Black Legal Issues

Rapper DMX arrested for violating probation

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:26:28 GMT

Troubled rapper DMX was arrested in Arizona on Tuesday for violating his probation by regularly using illegal drugs during the last nine months, authorities said.

The rapper, whose real name is Earl Simmons, told a probation officer that he used cocaine and was not complying with the terms of his treatment plan, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio told Reuters.

He faces five counts of violating probation.

Simmons was booked into a Phoenix jail late Tuesday afternoon and was isolated from other inmates, sheriff's officials said.

"We would hope that he is finally sent to prison," Arpaio said. "We've arrested him five times already. How many times do you have to violate the law?"

The rap star has faced continued legal trouble in Arizona, and was serving probation for throwing a food tray at a detention officer inside a Phoenix jail last year. Simmons spent 90 days in jail on drug, theft and animal abuse charges.

A 2007 raid on his north Phoenix home revealed 12 neglected dogs, three buried dogs, drugs and a cache of weapons. In 2008, Simmons was arrested for speeding on a Phoenix highway and allegedly going to a Scottsdale clinic and giving a false name to receive care with the intent of not paying.

His attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Minority babies set to become majority in 2010

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:23:24 GMT

Minorities make up nearly half the children born in the U.S., part of a historic trend in which minorities are expected to become the U.S. majority over the next 40 years.

In fact, demographers say this year could be the "tipping point" when the number of babies born to minorities outnumbers that of babies born to whites.

The numbers are growing because immigration to the U.S. has boosted the number of Hispanic women in their prime childbearing years.

Minorities made up 48 percent of U.S. children born in 2008, the latest census estimates available, compared to 37 percent in 1990.

"Census projections suggest America may become a minority-majority country by the middle of the century. For America's children, the future is now," said Kenneth Johnson, a sociology professor at the University of New Hampshire who researched many of the racial trends in a paper being released Wednesday.

Waiting to have children
Johnson explained there are now more Hispanic women of prime childbearing age who tend to have more children than women of other races.

More white women are waiting until they are older to have children, but it is not yet known whether that will have a noticeable effect on the current trend of increasing minority newborns.

The numbers highlight the nation's growing racial and age divide, seen in pockets of communities across the U.S., which could heighten tensions in current policy debates from immigration reform and education to health care and Social Security.

There are also strong implications for the 2010 population count, which begins in earnest next week, when more than 120 million U.S. households receive their census forms in the mail.

The Census Bureau is running public service announcements this week to improve its tally of young children, particularly minorities, who are most often missed in the once-a-decade head count.

The campaign features Nickelodeon's Dora the Explorer, the English- and Spanish-speaking Nickelodeon cartoon character who helps "mommy fill out our census form."

The population figures are used to distribute federal aid and redraw legislative boundaries with racial and ethnic balance, as required by federal law.

"The adults among themselves sometimes forget the census is about everyone, and kids should be counted," said Census Bureau director Robert Groves.

"If we fail to count a newborn that is born this month, that newborn misses all the benefits of the census for 10 years."

Two-thirds of population is white
Whites currently make up two-thirds of the total U.S. population and recent census estimates suggest the number of minorities may not overtake the number of whites until 2050.

Right now, roughly 1 in 10 of the nation's 3,142 counties already have minority populations greater than 50 percent.

But 1 in 4 communities have more minority children than white children or are nearing that point, according to the study, which Johnson co-published.

That is because Hispanic women on average have three children, while other women on average have two.

The numbers are 2.99 children for Hispanics, 1.87 for whites, 2.13 for blacks and 2.04 for Asians in the U.S.

And the number of white women of prime childbearing age is on the decline, dropping 19 percent from 1990.

For example:

In Gwinnett County, Ga., an Atlanta suburb, the population has shifted from 16 percent minority in 1990 to 58 percent minority in 2008. The number of blacks and Hispanics nearly doubled, while the number of white young people stayed roughly the same.

The population of Dakota County, Neb., increased from 15 percent minority in 1990 to 54 percent in 2008, due largely to an influx of Hispanics who came looking for work in meatpacking and other labor.
In Lake County, Ind., a suburb of Chicago, the minority population grew from 43 percent in 1990 to 53 percent in 2008 as the number of white children declined, the number of blacks stayed stable and the number of Hispanics increased.

The 2008 census estimates used local records of births and deaths, tax records of people moving within the U.S., and census statistics on immigrants. The figures for "white" refer to those whites who are not of Hispanic ethnicity.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.

Archie becomes first black mayor of Tarpon Springs

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:09:53 GMT

David O. Archie became the city's first black mayor Tuesday, besting local attorney Matt King.

"I thank God for the opportunity to serve the people of Tarpon," Archie, 56, said. "(The election) continues to tell me about what Tarpon Springs is about as a whole.

"It's a tremendous achievement to be mayor and to be the first African-American is definitely exciting."

Commissioner Chris Alahouzos, 59, maintained his seat after being challenged by political newcomer Beverly Z. Kurpinski. Jeff Larsen, the city's Planning and Zoning Board chairman, defeated local Realtor Joe Muzio for a second commission seat.

Tarpon voters also approved nine city charter questions that ranged from required approval from residents before the city can dismantle its Fire Department to requiring the assistant city manager and the development services director to reside within the city within one year of being hired.

After two terms, current Mayor Beverley Billiris and Commissioner Peter Dalacos must vacate their offices due to term limits. Commissioners Robin Saenger and Susan Slattery were not up for election this cycle.

Larsen, 32, a middle school educator, will fill Dalacos' seat. He said he looks forward to serving residents.

"I am elated that the voters of Tarpon Springs have chosen to make me their next city commissioner," Larsen said. "Campaigning over the last several months was a lot of work, but the real work begins on March 16 when I'm sworn in."

Tuesday was Alahouzos' first challenged election. He was first appointed to the seat in December 2006 after state Rep. Peter Nehr left the commission for Tallahassee. The following March, he ran unopposed.

"I feel very humble at the trust and the love I experienced from the people and the input and response I got," Alahouzos said Tuesday night.

"It's something that will make me work even harder, and I'm looking forward to working with a new commission for the betterment of Tarpon Springs."

The mayor's job pays $13,000 a year, and a commissioner garners $8,000. Both positions come with health insurance.

The second youngest of six children, Archie was raised on Tarpon Springs' Morgan Street in the home where his mother still resides.

He went to elementary school at the mostly black Union Academy before heading to Tarpon Springs middle and high schools in the 1960s during the early stages of integration.

He is now the executive director of the Citizens Alliance for Progress, a nonprofit that is housed in the old Union Academy elementary school that he attended as a child.

Archie served on the commission from 1996 to 2001 and had to step down due to term limits. He was re-elected in March 2002 and served until 2008, when he again had to step down due to term limits.

Archie's mayoral campaign platform centered on his experience and putting the issues of Tarpon's residents first instead of those of special interest groups.

"I never envisioned running for office," Archie said Tuesday. "But I've always been involved in making sure there was fairness, whether it was with the library or the recreation department."

Iverson reportedly has gambling problem, too

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:29:14 GMT

Days after reporting that Allen Iverson has an alcohol problem, the Philadelphia Inquirer's Stephen A. Smith says in a column Monday that the Sixers guard also has gambling issues.

Smith writes, "If numerous NBA sources are telling the truth — and there's no reason to believe they'd do otherwise in a situation of this magnitude -- — will either drink himself into oblivion or gamble his life away."

The column is a plea for Iverson's confidantes to "stand up and be counted, to provide some semblance of tough love — by any means necessary." Smith says alcohol and gambling have put Iverson's "once-promising career in tatters." He adds that Iverson has been banished from casinos in Detroit and Atlantic City, N.J.

These are bad times for Iverson, who won't play the rest of the season as his four-year-old daughter suffers from an undisclosed illness. Last week, his wife of eight years, Tawanna, filed for divorce, and she's seeking custody of their five children, as well as child support and alimony payments.

Iverson started the season with the Grizzlies, but he was unhappy with his playing time in Memphis and played only three games with the team. After a brief retirement, he rejoined the Sixers, the team that drafted him in 1996 and allowed him to become a star. In 28 games this season, the 11-time All-Star averaged 13.8 points and four assists.

Rapper Lil' Wayne sentenced to one year

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:18:18 GMT

Lil' Wayne was sentenced Monday to a year in prison.

The rapper, whose legal name is Dwayne Carter, pleaded guilty in October to felony gun charges as part of a deal with prosecutors.

The charges stem from his arrest in 2007 outside New York City's Beacon Theater. According to police, Carter had a .40-caliber pistol on his tour bus. His attorney said it belonged to someone else.

His sentencing was delayed twice -- first so he could get dental work done, including removal of his diamond-studded braces, then because of a fire at a Manhattan courthouse.

At Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday, the room was packed with onlookers, while more people crowded outside.

Carter was offered the chance to make a statement but declined, shaking his head.

His attorney requested that Carter have protective custody while he is incarcerated. The attorney also requested medical attention because of his recent dental surgery.

As Carter was leaving the courtroom, a fan said to him, "Keep your head up, Weezy," using the rapper's nickname.

Another man wore a T-shirt that said "Free Weezy."

Carter also faces felony drug possession and weapons charges in Arizona.

Lil' Wayne is a multiplatinum-selling and Grammy-winning rap artist. His hits include "The Block is Hot" and "Lollipop." His album "Tha Carter III" was the top selling disc of 2008. His latest album, "Rebirth," was released last month.

Rapper Lil' Wayne sentenced to one year

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:17:51 GMT

Large SCLC faction calls for leaders in criminal probe to resign

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 06:54:22 GMT

About half of the national board of directors of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference issued a resolution Saturday calling for the organization's chair and treasurer, both involved in a criminal probe of SCLC finances, to resign.

"We can no longer be silent," said board member Bernard Lafayette Jr., spokesman for 23 members of the 44-member board. At Lafayette's side were board member Martin Luther King III and Sylvia Tucker, a vice chair of the organization. "Something is wrong and we want to get it straightened out," he added.

The Atlanta-based organization is in a state of confusion and upheaval. In recent weeks, longtime Chair Raleigh Trammell and supporters have been sending official letters from SCLC headquarters to board members who oppose them and removing them from their posts, so it is unclear how many of the board members are still officially active or whether Trammell had the authority to take such action. Saturday's announcement marked yet another implosion for the once-proud and powerful organization co-founded by the Rev. Martin Luther King.

The anti-Trammell group, which met at a hotel conference room in College Park, have retained attorney Charles Mathis of Atlanta to begin a legal effort to take control of the SCLC away from Trammell and treasurer Spiver Gordon. Mathis said he will file the first of several motions this week in Fulton Superior Court.

Trammell and Gordon could not be reached for comment Saturday, however a press release issued Friday night by the SCLC national office denounced Saturday's meeting as illegitimate.

Neither of the men have been charged with any crime, but FBI agents have seized records from Trammell's home and office in Dayton, Ohio and Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard has empaneled a grand jury to consider whether to bring criminal charges against the men. In recent months, board members have handed over bank records, meeting transcripts, e-mails and letters to Howard's office, the Alabama attorney general's office and the FBI.

Questions about SCLC finances were first raised last summer when a former board member said as much as $1.4 million of SCLC money had disappeared. According to records obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in January, payments from SCLC funds were made to organizations only Trammell and Gordon controlled. According to the documents, the men wrote checks to themselves, paid for personal funeral expenses and credit card and insurance bills, and sent money to their individual chapters and their special projects.

Last October, Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King, was elected SCLC president by the board. She has yet to take office. She was not present at Saturday's meeting and has remained silent amid the political turmoil now engulfing the organization. She could not be immediately reached Saturday for comment.

Founded in Atlanta in 1957 and headed initially by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the SCLC was one of the nation's most effective political organizations in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

It led critical battles against segregation in Selma, Ala., and elsewhere. It helped organize the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his historic "I have a dream" speech. The SCLC was instrumental in the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which ended institutional segregation and reshaped America.

In recent decades, the organization has lost influence, funding and membership. In 2003, animosity among board members erupted in lawsuits and resignations. At the SCLC's 2004 convention, police were called when fights broke out among competing factions.

Yet afterward, the organization retained some prestige and was able to raise corporate donations for a new headquarters on Auburn Avenue, which opened in 2007. Then Sen. Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton both attended the ceremonies.

At Saturday's meeting, Lafayette said, "the SCLC is not dead....we may stumble but we are not fallen."

The coming months -- with legal battles and public infighting a certainty and criminal charges a distinct possibility -- will test that statement. The anti-Trammell faction announced Saturday the SCLC annual meeting will be held in late April in Atlanta. The pro-Trammell faction has announced it plans to hold the SCLC annual meeting at the same time -- in Eutaw, Ala.

E-mail compares first lady to Tarzan's Cheeta

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 06:51:48 GMT

The CEO of Tennessee's hospitality association is apologizing for sending an e-mail to a group of public figures that compares first lady Michelle Obama to a chimpanzee.

The Tennessean of Nashville reports that Tennessee Hospitality Association CEO Walt Baker's e-mail compares the first lady to Tarzan sidekick Cheeta. At the bottom of the e-mail is a photo of Obama, caught in an awkward moment with her lips pursed, and one of a chimpanzee wearing a similar expression.

Baker apologized in an e-mail to Nashville Metro Council members Saturday saying the message was not intended to be malicious but meant as "political humor."

Also on Saturday, the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau said it would drop its contract with Baker's marketing firm.

Arrest made in slaying of Houston high school football player

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 06:45:01 GMT

A man has been arrested and charged in the fatal shooting last year of a well-known Worthing High School football star who died on his girlfriend's doorstep.

Quentin Leon McIntyre, 19, is charged with capital murder in the shooting death of 17-year-old DeAndre Elliott about 11:30 p.m. Nov. 19 in the 4700 block of Wenda.

McIntyre also stole Elliott's car, a blue-green Buick Park Avenue car with custom wire-spoke wheels known as “elbow wire rims” and white wall tires.

McIntyre is being held in the Harris County jail on unrelated drug charges.

Police said Elliott had just left his girlfriend's apartment when she heard gunfire outside. Moments later she heard a knock on her door. When she opened it, Elliott fell at her doorstep.

Police said he had been shot in the head and chest and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Witnesses told police they saw a man speeding away in Elliott's car after the shooting.

Investigators found the car several days later in the 1300 block of Canterlane Drive.

His friends told the Chronicle at the time of the shooting that Elliott was popular and didn't mix with dangerous cliques.

A star running back at Worthing, he hoped later to play football at the University of Florida and then turn professional.

Worthing's coach, Brandon Ellis, told the Chronicle that Elliott “was a big part of our team this year. He carried us a lot this season.”

He was the second-leading rusher for the 4-6 Colts, gaining 829 yards and six touchdowns on 155 carries.

During his sophomore year, Elliott was a second-team all-district selection.

Said Elliott's longtime friend, Bruce Wilson:

“He was a good kid who stayed out of trouble,” Wilson said. “ So many things were going good for him.”

FBI confirms two new investigations into conduct of New Orleans police after Katrina

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:31:59 GMT

The FBI confirmed Thursday morning that it has opened two other civil rights investigations into the post-Katrina actions of New Orleans police officers, adding to a growing list of inquiries.

The FBI now has at least seven active civil rights probes into the New Orleans Police Department.

Sheila Thorne, spokeswoman for the FBI's field office in New Orleans, said Thursday that federal agents are examining the fatal shooting of Danny Brumfield Sr. and the non-fatal shooting of Keenon McCann.

Thorne said these cases are two of "a number of highly publicized, potential civil rights matters" of interest to the FBI.

The circumstances of both shootings, as well as the ensuing cursory NOPD investigations, were first detailed in a series published in The Times-Picayune in December, in partnership with the nonprofit investigative newsroom ProPublica and PBS' "Frontline."

Brumfield, 45, was fatally shot on Sept. 3, 2005, in front of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Police said Brumfield inexplicably leaped onto the hood of a moving police cruiser and tried to attack the officers inside, making a "stabbing motion" with a pair of scissors. An officer in the passenger seat fired a single blast from his pistol-grip Mossberg shotgun, a personal weapon, killing Brumfield with a shot to his back.

His family alleges that Brumfield was only trying to flag down the officers. They say police purposely struck him with the vehicle, then shot him.

The ensuing NOPD investigation was incomplete at best: police never collected or found the scissors, officers lost crime scene photos, and detectives based their case on the statements made by the officers involved, failing to talk to civilian witnesses. A homicide detective never read the autopsy, which showed Brumfield had a shotgun wound to the back. Her report concluded he was shot in the shoulder.

The other recently announced FBI investigation centers on the shooting of Keenon McCann, 28. He was shot on Sept. 1, 2005 on the Interstate 10 overpass near the Superdome by members of the NOPD's SWAT team. Capt. Jeff Winn, Lt. Dwayne Scheuermann and other officers acted on a tip that somebody had stolen a Kentwood Springs bottled water truck and was luring in thirsty flood victims, attacking and raping them.

Keenon McCann was shot on Sept. 1, 2005, on the Interstate 10 overpass near the Superdome by members of the NOPD's SWAT team. The officers found several Kentwood Springs trucks parked on the overpass. They also allegedly found McCann, who "appeared to be observing the oncoming officers as if he was laying in wait for them" and was planning "to shoot one of those officers as they approached," Winn later told a detective. Both Winn and Scheuermann fired their assault rifles, hitting McCann.

Though dozens of people were on the bridge, police interviewed no civilian witnesses or additional police officers. The investigation relied on the statements of Winn and Scheuerman. The gun that was allegedly in McCann's hand was never found.

McCann survived the shooting and later filed a federal civil lawsuit against the NOPD. He was murdered outside his girlfriend's house in August 2008. That case remains open. The NOPD has not released details of the death, such as a possible motive or suspect.

Recently, Winn and Scheuermann have emerged as central figures in the federal probe of possible police misconduct in the case of Henry Glover, according to sources and a criminal defense attorney. Witnesses say Glover, of Algiers, died in police custody at an Algiers elementary school, the SWAT team's makeshift compound, one day after the McCann shooting.

Glover's charred remains were later pulled out of a scorched Chevrolet Malibu near the 4th District police station. Federal investigators believe he was shot by a police officer prior to arriving at the SWAT compound.

Henry Glover's burnt body was found in a car parked along the Algiers Point levee shortly after Hurricane Katrina.Attorneys for many of the officers under investigation have previously pointed out that police were under extreme duress, without a functioning command structure, lacking radio communications and short on supplies.

The NOPD's spokesman did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Mayor Ray Nagin's office has not responded to requests from The Times-Picayune for comments on the federal investigations.

In an interview with WDSU Thursday evening, Nagin put a positive spin on news of the additional federal probes.

"I think it's good news in some respects," he said. "There are some things that have been going on in the police department, and this has probably been going on for many many years. We should get to the bottom of it; we should clean it out."

The "Law & Disorder" series chronicled the Brumfield and McCann shootings, as well as the fatal police shooting of Matthew McDonald in Faubourg Marigny.

The FBI confirmed last month that it had opened an investigation into McDonald's death.

McDonald, 41, a Connectictut native, was fatally shot in the back on Sept. 3, 2005, by a NOPD officer in the Faubourg Marigny.

Officers said they observed McDonald carrying a "handgun and a bottle containing an unknown liquid" in a white plastic bag. The police report doesn't explain how the police could tell the bag contained a gun.

Lt. Bryant Wininger, armed with an assault rifle, commanded McDonald to drop the sack, but McDonald ignored the order and "reached into the bag in an attempt to remove a handgun," the police report said.

Wininger, the report said, feared for his life and fired four shots in rapid sequence, the last two as McDonald lay on the ground. The officers said they then immediately rushed McDonald to West Jefferson Medical Center in Marrero.

McDonald's family said police told them he died in a shooting and that the evidence had washed away. Last year, they first learned from a reporter that the NOPD had shot McDonald.

The other active civil-rights probes into the department that have been confirmed by the FBI include: the Danziger Bridge police shooting; the death of Glover; the fatal police shooting of Adolph Grimes on Jan. 1, 2009; and the July 2005 death of Raymond Robair.

Thorne, the FBI spokeswoman, said the agency asks that anyone with information on these incidents contact the FBI at 504.816.3000.