suspect,” according to a Florida Senate bill analysis.

Nine of the 14 DNA-based exonerations in Florida included eyewitness misidentification of crime suspects, said Seth Miller, Innocence Project of Florida’s executive director.

“It’s critical that we have uniform best practices based on scientifically proven eyewitness identification procedures,” he said. “Hopefully this will help prevent wrongful convictions.”

Click to read more ...

Supreme Court limits forfeiture in drug crimes

JURIST

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Monday in Honeycutt v. United States [SCOTUSblog materials] that forfeiture is limited to property the defendant actually obtained as a result of the crime or "tainted property." The court held that the Comprehensive Forfeiture Act of 1984 [text] limits property to the definitions within the act and rejected the government's argument that the standard should be the background principle of conspiracy liability that the conspirators be responsible for each other's...

Supreme Court affirms order finding North Carolina racial gerrymandering

JURIST 

The US Supreme Court [official website] on Monday affirmed [order list, PDF] a lower court decision striking down a North Carolina state House and Senate redistricting effort as racial gerrymandering that disproportionately impacted black voters. The court affirmed the order by summary disposition. Also Monday the court vacated [opinion, PDF] an order requiring North Carolina to hold special elections, finding that the lower court failed to perform an adequate analysis:Although this Court has never addressed whether or when a special...

Texas governor signs bill loosening voter ID laws

JURIST - Paper Chase 

Texas Governor Greg Abbott [official website] signed a law Thursday night that significantly loosens voter identification requirements. Senate Bill 5 [materials, text] is intended to salvage portions of a 2011 law that was found to be discriminatory against minority voters [JURIST report] by a federal judge in April. The bill allows voters who lack a photo ID to produce other documents [Statesmen report] showing their name and address, such as a voter registration certificate, utility bill, government check or bank...

Racist Suspect Man Indicted for Hate Crime - Murdered one Indian immigrant & wounded another.

The Atlantic

A federal grand jury has indicted Adam Purinton—the man who shot two Indian immigrants at a bar in Olathe, Kansas on February 22—for a hate crime, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday. Purinton, a 52-year-old resident of Olathe, was also accused of violating a federal firearms statute. He was previously charged with first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder, and is currently being held in the Johnson County jail on a $2 million bond. If convicted, Purinton could face the death penalty or life in prison.

On March 6, a Johnson County judge released an affidavit accusing Purinton of fatally shooting Srinivas Kuchibhotla and attempting to kill Alok Madasani, both 32-year-old engineers at a tech firm who had immigrated from India to the U.S. The two men were reportedly sitting together on the patio of Austins Bar & Grill when Purinton, wearing a white shirt and a white scarf on his head, told them to “get out of my country.” Madasani later told police that Purinton also asked if their “status was legal.” At that point, two bar patrons, including 24-year-old Ian Grillot, attempted to intervene by asking Purinton to leave. Purinton was escorted from the premises by bar employees, but returned to the patio 30 minutes later with a handgun.

Racial segregation is on the rise in American schools [kids who play together may make babies together]

Raw Story 

A federal district court judge has decided that Gardendale—a predominantly white city in the suburbs of Birmingham, Alabama—can move forward in its effort to secede from the school district that serves the larger county. The district Gardendale is leaving is 48 percent black and 44 percent white. The new district would be almost all white.

The idea that a judge could allow this is unfathomable to most, but the case demonstrates in the most stark terms that school segregation is still with us. While racial segregation in U.S. schools plummeted between the late 1960s and 1980, it has steadily increased ever since—to the the point that schools are about as segregated today as they were 50 years ago.

As a former school desegregation lawyer and now a scholar of educational inequality and law, I have both witnessed and researched an odd shift to a new kind of segregation that somehow seems socially acceptable. So long as it operates with some semblance of furthering educational quality or school choice, even a federal district court is willing to sanction it.

While proponents of the secession claim they just want the best education for their children and opponents decry the secession as old-school racism, the truth is more complex: Race, education and school quality are inextricably intertwined.

Rationalizing Gardendale’s segregation

In some respects, Gardendale is no different from many other communities.

Thirty-seven percent of our public schools are basically one-race schools—nearly all white or all minority. In New York, two out of three black students attend a school that is 90 to 100 percent minority.

In June 2017, New York City released a plan to diversify its public schools. The plan includes an advisory group that will evaluate current diversity pushes and recommend additional ones by June 2018. 

In many areas, this racial isolation has occurred gradually over time, and is often written off as the result of demographic shifts and private preferences that are beyond a school district’s control.

The Gardendale parents argued their motivations were not about race at all, but just ensuring their kids had access to good schools. The evidence pointed in the other direction: In language rarely offered by modern courts, the judge found, at the heart of the secession, “a desire to control the racial demographics of [its] public schools” by “eliminat[ing]… black students [from] Gardendale schools.”

Still, these findings were not enough to stop the secession. As in many other cases over the past two decades, the judge conceded to resegregation, speculating that if she stopped the move, innocent parties would suffer: Black students who stayed in Gardendale would be made to feel unwelcome and those legitimately seeking educational improvements would be stymied.

Simply put, the judge could not find an upside to blocking secessionists whom she herself characterized as racially motivated. [MORE]

US Muslims struggle to get approval for mosques in towns, cities

The i News

Muslims in the United States are finding it increasingly hard to get approval for the construction of new mosques as they claim rising anti-Muslim sentiments is driving local administrations in various towns and cities to unfairly deny their applications to build places of worship.

However, while Muslims are fighting legal battle for their right of worship in courts, the US Department of Justice is trying to end the discrimination against Muslims by filing law suits against towns and cities denying permissions to build mosques.

Last week, the Department of Justice announced that Bernards Township in US state of New Jersey will pay $3.25 million to settle a lawsuit over its denial of a permit to build a mosque. The department has also opened investigation into denial of a mosque in Bayonne, another city of the same state.

In its special report last year, the US Department of Justice had pointed out a sharp increase in the number of its investigations into religious discrimination involving mosques or Islamic schools over the past six years. The department opened 17 investigations involving Muslim groups under the Religious Land Useand Institutionalised Persons Act, which protects groups from discrimination in land-use decisions.

The report cites "particularly severe discrimination faced by Muslims in land use." It notes that 84 percent of investigations that don’t involve Muslim issues ended in a positive resolution without any lawsuit compared to only 20 percent of cases involving mosques and Islamic schools. 

New Jersey, with a growing Muslim population, has seen several recent discrimination cases involving mosques. In 2014, Bridgewater paid $7.5 million to settle a lawsuit after officials rejected a proposal to turn a former banquet hall into an Islamic community center. And in February, the Garden State Islamic Center alleged in a federal lawsuit that Vineland discriminated when it denied a permit for full use of the mosque, also citing unequal treatment. 

In Vineland, Bernards and Toms River, where a mosque application is also pending, boards have changed their zoning rules in ways that have made it more difficult for mosque proposals to proceed.

Adeel Abdullah Mangi, an attorney representing Muslim groups in Bernards and Bayonne lawsuits told the local newspaper NorthJersey.com about hate being spread by Anti-Muslim elements.

Anti-mosque fliers were put in children’s mailboxes at school. The church basement where they used to pray was spray-painted with slurs and curses. A “stop the mosque” Facebook page has drawn hundreds of followers and bigoted comments.

“How much uglier can it gets than that?” said Mangi. “Municipalities around the country should pay close attention to what happened in Bernards Township,” he said. “The American Muslim community has the legal resources, the allies and the determination to stand up for its constitutional rights in court and will do so.” 

Dina Sayedahmed, 22, of Bayonne told the paper that it was hard to hear hateful comments from people in the city where she grew up and attended school. "If someone tells us 'Go back to where came from' or 'We want to save the community from you guys,' that’s going to hurt," she said.

Puerto Rico Votes for Statehood

The Atlantic

Puerto Rican voters overwhelmingly supported the chance to become the 51st state in the U.S. on Sunday’s referendum vote, according to early tallies. It’s a significant gesture from the island, which is a U.S. territory, but low turnout, a boycott by opposition parties, and the likely pushback from Congress, make the decision an unlikely one.

It was the U.S. territory’s fifth referendum vote since 1967, and about 97 percent, or half a million people, voted to become a state. By Sunday evening, only about half of polling centers were finished reporting results, but given the massive margin the end tally will likely be in favor. However, as of 6 p.m. voter turnout was about 23 percent, with some 2.3 million voters in all. This will probably discredit the vote, but Puerto Rico’s Senate president, Thomas Rivera Schatz, said he would continue his push for state hoood anyway.

“Congress never freely gave away statehood,” he told the Associated Press. “U.S. states had to fight for it.”

Shaun King: I'm boycotting the NFL because of its blatant bigotry and anti-blackness

From [HERE] I love sports. Since I was a young boy, they've been one of the greatest passions of my life. For many years, my dream was to be a general manager of a professional sports team. I still think about it actually and sometimes allow my mind to drift to what my life would look like if I still went that route. The stance I am taking today did not come easily. It's heartbreaking, actually.

I'm an NFL fan. I watch the draft. I pay extra for the season pass on television so I can watch every single game. I follow the stats and standings and rankings religiously. It's an escape for me. Day in and day out, as I fight against injustice, watching a great game allows me to decompress from the stress of the cases I'm working on or writing about. I'm 37 years old and literally cannot remember a year in my life where I have not been a sports junkie.

But I won't be watching the NFL this year. I can't, in good conscience, support this league, with many of its pro-Trump owners, as it blacklists my friend and brother Colin Kaepernick for taking a silent, peaceful stance against injustice and police brutality in America. It's disgusting and has absolutely nothing to do with football and everything to do with penalizing a brilliant young man for the principled stance he took last season.

I did not want to make this decision, but it became inevitable when the Seattle Seahawks, after flying Kaepernick across country to meet with the team, instead decided to sign Austin Davis as their backup quarterback. It's a disgrace. I sincerely want to apologize for how hard I am about to go against Austin Davis, because it's great that he got the job, but the man is a scrub.

In 2012 he wasn't even drafted. He signed a free agent deal with the Rams that year and was later cut without playing a single snap. Colin Kaepernick took the 49ers to the Super Bowl that season and had some of the best stats of any quarterback in the playoffs. His 98.3 QB rating for the season was right behind that of Tom Brady.

In 2013, the Dolphins signed Austin Davis to the practice squad, but cut him one week later. In Kaepernick's opening game that season for the 49ers, he threw for 412 yards with three touchdowns — the most passing yards in a single game for a 49ers quarterback in a decade. Again, Kaepernick took his team deep into the playoffs and was only a pass away from being back in the Super Bowl. That year, Kaepernick had 21 passing touchdowns with just 8 interceptions and again had a stellar 91.6 QB rating and the team had a 12-4 record. The 49ers responded by making Kaepernick one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the league.

In 2014, Austin Davis finally got his first NFL playing time for the St. Louis Rams, but despite some success, he was back on the bench by the end of the season. The following year, Davis served as a backup for the Cleveland Browns and got some playing time but was later benched in favor of Johnny Manziel and cut by the team in August. The Broncos signed Davis to a one-year deal, but cut him near the end of the 2016 season.

Last year, while Davis didn't play a single snap of a regular season game, Colin Kaepernick — playing under his third head coach in three years — threw 16 touchdowns with just 4 interceptions. Facing national scrutiny, Colin Kaepernick played well on the field, with his best QB rating in years and more rushing yards per attempt than any year of his career. His teammates voted to give him the highest honor the team has for a player for his stellar performance on and off the field. [MORE]

Barry Scheck and Yusef Salaam Urge New York Lawmakers to Pass Recorded Interrogations Legislation

Innocence Project

Innocence Project Co-Founder Barry Scheck and Yusef Salaam of the Central Park Five sat down with PIX11 News on Tuesday to discuss proposed reforms which intend to prevent wrongful convictions in New York.

The budget, which is currently before the state legislature, includes provisions which would require police to video record all custodial interrogations of suspects in major crimes and eyewitness identification best practices.

Salaam was wrongfully convicted of the notorious 1989 Central Park jogger rape case, along with Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Korey Wise and Antron McCray after his codefendants falsely confessed to the crime after hours of interrogation by police. Their confessions were recorded, but the many hours of coercive interrogation that led up to the confession were not.

“When officers get in the room with suspects, we want to show juries everything that happens,” Salaam told PIX11 News.

In 2015, a bill with these provisions passed the state senate but not the assembly. The budget proposal is backed by Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Scheck urged lawmakers to finally pass the legislation.

“That will greatly reduce wrongful convictions at the front end,” Scheck told PIX11 News. “There’s no reason why New York shouldn’t lead the way.”

Watch the PIX11 News broadcast here.

Learn how you can voice your support for wrongful conviction reforms in New York here.

Study Reveals How Aparthied Is Hurting Chicago

Here & Now

The Chicago region is one of the most segregated in the country, both racially and economically, and according to a new study from the Chicago-based Metropolitan Planning Council and the D.C.-based Urban Institute, that's hurting the city.

The study finds that if the region were to address its segregation problem, it could reduce the murder rate, raise salaries for black residents and dramatically improve the economy. Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson talks with one of the study's co-authors, Marisa Novara (@marisa_novara), vice president at the Metropolitan Planning Council.

Blue Pill- The Secret Power of Meditation, Changing Your Frequency, and Positive Thoughts

Black prosecutor: “[Florida Gov.] Scott said he was only interested in my recusal and refused to have a detailed conversation.”

TheIntercept

THE TOP PROSECUTOR in Orlando, Florida, took to a podium outside the Orange County courthouse last week to outline a new policy: Her office would no longer seek the death penalty in any capital case.

The prosecutor, State Attorney Aramis Ayala, told assembled reporters that seeking the death penalty is “not in the best interests of this community or in the interest of justice.” After considerable research, she said, she had concluded that capital punishment offers no empirical benefits to society: It is not a deterrent, it neither enhances public safety nor protects law enforcement officers from violence, and it costs millions more — in litigation and housing — to kill a defendant than it does to confine them behind bars for life.

And in Florida in particular, she said, the death penalty system has been the “cause of considerable legal chaos, uncertainty, and turmoil.”

Indeed, the U.S. Supreme Court last year found the state’s capital sentencing scheme unconstitutional. Florida’s highest court subsequently concluded that more than 200 of the 381 inmates on death row in the state could be eligible for new sentencing hearings as a result of the Supreme Court ruling.

Even with the system in such disarray, Ayala’s decision to stop seeking the death penalty was bound to be controversial. But the announcement has kicked off a firestorm — especially due to its impact on a high-profile murder case, in which a man named Markeith Loyd is accused of killing his pregnant ex-girlfriend and, perhaps more politically potent, an Orlando police officer.

The controversy sets Ayala, the first black elected state attorney in Florida, who campaigned last year on a promise to reduce racial disparities in the criminal justice system, against Florida’s Republican Gov. Rick Scott, and the knee-jerk “tough-on-crime” politics still prominent in the state.

Millions of Muslims take part in mass pilgrimage of Arbaeen – in spite of Isis

Independent.Uk

Millions of Shia Muslims have taken part in one of the biggest marches in the world, as they travel through Iraq in celebration of a famous Muslim martyr.

The marchers made their way to the city of Karbala, 62 miles south west of Baghdad, on Sunday and Monday for the holy day of Arbaeen, which marks the end of a 40-day mourning period following Ashura, the religious ritual that commemorates the death of the Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hussein in 680 AD. 

Large crowds visit the shrines of Imam Hussein and his half-brother Abbas in Karbala, where they were killed in a revolt against the Umayyad ruler Yazeed in the 7th century AD when they refused to pledge allegiance to Yazeed's Umayyad caliphate. 

Nusayyef al-Khattabi, who heads the Karbala provincial council, said he expected the total number of visitors over several days to range “between 17 million and 20 million”. Among them are an estimated three million foreigners, the majority Iranians who started crossing the border days ago. 

Many choose to make the journey on foot, despite travelling near Isis-controlled areas in the country and the extremist group having made frequent deadly attacks on the pilgrimage. [MORE]

White House refuses to condemn murder of black man by white supremacist

WashPost

James Harris Jackson, a 28-year-old white supremacist from Baltimore, traveled to New York City and brutally murdered Timothy Caughman, a 66-year-old black man, with a sword.

On Monday, April Ryan, Washington bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks, asked Press Secretary Sean Spicer if the White House had anything to say about this hate crime.

Spicer repeatedly refused to saying anything specific about the murder, stating that he was “not going to reference any particular case before the DOJ right now.” He later added the he didn’t “know all the details.”

One detail is that Jackson reportedly told authorities that he killed Caughman for the “rush.” Jackson, who has taken responsibility for the murder, traveled to New York “to kill as many black men as he could.” He also expressed regret that he didn’t kill a “young thug.”

Instead of addressing the murder, Spicer went on a number of bizarre tangents. He told Ryan that there has been “a rush to judgment in a lot of other cases,” specifically anti-semitic attacks, where people have demanded Trump condemn the violence. Later, Spicer said, people have learned that the attacks were not perpetrated by “people on the right.”

Of course, Ryan wasn’t asking the White House to comment because Jackson was a member of the “right” but because he stands accused of a vicious racially-motivated murder.

Spicer also noted, somewhat inexplicably, that Trump had discussed “crime and education” with members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Trump has a history of reticence to condemn hate crimes and hate groups. At a press conference in February, Trump was asked about the rise in anti-semitic attacks in the United States and responded with an analysis of the electoral college. [MORE]