Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Judge Defends Homeless Woman’s Right to Sit on Fifth Avenue

 

Police repeatedly hassled Sojourner Hardeman for sitting quietly in front of a shuttered store on Fifth Avenue, so she's taking them to court. Homeless since last September, Hardeman was arrested in March and detained, but released without charges and has been issued disorderly conduct summonses despite her lawyer's claims that "passive panhandling" is "clearly constitutionally protected." A judge has already ordered that cops leave her alone unless they have probable cause, but her lawsuit has not yet been settled.

According to Ms. Hardeman's complaint, officers approached her four times in July and ordered her to leave the spot in front of the empty storefront, at one point, saying: "You can't be here. This is Fifth Avenue."

Nothing says privilege and elegance in 2011 like boarded-up windows.

After Panhandler Says Police Harassed Her, a Judge Tells Them to Stop [NYT]

Read more posts by Joe Coscarelli

Filed Under: nypd, fifth avenue, lawsuits

Judge Defends Homeless Woman’s Right to Sit on Fifth Avenue
Joe Coscarelli
Tue, 30 Aug 2011 19:33:00 GMT

Saturday, August 27, 2011

A Poll Tax by Another Name

A Poll Tax by Another Name

Correction Appended


Washington

AS we celebrate the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, we reflect on the life and legacy of this great man. But recent legislation on voting reminds us that there is still work to do. Since January, a majority of state legislatures have passed or considered election-law changes that, taken together, constitute the most concerted effort to restrict the right to vote since before the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Growing up as the son of an Alabama sharecropper, I experienced Jim Crow firsthand. It was enforced by the slander of “separate but equal,” willful blindness to acts of racially motivated violence and the threat of economic retaliation. The pernicious effect of those strategies was to institutionalize second-class citizenship and restrict political participation to the majority alone.

We have come a long way since the 1960s. When the Voting Rights Act was passed, there were only 300 elected African-American officials in the United States; today there are more than 9,000, including 43 members of Congress. The 1993 National Voter Registration Act — also known as the Motor Voter Act — made it easier to register to vote, while the 2002 Help America Vote Act responded to the irregularities of the 2000 presidential race with improved election standards.

Despite decades of progress, this year’s Republican-backed wave of voting restrictions has demonstrated that the fundamental right to vote is still subject to partisan manipulation. The most common new requirement, that citizens obtain and display unexpired government-issued photo identification before entering the voting booth, was advanced in 35 states and passed by Republican legislatures in Alabama, Minnesota, Missouri and nine other states — despite the fact that as many as 25 percent of African-Americans lack acceptable identification.

Having fought for voting rights as a student, I am especially troubled that these laws disproportionately affect young voters. Students at state universities in Wisconsin cannot vote using their current IDs (because the new law requires the cards to have signatures, which those do not). South Carolina prohibits the use of student IDs altogether. Texas also rejects student IDs, but allows voting by those who have a license to carry a concealed handgun. These schemes are clearly crafted to affect not just how we vote, but who votes.

Conservative proponents have argued for photo ID mandates by claiming that widespread voter impersonation exists in America, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. While defending its photo ID law before the Supreme Court, Indiana was unable to cite a single instance of actual voter impersonation at any point in its history. Likewise, in Kansas, there were far more reports of U.F.O. sightings than allegations of voter fraud in the past decade. These theories of systematic fraud are really unfounded fears being exploited to threaten the franchise.

In Georgia, Florida, Ohio and other states, legislatures have significantly reduced opportunities to cast ballots before Election Day — an option that was disproportionately used by African-American voters in 2008. In this case the justification is often fiscal: Republicans in North Carolina attempted to eliminate early voting, claiming it would save money. Fortunately, the effort failed after the State Election Board demonstrated that cuts to early voting would actually be more expensive because new election precincts and additional voting machines would be required to handle the surge of voters on Election Day.

Voters in other states weren’t so lucky. Florida has cut its early voting period by half, from 96 mandated hours over 14 days to a minimum of 48 hours over just eight days, and has severely restricted voter registration drives, prompting the venerable League of Women Voters to cease registering voters in the state altogether. Again, this affects very specific types of voters: according to the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice, African-Americans and Latinos were more than twice as likely as white voters to register through a voter registration drive.

These restrictions purportedly apply to all citizens equally. In reality, we know that they will disproportionately burden African Americans and other racial minorities, yet again. They are poll taxes by another name.

The King Memorial reminds us that out of a mountain of despair we may hew a stone of hope. Forty-eight years after the March on Washington, we must continue our work with hope that all citizens will have an unfettered right to vote. Second-class citizenship is not citizenship at all.

We’ve come some distance and have made great progress, but Dr. King’s dream has not been realized in full. New restraints on the right to vote do not merely slow us down. They turn us backward, setting us in the wrong direction on a course where we have already traveled too far and sacrificed too much.

John Lewis, a Democrat, is a congressman from Georgia.

Correction: August 27, 2011

An earlier version of this article misstated a quotation engraved on the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington. The quotation is "out of a mountain of despair we may hew a stone of hope," not "out of a mountain of stone."


Friday, August 26, 2011

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. memorial

Philip Scott Andrews/The New York Times

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. memorial will officially be dedicated on Sunday. More Photos »

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Harlem's "Runner Lady" In Great Shape At 87

Harlem's "Runner Lady" In Great Shape At 87

A Harlem woman is celebrated by friends and her community for staying in great shape and running three miles a day despite being a month away from her 88th birthday and undergoing dialysis treatment.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

DISTRICT ATTORNEY VANCE, SPEAKER QUINN, COUNCIL MEMBERS DICKENS AND JACKSON, AND BROTHERHOOD/SISTER SOL ANNOUNCE SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM FOR CENTRAL HARLEM YOUTH

Cyrus R. Vance, Jr.

District Attorney, New York County

For Immediate Release

August 10, 2011

DISTRICT ATTORNEY VANCE, SPEAKER QUINN, COUNCIL MEMBERS DICKENS AND JACKSON, AND BROTHERHOOD/SISTER SOL ANNOUNCE SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM FOR CENTRAL HARLEM YOUTH

Pilot Program Exposes Students to Educational and Workforce Possibilities, and Cultural Experiences

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., City Council Speaker Christine M. Quinn, Council Member Robert Jackson, Council Member Inez E. Dickens, and Khary Lazarre-White, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Brotherhood/Sister Sol, joined nearly 40 students on the steps of City Hall today to announce the launch of a new summer internship program. Based at The City College of New York, the six-week program kicked off in late July. The participating students, who are between the ages of 12 and 16, attend educational workshops and tours at some of New York’s leading cultural institutions and businesses.

“This program was born out of a desire to engage youth this summer, and provide them with unique educational and cultural opportunities,” said District Attorney Vance. “Learning doesn’t stop when school is out, and thanks to the generosity of the City Council, these 40 teens and pre-teens are being exposed to some of the best that New York has to offer through a multitude of workshops and educational field trips.”

Council Speaker Quinn said: “Today's announcement could mean the start of something very big for the young people participating in this program. At the completion of this internship, students will have had the opportunity to experience a world of cultural and educational institutions while also giving back to the community. Young people can have life altering, lasting, positive experiences in this type of environment. I want to thank Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, The Brotherhood/Sister Sol, and my colleagues for their unwavering support in helping our young people thrive.”

Council Member Dickens said: “I have admired and supported the work of Khary Lazarre-White, Executive Director of Brotherhood/Sister Sol, and his dedicated staff and volunteers. This project embraces our young people. It is also inclusive of emancipated youth. Through exposure to positive educational and cultural enrichment, this project opens the doors to limitless possibility for our young. I want to applaud Speaker Christine Quinn, for she has been consistent in leveraging resources to stem the tide of youth violence and gang activity. It is my hope that through continued collaboration with the DA’s Office, the City Council, law enforcement, community based organizations, concerned parents and citizens, we will see the day when we do not lose another precious child to senseless violence.”

Council Member Jackson said: “Taking a fresh look at what is around us is a challenge at any age; understanding the significance of what we see, even more so. I am very pleased that District Attorney Vance and Brotherhood/Sister Sol will be collaborating and working together to open the eyes of forty lucky youth to some of the astounding cultural resources that are right here in our neighborhoods. I thank my Council colleagues and the Speaker for committing the funding that makes this program possible; the horizons of these young people will be forever broadened as a result of participating and I believe they, in turn, will share what they know with their friends and families.”

Brotherhood/Sister Sol Executive Director and Co-Founder Khary Lazarre-White said: “The Brotherhood/Sister Sol’s Future Foundation summer immersion program builds on sixteen years of our youth development model – we are seeking to expose young people to workforce possibilities, culture, and higher education; to provide nurturing and holistic mentorship; and to empower youth to define a moral and ethical code by which to live their lives. I appreciate the work of the Manhattan DA’s Office and City Council in facilitating this program.”

Brotherhood/Sister Sol Program Coordinator Frantz Jerome said: “The Bro/Sis Future Foundation program exists to guide children in Harlem and open their eyes to cultural, educational and career possibilities. It is an introduction to the ideals of Bro/Sis: Positivity, Community, Knowledge and Future.”

Led by several counselors who are former graduates of the Brotherhood/Sister Sol program themselves, the participants in this program take educational and cultural field trips up to three days each week, to places including Central Park, El Museo del Barrio, and Fordham University. When not out in the community, the students attend workshops at City College on a range of topics, including community building, conflict resolution, and spoken word performance. Upon completion of the six-week program, participants will receive a $250 stipend.

Sex Ed Becomes Mandatory For City Middle, High School Students

 

In an email to principals, Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott says beginning in the second semester of the upcoming school year, all public middle school and high school students will have to have at least one semester each of sex education as part of their health curriculum.

Sex Ed Becomes Mandatory For City Middle, High School Students
Wed, 10 Aug 2011 03:52:41 GMT