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Key Tips When Facing Police Questioning in Florida
Maintain a calm and respectful demeanor during police interactions.Â
Remember your right to remain silent and exercise it when necessary.Â
Having legal representation during questioning is your right.Â
Refrain from providing information without your lawyer present.Â
You deserve to know the grounds for your questioning.Â
If you're not under arrest, you can inquire if you're free to go.Â
Your statements can be used against you in legal proceedings.Â
Introduction: Understanding Your Rights During Police Questioning in West Palm Beach, FloridaÂ
Facing police questioning, especially without prior knowledge of your rights, can be intimidating. Floridians, like all US citizens, have distinct rights when law enforcement officers approach them. Being well-informed about these rights can be a significant safeguard during such encounters.Â
Your Entitlement to Silence: The Essence of the Miranda WarningÂ
The Miranda Warning, a result of the notable Miranda v. Arizona case, upholds your right to remain silent. When subjected to questioning:Â
Law enforcement officers should inform you about this right.Â
Opting for silence cannot be used against you in a court of law.Â
Choosing to speak may waive this right temporarily, but you can reassert your right to silence subsequently.Â
Tip: Clearly state your choice to remain silent if you decide to.Â
Tip: Always think before answering questions, especially without a legal representative.Â
The Significance of Legal Counsel During InterrogationÂ
The law entitles you to have an attorney during interrogations. As per the Florida Statutes:Â
If financial constraints prevent you from hiring one, the state ensures a public defender.Â
Interrogation must pause once you request an attorney.Â
An attorney's presence during questioning helps safeguard your rights.Â
Tip: Promptly express your desire for an attorney if you feel uneasy.Â
Tip: Prioritize consulting your attorney before replying to inquiries.Â
Being Informed About the Rationale for Your InterrogationÂ
Law enforcement must have valid grounds for questioning:Â
A simple suspicion isn't ample justification.Â
There needs to be probable cause or reasonable suspicion.Â
Familiarizing yourself with the reason can influence your responses.Â
Tip: Politely seek the reason behind your questioning.Â
Tip: If uncertain, ask for clarification on the nature of the interrogation.Â
Recognizing When You Can Depart from the Interrogation SiteÂ
If you're not under arrest:Â
You're allowed to ask if you can leave.Â
Any detention should be justifiable.Â
Without substantial reasons, prolonged detainment can be unlawful.Â
Tip: Periodically verify your freedom to depart, particularly if you feel unnecessarily constrained.Â
Tip: Stay composed and convey your wish to leave if not under arrest.Â
The Potential Outcomes of Your Statements to the PoliceÂ
During such interactions:Â
Be aware that your words can be meticulously analyzed.Â
Even offhand comments can carry legal consequences.Â
Approach with caution, considering the potential implications of your words.Â
Tip: Avoid spontaneously divulging information.Â
Tip: Monitor your language and demeanor, ensuring you don't unintentionally implicate yourself.Â
Hypothetical Scenario: Exercising Rights During Police QuestioningÂ
Jane was stopped in West Palm Beach for an expired registration sticker. The officer, spotting a baseball bat in her back seat, started questioning her about a recent incident at a nearby park. Armed with knowledge of her rights, Jane inquired if she was a suspect and the reason for her questioning about the incident. Receiving a vague response, she asked if she was free to leave. The officer, realizing he had no concrete grounds for detainment, allowed Jane to proceed without additional questions.Â
Key Insights from Encounters with the Police in FloridaÂ
Familiarizing yourself with your rights offers significant protection during police interactions.Â
Having legal representation is vital during official interrogations.Â
Keep reassessing the situation and be aware of when it's appropriate to stay silent or ask about leaving.Â
Always clarify the reason for the questioning.Â
Seeking a knowledgeable attorney ensures you have a dependable ally during any legal proceedings.Â
How Josh LeRoy Can Assist You During Police Interactions in FloridaÂ
Interactions with law enforcement often come with unpredictability and tension. Entrust your rights and welfare to Josh LeRoy of LeRoy Law. Familiar with the intricacies of Florida's legal landscape, Josh stands steadfastly by your side, ensuring you have the best defense possible during trying times.Â
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)Â
Do I have to respond to all police questions? No. You can exercise your right to remain silent and only speak when you feel comfortable.Â
What if I cannot afford an attorney during questioning? The state ensures you a public defender if finances are a concern.Â
Can police detain me without arrest? Yes, but they need valid grounds. If not, you can inquire about your freedom to depart.Â
How do I assert my right to silence? Clearly state your intention to remain silent.Â
How long can police detain me without formal arrest? The duration must be reasonable. Unjustifiable prolonged detainment can be challenged legally.Â
Disclaimer: LeRoy Law tries to ensure the accuracy of this article. However, Florida Statutes change, case law changes, and as such, errors may occur. LeRoy Law assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions in this article. LeRoy Law encourages you to utilize our links to relevant Florida Statutes. Contact my office at [561.290.2730] if you have any questions or require legal assistance.Â
#LeRoyLaw#JoshLeRoy#WestPalmBeach#WestPalmBeachCriminalAttorney#WestPalmBeachCriminalLawyer#FloridaPoliceRights#UnderstandingYourRights#WestPalmBeachLaw#QuestioningInFlorida#DefendingYourRights
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U.S. Border Agents Apprehend 1,000 Migrant Children In 5 Days
U.S. authorities along the border with Mexico apprehended nearly 1,000 unaccompanied migrant children in the span of six days last week, as unauthorized crossings by minors continue to rise, according to government statistics provided to a federal court.
From November 18 to November 23, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) processed 997 migrant minors who traveled without parents or legal guardians, the agencyâs top official, Mark Morgan, said in a court declaration Wednesday. More than 9,900 unaccompanied children have been taken into custody since September 8, Morgan added.
Within the next 120 days, CBP projects border crossings by unaccompanied minors to increase by 50%, according to the court declaration.
Morgan disclosed the figures as part of a Trump administration request for the D.C. Circuit Court to suspend a lower court order that currently prohibits border officials from expelling unaccompanied migrant children without a court hearing or an asylum screening. The outgoing Trump administration has argued that the policy, which it dubbed the âTitle 42â process, is needed to prevent potentially infected migrants from spreading the coronavirus inside holding facilities and elsewhere in the U.S.Â
Last Wednesday, Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. ruled that the public health law being cited by the Trump administration to expel border-crossers does not authorize expulsions or supersede legal safeguards for migrant minors â even during a pandemic. Sullivan ordered officials to stop expelling unaccompanied minors, but did not do the same for families with children or single adults, who continue to be expelled to Mexico or their home countries.
U.S. Border Patrol agents detain a 16-year-old undocumented immigrant minor from Mexico on September 10, 2019 in Mission, Texas.
/ Getty Images
In his declaration, Morgan said the uptick in apprehensions of unaccompanied minors is linked to last weekâs court ruling, which he argued will âserve as a pull factor.â
Lee Gelernt, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who has been challenging the border expulsions, pushed back on Morganâs statements and predictions.
âThe assertion that there will be a sharp increase in border crossings by children this winter is speculative at best, and in any event children can be safely tested and quarantined as needed,â Gelernt told CBS News. âThere is simply no basis for the Trump administrationâs claim that the cruel and patently unlawful Title 42 policy is necessary to protect public health.â
Apprehensions of unaccompanied migrant children along the U.S.-Mexico border, which plummeted to 741 in April, had been increasing steadily before Sullivan issued his order. In September and October, CBP agents apprehended 3,883 and 4,764 unaccompanied minors, respectively.
The U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement, where most unaccompanied migrant children were sent before the pandemic, is now housing more than 2,300 minors in its network of shelters, an increase from a decade-low early in the summer, when the in-custody population dropped below 800.Â
Migrant minors transferred to the refugee agency stay in shelters or other housing facilities until they are placed with a sponsor, who is typically a family member residing in the country. U.S. law allows them to request asylum or other forms of humanitarian refuge to stop their deportation proceedings.
After receiving 162 children between April and June, the Office of Refugee Resettlement received 1,218 and 1,530 migrant minors from border officials in September and October, respectively.
While the refugee office has space to house approximately 13,000 minors, less than 8,000 beds are available because of Covid-19 mitigation policies, Nicole Cubbage, the agencyâs acting director, said in a declaration accompanying the Trump administrationâs appeal of Sullivanâs ruling. Cubbage said her office expects shelters along the southern border to reach maximum capacity on December 12, and the entire nationwide bed space for migrant children to be depleted by early January.
If the trend holds, Cubbage said the refugee agency would need to reopen âinflux facilitiesâ in Homestead, Florida and Carrizo Springs, Texas, to house hundreds of migrant youth. Cubbage said her office could start receiving between 300 and 400 children daily in âthe near future,â a prediction she attributed to Sullivanâs order, âdeteriorating economic and political conditionsâ in Central America, the impact of recent hurricanes, seasonal patterns and even President Trumpâs electoral defeat.Â
âI am concerned that the recent upward trend in referrals noted above could represent the cusp of a major influx of UAC,â Cubbage wrote, using an abbreviation for the government term, âunaccompanied alien children.â Â Â
Detention periods for migrant children are also increasing. In September and October, 71 minors spent more than three days in Border Patrol custody, according to government statistics provided to lawyers representing detained migrant children.
According to the data, a three-month-old apprehended with at least one parent was held by CBP for two weeks. In October, a 17-year-old unaccompanied teen was in CBP custody for 18 days. In court declarations filed earlier this week, several children interviewed by a lawyer alleged having limited access to soap and face masks, and denounced lax social distancing measures and crowded conditions in CBP facilities.
âMy mask is dirty on the inside. Here, people do not practice social distancing,â an eight-year-old child said, according to one of the declarations.
Another minor, a 15-year-old from El Salvador, said: âI was detained in a room with thirty other minors and we were cramped. I felt uncomfortable because there were so many people in the room. I had to sleep in a sitting position because there were so many people in the room.â
CBP did not address these allegations, citing pending litigation.
A 2008 anti-trafficking law requires CBP and other agencies to transfer unaccompanied minors to the refugee office within 72 hours of apprehending them, absent extraordinary circumstances. âFailing to lawfully transfer these children in time is simply negligent,â Democratic lawmakers led by Hispanic Caucus chairman Joaquin Castro wrote in a letter this week to acting Department of Homeland Security secretary Chad Wolf.
Neha Desai, one of the lawyers representing migrant youth in the court case over the Flores Settlement Agreement, which governs the care of minors in U.S. immigration custody, said the government needs to take more steps to quickly transfer children out of CBP custody. âHaving children detained in CBP custody for any amount of time exposes them to a dangerous and traumatic environment,â Desai told CBS News. âThis was true well before the pandemic and is even more so the case now.â
On Wednesday, CBP announced it would be closing its largest temporary detention facility for migrant families and children until renovations are completed in early 2022. The Central Processing Center in south Texas, opened during the Obama presidency, became notorious for its chain-link sections, which were denounced by advocates as âcagesâ when the Trump administration systematically separated thousands of migrant families in 2018. The announcement was first reported by The Washington Post.Â
The increase of border crossings by children, and of overall apprehensions, could prove to be an early and thorny immigration policy test for the incoming Biden administration. President-elect Joe Biden has vowed to discontinue many of Mr. Trumpâs border programs, including a policy that has required tens of thousands of asylum-seekers from Central America, Cuba and other Latin American countries to wait in Mexico for their U.S. court hearings.
Mr. Bidenâs team has also pledged to review the expulsions policy to ensure border-crossers âhave the ability to submit their asylum claims.â
Andrew Selee, president of the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute, said ending the âRemain in Mexicoâ program and the expulsions too quickly could lead to a surge in border crossings. He suggested the incoming Biden administration could end Remain-in-Mexico but temporarily retain the expulsion policy, a scenario that could be complicated by legal challenges and reportingthat shows public health officials were pressured by the White House to authorize the expulsions.
Selee said an influx in border arrests could hurt chances of a divided Congress passing immigration legislation, including one that provides a pathway to U.S. citizenship for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) beneficiaries. Republicans lawmakers blamed the DACA program for a surge in border apprehensions of Central American children in 2014, even though the policy, established in 2012, did not benefit new arrivals.
Before completely ending Mr. Trumpâs policies, Selee said the incoming Biden administration should deploy more asylum officers, surge resources to the border and expand case management programs that allow migrants to complete their U.S. immigration proceedings outside of detention centers. Otherwise, he added, a sharp increase in unauthorized migration could leave the U.S. government unprepared, worsen conditions in temporary migrant holding facilities and lead to more draconian enforcement policies.
âYouâre stuck between a rock and a hard place: Either you start releasing people in the general population or you hold them in the middle of a pandemic,â Selee said.Â
âIf you try to be the anti-Trump on day one, you will end up acting like Trump in the end,â he added. âIf you try and throw out everything Trump has done on day one, without having an alternative in place, youâll end up doing the same things Trump did.â
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Florida prosecutor's office stops pursuing most resisting arrest cases, causing concerns for local police
New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/florida-prosecutors-office-stops-pursuing-most-resisting-arrest-cases-causing-concerns-for-local-police/
Florida prosecutor's office stops pursuing most resisting arrest cases, causing concerns for local police
Police have used resisting arrest charges to stifle protests and free speech, said State Attorney Aramis Ayala, whose jurisdiction covers almost 1.8 million people in Orange and Osceola counties.
âI would not be surprised if there was an attempt for some type of political gratification, but Iâm just defining alternative methods of prosecution,â she told Appradab.
Officers undermine public safety when they bring âthe force of our criminal justice system to bear against nonviolent citizens who are simply promoting the change our society so desperately needs,â her policy, announced Tuesday, says.
Abuse of power is another factor, she said. Especially when dealing with African Americans, police too often charge people with resisting arrest as a retaliatory measure or to cover up their own misdeeds, she said.
Under the policy, most people charged with nonviolently resisting will be ordered to watch a 30-minute video on the importance of obeying police. Offenders who have been arrested in the previous six months for resisting arrest will be prosecuted normally, the policy says.
Data shows that between September 2019 and September 2020 police charged Black residents with resisting arrest almost twice as often as other demographics combined, despite African Americans making up less than 21% of the countiesâ populations. The contrast could be starker for people of color in general, Ayala said, but her arrest data doesnât differentiate between White and Hispanic.
Prosecuting the cases encourages disproportionate policing, saps needed resources, creates trauma and long-term economic hardships and fosters distrust in the legal system, the policy says.
While research shows correlations between public trust and public safety, Ayala said, thereâs nothing that indicates prosecuting nonviolent resisting arrest charges leads to less crime.
âThere is absolutely no research that supports the nexus,â she said, âbetween a person who is arrested for resisting an officer without violence and future criminality.â
Other cities, including Chicago, New York and San Diego, reportedly have had similar racial disparities in resisting arrest charges, and some prosecutors have taken steps similar to Ayalaâs. But Ayala believes hers is the nationâs most sweeping, she said.
âItâs a bad decisionâ
Ayalaâs team will still pursue cases involving violence or other aggravating factors, but the resisting arrest announcement isnât sitting well with some of the 21 police agencies in her sprawling Ninth Circuit.
Heads of her circuitâs two largest police agencies say they worry Ayalaâs policy was hastily conceived and will create problems if people are emboldened to defy lawful orders, they told Appradab.
âThat could start the chain of events that leads to us using more force, where we were just detaining you and had reasons to stop you and just wanted you to get out of the car or come and sit down,â Orange County Sheriff John Mina said. âWe just think this is going to confuse our residents.â
It will also encourage drug dealers carrying narcotics to flee, the sheriff said.
âWe already have an issue with people, when being stopped by law enforcement, pulling out their phone and refusing to get out of the car,â Mina said. âPolice give a lawful command, you need to follow instructions.â
He and Orlando Police Chief Orlando RolĂłn were not consulted before Ayalaâs Tuesday announcement. RolĂłn and Ayala briefly discussed the matter at an event this month, he said.
Ayala provided Appradab a letter she sent to police chiefs and sheriffs the day before the announcement, but Mina didnât receive it, he said. Only Windermere Police Chief David Ogden responded, Ayala said, asking to see the video.
âIt caught many people off guard ⊠In the end, itâs about communication,â RolĂłn said. âWe all want a nation where people feel that they are being policed (justly), and everyone is treated the same with dignity and respect and there is no question about the way law enforcement is performing their duties.â
Without singling out RolĂłn or Mina, Ayala said some police leaders have declined to support her reforms or issued statements contradicting her vision, she said.
âSeeking the counsel of people who donât have same vision as me is counterproductive,â she said.
RolĂłn believes Ayala has good intentions, but he would have liked to share his insights. Ayala previously sought police guidance on her plan to publicly list officers who committed ethical or criminal violations, RolĂłn said, and he felt police input made officers more amenable to her policy.
He worries Ayalaâs office is sending a message that protesters can take over an interstate or block an intersection, and itâs no big deal if they disobey police because theyâll just watch a video and do it again in six months, he said.
âItâs a bad decision,â he said. âWhen the only consequence of their actions is going to be a 30-minute video, then that is concerning.â
Mina was dismayed he could fast forward through the video, provide a fake name and receive a certificate of completion, he said. Appradab was able to do the same.
The video made good points, the sheriff said, but there âneeds to be more deterrence.â
In Orlando, located in Orange County, officers responded to 500,000 calls and made 12,000 arrests last year, RolĂłn said. Only in about 2% of arrests did officers employ a takedown, pepper spray, Taser, baton, gun or other force, and the numbers are declining annually, the chief said. In Orange County, only 1.7% of arrests list nonviolent resistance as the lone charge, Mina said.
As for Ayalaâs assertion that 63% of resisting charges target African Americans, Mina and RolĂłn did not refute the number but pointed out most reports originate with residents. In Orlando, RolĂłn said, most of those calls come from communities of color.
âIt tends to be widely abusedâ
Ayala also based her decision on her decade as a public defender, when she routinely saw trumped-up resisting arrest charges.
Her ex-boss, Ninth Circuit pubic defender Robert Wesley, concurs. He says he has seen clients charged with resisting arrest for âmore innocuousâ behavior such as walking away, refusing to give a name or recording police during a stop.
Once, a client who was hospitalized on Christmas Eve stepped outside in his gown for a cigarette. When a police officer told him to put it out, Wesley said, he took one more drag before complying and was charged with resisting arrest. The client spent Christmas morning in jail, he said.
âIt tends to be widely abused,â the defense lawyer of 36 years said. âIt can be used for less serious reasons.â
Wesley declined to say if Ayalaâs policy would lighten workloads for his more than 150 staffers. But he said it would allow prosecutors to focus on âviolence and other abusesâ that injure people and their livelihoods.
The video nonviolent arrestees must watch informs them of their rights and when to comply with an officerâs demand.
âThe police are important and so are you,â it says.
It reminds viewers that officers face risks on their jobs and may be apprehensive. The officer also may not have received treatment after a previous violent encounter, it says.
âDefusing the situation might save your life,â the video warns. âLive to tell what happened. You can fight it out in court later if you need to.â
It adds, âWhile citizens who have been stopped by police should not shoulder the burden of deescalation, the fact is the law does not require police to do it, and the failure to deescalate is dangerous and could even be deadly.â
From Ferguson to San Diego
Ayalaâs policy notes racial disparities in resisting arrest charges are not unique to her jurisdiction.
In February, a San Diego television station reported similar differences in resisting, delaying or obstructing an officer over a seven-year period. In 2019 alone, the station reported, African Americans and Latinos accounted for 159 such arrests, compared to 54 for Whites, in a city where two out of three people are White.
The news outlet Slate last year, using data from the police watchdog Invisible Institute, reported that in 60,000 instances between 2004 and 2016 Chicago authorities more frequently used force on Black people, despite Whites being more prone to resist.
New York police were highlighted in a 2014 WNYC report that found in minor drug possession cases, Black residents were arrested for resisting at more than twice the rate of Whites in four of the five boroughs.
A 2015 article in The New York Times showed police in Greensboro, North Carolina â which was 48% white â charged Black and White offenders with resisting, delaying or obstructing at a four-to-one clip (836 Black, 209 White). The Citizen-Times in Asheville cited a University of North Carolina study showing disparities across the state.
And in Ferguson, Missouri â where Justice Department investigators converged after a police officer fatally shot Michael Brown â the agency found African Americans accounted for 92% of resisting arrest charges.
âThey are inclined to interpret the exercise of free-speech rights as unlawful disobedience, innocent movements as physical threats, indications of mental or physical illness as belligerence,â the department said of Ferguson police.
Brooklyn, San Francisco also target resisting
Several agencies have strived to level Lady Justiceâs scales. In Fayetteville, North Carolina, then-Police Chief Harold Medlock instructed officers to avoid resisting arrest charges unless there was a more serious crime, The New York Times reported in the Greensboro story.
More recently, the Brooklyn district attorney opted not to pursue resisting charges unless they were accompanied by body camera footage, while also declining to charge protesters unless they were violent or damaged property, spokesman Oren Yaniv said.
As part of an effort âto protect the public â especially Black communities â from police violence,â San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin this summer instituted similar policies, he wrote in an op-ed.
The policy was driven by the George Floyd protests but also by a local case in which a resisting arrest charge was dismissed after a bodycam showed an officer pinning down a suspectâs head with her knee, spokeswoman Rachel Marshall told Appradab.
âThis policy was created to ensure that officers are not manufacturing false charges to cover up excessive force,â she said. âPolice body camera footage may reveal a very different picture than police reports depict â especially when police officers are worried about protecting themselves from allegations of excessive force or illegal conduct.â
Boudin is pleased with the results, she said, as it âensures the integrity of filed charges.â
Sheriff Mina in Florida likes the idea of the body camera policy, he said, adding he might have suggested something similar to Ayala had he been consulted.
âI think thatâs smart,â he said. âThat would be my preference: Letâs watch the video and see if this is a case that needs to move forward.â
Ayala knows sheâs a lame duck â voters will decide her successor next month â but she hopes she can convince the next state attorney to maintain her reforms, such as the resisting arrest policy, publicizing the names of bad police officers and her conviction integrity unit.
âI wanted to recognize history, and change in this country comes from people on the ground moving the people in power,â she said. âI was moved by the protests and wanted to protect rights.â
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Justice is Not a Game
âJustice is not a game. It is an important and dead serious cornerstone of the American way of life. Law is a calling, a profession, not a job. Our work is about justice, about truth.â
I particularly like this quote from eDiscovery attorney Ralph C. Losey in Florida. He stresses the quality of the search for discoverable information to get to the truth of a matter in litigation. Â In making his case for using technology to overcome the problems of technology, he stresses the core role of lawyers and judges in helping society to find and learn the truth. Â
I would extend this truth finding function to fellow citizens who perform their patriotic duty to serve as jurors in judgment of their fellow citizens. Â Whether it be a civil case or criminal case, I have never known jurors to see their calling as anything but a solemn duty to their fellow citizens, their community and to the litigants.
Because of this, a judge when conducting a jury trial becomes a partner with the jury while at the same time becoming a facilitator in helping to determine the truth--what are the facts, what are the rules for determining them, what can be considered in determining the facts and how will the law apply to those facts? Â I have seen numerous jurors in tears at the end of an emotionally wrenching or even horrifying trial. Â They took their charge with the utmost seriousness and drove the meaning of the word âconscientiousâ to heights nearly unimaginable.
As a judge Iâve had to provide comforting words to a jury after a trial.  Jurors often need affirming words for the role they have just played in supporting  our community and in doing so, demonstrating respect for the rule of law.  I have never seen a juror treat his or her pivotal democratic role as a game, nor would I label the process a game. Â
Justice is serious and it revolves around truth. Â Whether the truth concerns the taking of a life, self-defense, the lawful or unlawful detainment of another by arrest or incarceration, or damage or pain or loss of life, limb, money, property or even companionship, the truth is deadly serious. And to those charged with guiding the justice system to find that truth, justice must never be a game.
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A court-appointed interpreterâs account of the May 12, 2008 Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid on Agriprocessors, Inc., the largest kosher slaughterhouse in the United States. 900 agents were involved in the raid. He says, ânothing could have prepared me for the prospect of helping our government put hundreds of innocent people in jail.â
Then began the saddest procession I have ever witnessed, which the public would never see, because cameras were not allowed past the perimeter of the compound (only a few journalists came to court the following days, notepad in hand). Driven single-file in groups of 10, shackled at the wrists, waist and ankles, chains dragging as they shuffled through, the slaughterhouse workers were brought in for arraignment, sat and listened through headsets to the interpreted initial appearance, before marching out again to be bused to different county jails, only to make room for the next row of 10. They appeared to be uniformly no more than 5 ft. tall, mostly illiterate Guatemalan peasants with Mayan last names, some being relatives (various Tajtaj, Xicay, SajchĂ©, SologĂŒĂ...), some in tears; others with faces of worry, fear, and embarrassment. They all spoke Spanish, a few rather laboriously. It dawned on me that, aside from their Guatemalan or Mexican nationality, which was imposed on their people after Independence, they too were Native Americans, in shackles. They stood out in stark racial contrast with the rest of us as they started their slow penguin march across the makeshift court. âSad spectacleâ I heard a colleague say, reading my mind. They had all waived their right to be indicted by a grand jury and accepted instead an information or simple charging document by the U.S. Attorney, hoping to be quickly deported since they had families to support back home. But it was not to be. They were criminally charged with âaggravated identity theftâ and âSocial Security fraudââcharges they did not understand... and, frankly, neither could I.
The offense clearly refers to harmful, felonious acts, such as obtaining credit under another personâs identity. Obtaining work, however, is not an âunlawful activity.â No way would a grand jury find probable cause of identity theft here. But with the promise of faster deportation, their ignorance of the legal system, and the limited opportunity to consult with counsel before arraignment, all the workers, without exception, were led to waive their 5th Amendment right to grand jury indictment on felony charges. Waiting for a grand jury meant months in jail on an immigration detainer, without the possibility of bail. So the attorneys could not recommend it as a defense strategy. Similarly, defendants have the right to a status hearing before a judge, to determine probable cause, within ten days of arraignment, but their Plea Agreement offer from the government was only good for... seven days. Passing it up, meant risking 2 years in jail. As a result, the frivolous charge of identity theft was assured never to undergo the judicial test of probable cause. Not only were defendants and judges bound to accept the Plea Agreement, there was also absolutely no defense strategy available to counsel. Once the inflated charge was handed down, all the pieces fell into place like a row of dominoes. Even the court was banking on it when it agreed to participate, because if a good number of defendants asked for a grand jury or trial, the system would be overwhelmed. In short,âfast-trackingâhad worked like a dream.
Of Agriprocessorsâ 968 current employees, about 75% were illegal immigrants. There were 697 arrest warrants, but late-shift workers had not arrived, so âonlyâ 390 were arrested: 314 men and 76 women; 290 Guatemalans, 93 Mexicans, four Ukrainians, and three Israelis who were not seen in court. Some were released on humanitarian grounds: 56 mostly mothers with unattended children, a few with medical reasons, and 12 juveniles were temporarily released with ankle monitors or directly turned over for deportation. In all, 306 were held for prosecution. Only five of the 390 originally arrested had any kind of prior criminal record. There remained 307 outstanding warrants.
This was the immediate collateral damage. Postville, Iowa (pop. 2,273), where nearly half the people worked at Agriprocessors, had lost 1/3 of its population by Tuesday morning. Businesses were empty, amid looming concerns that if the plant closed it would become a ghost town.
Some American parents complained that their children were traumatized by the sudden disappearance of so many of their school friends. The principal reported the same reaction in the classrooms, saying that for the children it was as if ten of their classmates had suddenly died. Counselors were brought in. American children were having nightmares that their parents too were being taken away. The superintendant said the school districtâs future was unclear: âThis literally blew our town away.â In some cases both parents were picked up and small children were left behind for up to 72 hours. Typically, the mother would be released âon humanitarian groundsâ with an ankle GPS monitor, pending prosecution and deportation, while the husband took first turn in serving his prison sentence. Meanwhile the mother would have no income and could not work to provide for her children. Some of the children were born in the U.S. and are American citizens. Sometimes one parent was a deportable alien while the other was not. âHundreds of families were torn apart by this raid,â said a Catholic nun. âThe humanitarian impact of this raid is obvious to anyone in Postville. The economic impact will soon be evident.â
His case and that of a million others could simply be solved by a temporary work permit as part of our much overdue immigration reform. âThe Good Lord knows I was just working and not doing anyone any harm.â This man, like many others, was in fact not guilty. âKnowinglyâ and âintentâ are necessary elements of the charges, but most of the clients we interviewed did not even know what a Social Security number was or what purpose it served. This worker simply had the papers filled out for him at the plant, since he could not read or write Spanish, let alone English. But the lawyer still had to advise him that pleading guilty was in his best interest. ⊠To him we were part of the system keeping him from being deported back to his country, where his children, wife, mother, and sister depended on him. He was their sole support and did not know how they were going to make it with him in jail for 5 months. âŠÂ Before he signed with a scribble, he said: âGod knows you are just doing your job to support your families, and that job is to keep me from supporting mine.â There was my conflict of interest, well put by a weeping, illiterate man.
We will never know how many of the 290 Guatemalans had legitimate asylum claims for fear of persecution, back in a country stigmatized by the worst human rights situation in the hemisphere, a by-product of the US-backed Contra wars in Central America under the old domino theory of the 1980s. For three decades, anti-insurgent government death squads have ravaged the countryside, killing tens of thousands and displacing almost two million peasants. Even as we proceeded with the hearings during those two weeks in May, news coming out of Guatemala reported farm workers being assassinated for complaining publicly about their working conditions. Not only have we ignored the many root causes of illegal immigration, we also will never know which of these deportations will turn out to be a death sentence, or how many of these displaced workers are last survivors with no family or village to return to.
I remember reading that immigration lawyers were alarmed that the detainees were being rushed into a plea without adequate consultation on the immigration consequences. Even the criminal defense attorneys had limited opportunity to meet with clients: in jail there were limited visiting hours and days; at the compound there was little time before and after hearings, and little privacy due to the constant presence of agents.There were 17 cases for each attorney, and the Plea offer was only good for 7 days. In addition, criminal attorneys are not familiar with immigration work and vice versa, but had to make do since immigration lawyers were denied access to these âcriminalâ proceedings.
One of my colleagues began the day by saying âI feel a tremendous solidarity with these people.â Had we lost our impartiality? Not at all: that was our impartial and probably unanimous judgment. We had seen attorneys hold back tears and weep alongside their clients. We would see judges, prosecutors, clerks, and marshals do their duty, sometimes with a heavy heart, sometimes at least with mixed feelings, but always with a particular solemnity not accorded to the common criminals we all are used to encountering in the judicial system.
The interpreter is the only one who gets to see both sides of the coin up close, precisely because he is the only participant who is not a decision maker, and is even precluded, by his oath of impartiality and neutrality, from ever influencing the decisions of others. That is why judges in particular appreciate the interpreterâs perspective as an impartial and informed layperson, for it provides a rare glimpse at how the innards of the legal system look from the outside. I was no longer sorry to have participated in my capacity as an interpreter. I realized that I had been privileged to bear witness to historic events from such a unique vantage point and that because of its uniqueness I now had a civic duty to make it known. Such is the spirit that inspired this essay.
The essay points out that the criminalization of âillegal immigrationâ arose with the creation of ICE as a part of the Office of Homeland Security. ICE was created âas a law enforcement agency for the post-9/11 era, to integrate enforcement authorities against criminal and terrorist activities, including the fights against human trafficking and smuggling, violent transnational gangs and sexual predators who prey on children.â This charge does not provide enough work for an agency that employed 16,500 in 2007 or justify its $5 billion 2007 budget.
The real numbers are in immigration: âIn FY07, ICE removed 276,912 illegal aliens.â ICE is under enormous pressure to turn out statistical figures that might justify a fair utilization of its capabilities, resources, and ballooning budget.
#Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)#immigrants#immigration#race#racism#detention#asylum#Guatemala#inadequate legal representation#solidarity#court interpreters#bearing witness#undocumented immigrants
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Election Season is Here. Are You Ready to Vote?
Itâs after Labor Day, the weather is changing, leaves are turning, which all means â Election season is officially here. November 3 is now less than 50 days away, and we at the ACLU have been working for months nationwide to ensure voters safe and secure access to the ballot and to protect everyoneâs rights while voting â and now that time is here. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential that we not only protect our health but also our civil liberties â including our fundamental right to vote. Itâs on all of us to make our plan to vote. Today is not too early to act.Â
Check your voter registration status and voter identification requirements:
The first step: Check your voter registration. For those of you who have recently moved or if you are a first time voter (welcome!), itâs essential that you update your registration or register to vote. Many states have voter registration deadlines as early as a month before Election Day, so get registered today. Even those of you who have voted for decades, itâs essential to confirm your voter registration status. Some states use unlawful voter roll purges that may have removed your name from the list, so itâs best to double check. Â Next, check your stateâs ID requirements. Thirty-six states have some form of voter ID law currently in effect. Strict photo ID laws donât affect all people equally, but every Americanâs voting rights are put at risk when state legislatures enact ID laws that cherry pick the forms of IDs deemed acceptable. As a voting rights advocate and a lawyer, Iâve spent the last few years fighting back against restrictive photo ID laws. Iâve gone door to door and to community centers to reach voters to ensure they know about their stateâs identification requirements. You can find out here if you need identification to vote in your state. Â While we donât agree with strict photo ID laws, voter purges or unnecessarily long registration deadlines, we all need to be ready to vote in spite of these laws, so we can keep working together to make voting more accessible and secure. If your vote didnât matter, elected officials wouldnât try so hard to take it away.
Research your local races and ballot initiatives:
Weâve all heard so much about the presidential election at the top of our ballot, but itâs crucial to vote for every race â and initiative â on your ballot. Every candidate and question can have a big impact on civil rights and liberties. Ballots differ based on state and locality â with different candidates and questions, called ballot initiatives, which determine what kind of state you want to live in: a state that allows formerly incarcerated people to vote; a state that holds police accountable for brutality and killings; or a state that finally puts the nail in the coffin of racist Jim Crow-era laws. These questions were on the ballot for voters in Florida, Washington, and Louisiana, respectively, in the 2018 midterm elections, and Americans voted to move their state forward towards a country where We the People means all of us.  Elected prosecutors, or district attorneys, are some of the most influential actors in the criminal justice system. They decide who to charge with crimes, whether to offer a second chance or send someone to prison, and when to hold police accountable. Prosecutorsâ decisions and their influence over local and state criminal justice laws have been one of the primary drivers of incarceration and racial disparities throughout the justice system.  An elected sheriff, in most cases, has the authority to manage the local jail, arrest people, conduct traffic stops, collect fines, serve warrants, transport detained people, investigate crimes, and voluntarily cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.  This year, Nebraska voters can decide to reduce predatory payday lending loan annual interest rates from 400 percent to a maximum of 36 percent. These payday lending loans, marketed as a short-term fix, are actually designed to trap borrowers in a cycle of long-term debt. Sixteen states and D.C. have already enacted rate caps of about 36 percent â and now Nebraskan voters have the chance to follow suit â the initiative from the Nebraskans for Responsible Lending turned in enough signatures to qualify for the November 3 ballot.  Coloradans can fight to protect reproductive freedom and vote no on Proposition 115, a back-door ban that would criminalize abortion at 22 weeks. Prop 115 is an initiative of the same groups and politicians who have attacked the right to make the medical decisions that are right for us and want to ban abortion outright. If passed, Prop 115 will disproportionately harm Black, Indigenous, Latinx, LGBTQ+, low-income, and young individuals and families â the same marginalized communities who already face additional barriers and delays to accessing abortion care. Coloradans have rejected abortion bans on the ballot three times in the last 12 years; this year, a robust and growing list of organizations working on reproductive health, rights, and justice, as well as other issues, have already come out strongly in opposition to the ballot measure.  And in Oklahoma, voters can cast their ballot for State Question 805, a common-sense criminal justice reform that will limit extreme sentences for nonviolent crimes and save Oklahoma taxpayers $186 million. Oklahoma is handing down cruel and unfair sentences for minor crimes. A second conviction for breaking into a shed can result in a life sentence. In Oklahoma, an individual served 33 years in prison for writing $400 worth of bad checks, and a mother was sentenced to 15 years for stealing basic necessities and childrenâs toys from a Walmart. SQ 805 will limit sentences like these that are out of proportion to the crimes.  Cast an informed vote and research your candidates and ballot initiatives before casting your ballot.
Decide how youâll cast your ballot:
This year, voters have more options than ever before on how to cast their ballot. Voting by mail might be the safest option for many voters, and over 83 percent of voters have that option this year. Most states allow voters to vote by mail every election cycle, and more have expanded access to vote by mail for the duration of the pandemic. Not sure how to vote by mail? We put together a guide on vote by mail for every state. And why wait for a good thing â you should request your ballot today. To ensure adequate time for delivery, leave ample time to request and return your ballot, as many states require that your ballot be received on or before Election Day.  Voting early is another great option. Many states allow voters to cast their ballot two weeks or more before Election Day, meaning more flexibility to work around your schedule and shorter lines. You can also vote on November 3, but think of Election Day more like a deadline, not the only option! If you donât have time before, havenât received your ballot, or just like the tradition, you can head to your local polling place on Election Day, just remember to take the proper precautions and to vote like your rights depend on it.  America is worth fighting for, vote like it.
****
Paid for by American Civil Liberties Union, Inc., 125 Broad Street, New York, NY 10004, and authorized by Nebraskans for Responsible Lending. Authorized and paid for by American Civil Liberties Union, Inc., 125 Broad Street, New York, NY 10004, 212-549-2500, on behalf of Yes on 805, Inc. Paid for by American Civil Liberties Union, Inc., and authorized by Abortion Access for All.
Published September 14, 2020 at 03:00PM via ACLU https://ift.tt/2ZBWeCv
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Via the ACLU: Election Season is Here. Are You Ready to Vote?
Election Season is Here. Are You Ready to Vote?
Itâs after Labor Day, the weather is changing, leaves are turning, which all means â Election season is officially here. November 3 is now less than 50 days away, and we at the ACLU have been working for months nationwide to ensure voters safe and secure access to the ballot and to protect everyoneâs rights while voting â and now that time is here. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential that we not only protect our health but also our civil liberties â including our fundamental right to vote. Itâs on all of us to make our plan to vote. Today is not too early to act.Â
Check your voter registration status and voter identification requirements:
The first step: Check your voter registration. For those of you who have recently moved or if you are a first time voter (welcome!), itâs essential that you update your registration or register to vote. Many states have voter registration deadlines as early as a month before Election Day, so get registered today. Even those of you who have voted for decades, itâs essential to confirm your voter registration status. Some states use unlawful voter roll purges that may have removed your name from the list, so itâs best to double check. Â Next, check your stateâs ID requirements. Thirty-six states have some form of voter ID law currently in effect. Strict photo ID laws donât affect all people equally, but every Americanâs voting rights are put at risk when state legislatures enact ID laws that cherry pick the forms of IDs deemed acceptable. As a voting rights advocate and a lawyer, Iâve spent the last few years fighting back against restrictive photo ID laws. Iâve gone door to door and to community centers to reach voters to ensure they know about their stateâs identification requirements. You can find out here if you need identification to vote in your state. Â While we donât agree with strict photo ID laws, voter purges or unnecessarily long registration deadlines, we all need to be ready to vote in spite of these laws, so we can keep working together to make voting more accessible and secure. If your vote didnât matter, elected officials wouldnât try so hard to take it away.
Research your local races and ballot initiatives:
Weâve all heard so much about the presidential election at the top of our ballot, but itâs crucial to vote for every race â and initiative â on your ballot. Every candidate and question can have a big impact on civil rights and liberties. Ballots differ based on state and locality â with different candidates and questions, called ballot initiatives, which determine what kind of state you want to live in: a state that allows formerly incarcerated people to vote; a state that holds police accountable for brutality and killings; or a state that finally puts the nail in the coffin of racist Jim Crow-era laws. These questions were on the ballot for voters in Florida, Washington, and Louisiana, respectively, in the 2018 midterm elections, and Americans voted to move their state forward towards a country where We the People means all of us.  Elected prosecutors, or district attorneys, are some of the most influential actors in the criminal justice system. They decide who to charge with crimes, whether to offer a second chance or send someone to prison, and when to hold police accountable. Prosecutorsâ decisions and their influence over local and state criminal justice laws have been one of the primary drivers of incarceration and racial disparities throughout the justice system.  An elected sheriff, in most cases, has the authority to manage the local jail, arrest people, conduct traffic stops, collect fines, serve warrants, transport detained people, investigate crimes, and voluntarily cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.  This year, Nebraska voters can decide to reduce predatory payday lending loan annual interest rates from 400 percent to a maximum of 36 percent. These payday lending loans, marketed as a short-term fix, are actually designed to trap borrowers in a cycle of long-term debt. Sixteen states and D.C. have already enacted rate caps of about 36 percent â and now Nebraskan voters have the chance to follow suit â the initiative from the Nebraskans for Responsible Lending turned in enough signatures to qualify for the November 3 ballot.  Coloradans can fight to protect reproductive freedom and vote no on Proposition 115, a back-door ban that would criminalize abortion at 22 weeks. Prop 115 is an initiative of the same groups and politicians who have attacked the right to make the medical decisions that are right for us and want to ban abortion outright. If passed, Prop 115 will disproportionately harm Black, Indigenous, Latinx, LGBTQ+, low-income, and young individuals and families â the same marginalized communities who already face additional barriers and delays to accessing abortion care. Coloradans have rejected abortion bans on the ballot three times in the last 12 years; this year, a robust and growing list of organizations working on reproductive health, rights, and justice, as well as other issues, have already come out strongly in opposition to the ballot measure.  And in Oklahoma, voters can cast their ballot for State Question 805, a common-sense criminal justice reform that will limit extreme sentences for nonviolent crimes and save Oklahoma taxpayers $186 million. Oklahoma is handing down cruel and unfair sentences for minor crimes. A second conviction for breaking into a shed can result in a life sentence. In Oklahoma, an individual served 33 years in prison for writing $400 worth of bad checks, and a mother was sentenced to 15 years for stealing basic necessities and childrenâs toys from a Walmart. SQ 805 will limit sentences like these that are out of proportion to the crimes.  Cast an informed vote and research your candidates and ballot initiatives before casting your ballot.
Decide how youâll cast your ballot:
This year, voters have more options than ever before on how to cast their ballot. Voting by mail might be the safest option for many voters, and over 83 percent of voters have that option this year. Most states allow voters to vote by mail every election cycle, and more have expanded access to vote by mail for the duration of the pandemic. Not sure how to vote by mail? We put together a guide on vote by mail for every state. And why wait for a good thing â you should request your ballot today. To ensure adequate time for delivery, leave ample time to request and return your ballot, as many states require that your ballot be received on or before Election Day.  Voting early is another great option. Many states allow voters to cast their ballot two weeks or more before Election Day, meaning more flexibility to work around your schedule and shorter lines. You can also vote on November 3, but think of Election Day more like a deadline, not the only option! If you donât have time before, havenât received your ballot, or just like the tradition, you can head to your local polling place on Election Day, just remember to take the proper precautions and to vote like your rights depend on it.  America is worth fighting for, vote like it.
****
Paid for by American Civil Liberties Union, Inc., 125 Broad Street, New York, NY 10004, and authorized by Nebraskans for Responsible Lending. Authorized and paid for by American Civil Liberties Union, Inc., 125 Broad Street, New York, NY 10004, 212-549-2500, on behalf of Yes on 805, Inc. Paid for by American Civil Liberties Union, Inc., and authorized by Abortion Access for All.
Published September 14, 2020 at 10:00AM via ACLU (https://ift.tt/2ZBWeCv) via ACLU
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Mastering Florida Property Possession: Understanding the Differences Between Chapter 83, Chapter 82, and Chapter 723
property possession lawyer Florida If youâre a landlord or property owner in Florida, one of the most stressful situations you can face is dealing with a tenant or occupant who refuses to leave. Getting possession of your property back quickly and efficiently is often crucial to minimizing losses and moving forward. The Florida eviction attorneys at Law Office of Ryan S. Shipp, PLLC, have yourâŠ
#Chapter 723 mobile home evictions#Chapter 723 mobile home park evictions#Chapter 82 Florida unlawful detainer#Chapter 82 unlawful detainer#Chapter 83 evictions#Chapter 83 Florida eviction#eviction attorney Florida#eviction attorney west palm beach#eviction lawyer west palm beach#Florida commercial landlord laws#Florida eviction lawyer#florida eviction process#Florida eviction process guide#Florida property possession laws#Florida Real Estate Attorney#Florida real estate attorney for landlords#florida tenant eviction process#Florida writ of possession#landlord eviction attorney Florida#landlord legal rights Florida#Law Office of Ryan S. Shipp#mobile home park evictions Florida#property owner rights Florida#property possession lawyer Florida#quick eviction Florida#reclaim property Florida law#regain possession of property Florida#regain property Florida#residential landlord laws Florida#Ryan Shipp
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Election Season is Here. Are You Ready to Vote?
Itâs after Labor Day, the weather is changing, leaves are turning, which all means â Election season is officially here. November 3 is now less than 50 days away, and we at the ACLU have been working for months nationwide to ensure voters safe and secure access to the ballot and to protect everyoneâs rights while voting â and now that time is here. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential that we not only protect our health but also our civil liberties â including our fundamental right to vote. Itâs on all of us to make our plan to vote. Today is not too early to act.Â
Check your voter registration status and voter identification requirements:
The first step: Check your voter registration. For those of you who have recently moved or if you are a first time voter (welcome!), itâs essential that you update your registration or register to vote. Many states have voter registration deadlines as early as a month before Election Day, so get registered today. Even those of you who have voted for decades, itâs essential to confirm your voter registration status. Some states use unlawful voter roll purges that may have removed your name from the list, so itâs best to double check. Â Next, check your stateâs ID requirements. Thirty-six states have some form of voter ID law currently in effect. Strict photo ID laws donât affect all people equally, but every Americanâs voting rights are put at risk when state legislatures enact ID laws that cherry pick the forms of IDs deemed acceptable. As a voting rights advocate and a lawyer, Iâve spent the last few years fighting back against restrictive photo ID laws. Iâve gone door to door and to community centers to reach voters to ensure they know about their stateâs identification requirements. You can find out here if you need identification to vote in your state. Â While we donât agree with strict photo ID laws, voter purges or unnecessarily long registration deadlines, we all need to be ready to vote in spite of these laws, so we can keep working together to make voting more accessible and secure. If your vote didnât matter, elected officials wouldnât try so hard to take it away.
Research your local races and ballot initiatives:
Weâve all heard so much about the presidential election at the top of our ballot, but itâs crucial to vote for every race â and initiative â on your ballot. Every candidate and question can have a big impact on civil rights and liberties. Ballots differ based on state and locality â with different candidates and questions, called ballot initiatives, which determine what kind of state you want to live in: a state that allows formerly incarcerated people to vote; a state that holds police accountable for brutality and killings; or a state that finally puts the nail in the coffin of racist Jim Crow-era laws. These questions were on the ballot for voters in Florida, Washington, and Louisiana, respectively, in the 2018 midterm elections, and Americans voted to move their state forward towards a country where We the People means all of us.  Elected prosecutors, or district attorneys, are some of the most influential actors in the criminal justice system. They decide who to charge with crimes, whether to offer a second chance or send someone to prison, and when to hold police accountable. Prosecutorsâ decisions and their influence over local and state criminal justice laws have been one of the primary drivers of incarceration and racial disparities throughout the justice system.  An elected sheriff, in most cases, has the authority to manage the local jail, arrest people, conduct traffic stops, collect fines, serve warrants, transport detained people, investigate crimes, and voluntarily cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.  This year, Nebraska voters can decide to reduce predatory payday lending loan annual interest rates from 400 percent to a maximum of 36 percent. These payday lending loans, marketed as a short-term fix, are actually designed to trap borrowers in a cycle of long-term debt. Sixteen states and D.C. have already enacted rate caps of about 36 percent â and now Nebraskan voters have the chance to follow suit â the initiative from the Nebraskans for Responsible Lending turned in enough signatures to qualify for the November 3 ballot.  Coloradans can fight to protect reproductive freedom and vote no on Proposition 115, a back-door ban that would criminalize abortion at 22 weeks. Prop 115 is an initiative of the same groups and politicians who have attacked the right to make the medical decisions that are right for us and want to ban abortion outright. If passed, Prop 115 will disproportionately harm Black, Indigenous, Latinx, LGBTQ+, low-income, and young individuals and families â the same marginalized communities who already face additional barriers and delays to accessing abortion care. Coloradans have rejected abortion bans on the ballot three times in the last 12 years; this year, a robust and growing list of organizations working on reproductive health, rights, and justice, as well as other issues, have already come out strongly in opposition to the ballot measure.  And in Oklahoma, voters can cast their ballot for State Question 805, a common-sense criminal justice reform that will limit extreme sentences for nonviolent crimes and save Oklahoma taxpayers $186 million. Oklahoma is handing down cruel and unfair sentences for minor crimes. A second conviction for breaking into a shed can result in a life sentence. In Oklahoma, an individual served 33 years in prison for writing $400 worth of bad checks, and a mother was sentenced to 15 years for stealing basic necessities and childrenâs toys from a Walmart. SQ 805 will limit sentences like these that are out of proportion to the crimes.  Cast an informed vote and research your candidates and ballot initiatives before casting your ballot.
Decide how youâll cast your ballot:
This year, voters have more options than ever before on how to cast their ballot. Voting by mail might be the safest option for many voters, and over 83 percent of voters have that option this year. Most states allow voters to vote by mail every election cycle, and more have expanded access to vote by mail for the duration of the pandemic. Not sure how to vote by mail? We put together a guide on vote by mail for every state. And why wait for a good thing â you should request your ballot today. To ensure adequate time for delivery, leave ample time to request and return your ballot, as many states require that your ballot be received on or before Election Day.  Voting early is another great option. Many states allow voters to cast their ballot two weeks or more before Election Day, meaning more flexibility to work around your schedule and shorter lines. You can also vote on November 3, but think of Election Day more like a deadline, not the only option! If you donât have time before, havenât received your ballot, or just like the tradition, you can head to your local polling place on Election Day, just remember to take the proper precautions and to vote like your rights depend on it.  America is worth fighting for, vote like it.
****
Paid for by American Civil Liberties Union, Inc., 125 Broad Street, New York, NY 10004, and authorized by Nebraskans for Responsible Lending. Authorized and paid for by American Civil Liberties Union, Inc., 125 Broad Street, New York, NY 10004, 212-549-2500, on behalf of Yes on 805, Inc. Paid for by American Civil Liberties Union, Inc., and authorized by Abortion Access for All.
from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8247012 https://www.aclu.org/news/voting-rights/election-season-is-here-are-you-ready-to-vote via http://www.rssmix.com/
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Take Into Service the Best Orlando Criminal Defense Attorney
The entire world is filled with various sorts of individuals. Whenever someone is seen included in certain illegal activities afterward authorities have the right to detain them but it really is everybody else's right to shield them and that why calling the knowledgeable criminal defense lawyer Orlando will provide them the chance to prove their innocence and also eradicate those charges. However, you'll find lots of unlawful lawyer Orlando adverts appear each single day therefore that it might be tough for someone to come across the most suitable one. This really is the way they could get the ideal one at the period of need.
Choosing the Finest Orlando Criminal-Lawyer
If it involves criminal-defense it's very important to see the simple fact that every circumstance differs and so are the strategies to protection and present. In regards to discovering the very finest Orlando criminal attorney that you'll want to be certain that you confirm the area of this criminal lawyer that is chosen. Some lawyers offer being a complete that might perhaps not be a very good thought to be the unlawful attorney Orlando have expertise in addressing the situations of legal law that you want the many therefore that it wiser to search to his or her field of expertise whilst choosing the most unlawful lawyer. Every lawyer has its strategy to evaluate the case as well as signs. They've another perspective to know the situation nevertheless attorneys who've the wider outlook to test that the case gets more opportunities to secure the case because he knows just how to take care of the problem and also bring the case into your Criminal lawyer Orlando favor.
References and Standing of Lawyer
While opting to your appointment you may request a reference in their prior instances. A respected and professional Orlando criminal defense lawyer will remain pleased with their winnings and won't be hesitated to demonstrate their winning instance, their prior customers mention with similar cases can allow one understand whether the selected attorney is worthiness of hiring or maybe not and that shows their connection with tackling such cases too well because merely the exact full time at the field does not depend as experience although their winnings at this duration too. On the lookout to find the Orlando criminal defense lawyer which may manage the case by itself should be the primary consideration. You need to be certain that a lawyer has trustworthiness to be open for your customers to take care of the case rather than sending their juniors therefore you're able to speak in your claim and the whole situation anytime you would like. Simply contact with the skilled and seasoned criminal attorney for example as for example Leppard Law at Orlando, Florida in the event that you'll need greater aid.
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Enticing a Child for Indecent Purposes Attorney
Since cars are enormous, substantial items that can cause genuine property harm and real hurt, rash treatment of such vehicles can bring about criminal outcomes. At the point when individuals are flighty and drive their autos in a way that is probably going to cause genuine substantial damage or passing for those individuals in the earth, at that point the perilous driver can confront genuine regulatory and criminal results whenever sentenced. Traffic offenses Attorney
Traffic-related infringement can extend from minor to amazingly genuine. Where one criminal traffic offense may bring about a little fine and a slap on the wrist, another traffic-related infringement may bring about a driver's permit suspension or repudiation, substantial fines and detainment. For instance, genuine traffic-related charges would include: driving affected by medications or liquor (even doctor prescribed medications), careless driving, (for example, speeding), and attempt at manslaughter.
The above infringement can bring about prison or jail condemning if the driver is sentenced. On the off chance that someone else was harmed or murdered because of a petty criminal offense, at that point the respondent could confront a lot harsher punishments. Different genuine traffic-related infringement additionally incorporate driving without collision protection, driving on a suspended permit, business driver's permit issues, mishaps causing genuine real damage, racing, refusal to submit to a breath test, constant traffic wrongdoer, driving on a lapsed permit or with no driver's permit, dashing on the thruway, and connecting a label that was not relegated.
Notwithstanding the above infringement, there are likewise various approaches to carry out a wrongdoing while never submitting a moving infringement. Any unlawful presentation of a vehicle permit or driving on lapsed enrollment, driving without substantial enlistment, not having a cruiser underwriting or allowing an unapproved individual to drive your vehicle can bring about punishments. On the off chance that you have damaged any of the above laws, at that point you ought to quickly look for the exhortation of a certified and experienced criminal guard lawyer who has effectively dealt with traffic cases.
There are a huge swath of traffic-related offenses and infringement. The punishments for a traffic-related offense shift incredibly relying upon the infringement, the degree of property harm and whether there was any real damage or passing brought about by the traffic offense. The lesser offenses will bring about a punishment or fine, while a progressively genuine offense can bring about permit suspension or repudiation, fines, correctional facility condemning or, various years in state jail. Since certain traffic-related offenses are condemned, it is significant that you employ your own private portrayal notwithstanding criminal allegations. A gifted and compelling lawyer might have the option to incredibly decrease the punishments that you are directly confronting, helping you to hold your opportunity and your driving benefits. Try not to stop for a second to contact an exceptionally experienced criminal guard lawyer before it's past the point of no return.
Jansen and Davis, P.A. has been pleased to speak to the customers of Tallahassee, Florida for over 15 years. Working in a famous school town, they have helped incalculable customers looked with a wide range of criminal allegations running from DUI, to sex violations, to cushy wrongdoings and traffic cases. Their Tallahassee criminal barrier attorneys invest wholeheartedly in the way that they have excused customers whether they were confronting kid misuse claims or medication charges that could imperil their school profession. Whatever charges you are by and by confronting, they might want to enable you to arrive at an increasingly good result for your situation. You are asked to contact a Tallahassee criminal guard attorney from their firm for a classified case assessment. Visit This Website=https://www.melvinsnashlaw.com/
Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/master/R_Timothy_Jansen/1199903
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6607742
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Protecting your constitutional rights during a workplace raid
In the United States, every person â whether documented or undocumented â has the constitutional right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions of the police, FBI, or ICE, whether on the street, in a car, or at home.
Under the law, ICE must have proof you are not from the United States to deport you. They can use the following information against you:
If you run and ICE catches you
If you tell ICE where you were born or that you donât have papers
If you carry false documents
If you carry papers from your country
If you are questioned by ICE, you are NOT required to reveal any information, such as your name, address, or home country. If you are questioned or detained, however, it usually is a good idea to give your name so that friends, family, or your attorney can locate you.
What you can do now
The targets of the mass raids are individuals who have been ordered deported. Any individuals that were issued deportation orders because of failure to appear in court, should contact a reputable immigration lawyer, nonprofit, or immigrant rights organization to help them file a motion to reopen their order of deportation.
Gather and keep important documents in a safe place, make copies, and make them accessible to a trusted person.
Identify reputable immigration, family, and defense lawyers for rapid response. Speak to a family law attorney about the need to sign a power of attorney for the caretaking of children and handling finances.
Obtain travel documentation for all family relatives.
Carry a Know Your Rights card with contact information of reliable attorney and other emergency contacts. Memorize important phone numbers.
If you are stopped by ICE or if ICE comes to your home
DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR if an immigration agent is knocking on the door.
DO NOT ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS from an immigration agent if they try to talk to you. You have the right to remain silent.
DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING without first speaking to a lawyer. You have the right to speak with a lawyer.
If you are outside of your home, ask the agent if you are free to leave and if they say yes, leave calmly.
GIVE THIS CARD TO THE AGENT. If you are inside of your home, show the card through the window or slide it under the door. The cards read:
âI do not wish to speak with you, answer your questions, or sign or hand you any documents based on my 5th Amendment rights under the United States Constitution. I do not give you permission to enter my home based on my 4th Amendment rights under the United States Constitution unless you have a warrant to enter, signed by a judge or magistrate with my name on it that you slide under the door. I do not give you permission to search any of my belongings based on my 4th Amendment rights. I choose to exercise my constitutional rights.â
These cards are available to citizens and noncitizens alike.
During a workplace raid
To report a raid use United We Dream National Raid Hotline 1-854-363-1423 or send a text message to 877877.
ICE must have a judicial warrant (a warrant SIGNED BY A JUDGE) or the employerâs permission to enter the workplace.
ICE can enter a public place without a warrant.
Workers should stay calm.
Workers should not run. Union representatives should not warn workers that immigration has arrived or urge them to run.
A union observer should document (write, not film) events taking place during a raid.
Workers have the right to remain silent.
Workers have the right to an attorney.
Workers have the right to refuse to sign anything without talking to an attorney.
ICE is not supposed to take someoneâs fingerprints unless ICE already has a reason to arrest them. Workers should NOT consent to being fingerprinted, and if they are, they should say out loud that they do not agree with being fingerprinted.
If ICE arrests you, you have the right:
To remain silent and refuse to answer questions. Anything you say may be used against you.
To understand the charges against you. If you need an interpreter, ICE must provide one.
To be represented by an attorney (at your own expense) and to receive a list of agencies offering free legal services before answering questions.
To refuse to sign documents, such as for voluntary departure. It is particularly important to consult with an attorney before signing if:
You are afraid to return to your home country
You have lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years
Your family members have amnesty or other papers
You already have a pending ICE case
You are accused of using false documents
To make a telephone call to an attorney, family member, consulate of your home nation, friend, or the union (memorize their phone numbers).
To be released on bond and to have a hearing to reduce your bond if you cannot afford it.
To have a hearing before an immigration judge and to appeal any adverse decision by the judge. You have the right to stay in the U.S. while you appeal.
How can the UFCW help workers during workplace raids?
The union should enforce employer obligations on issues that affect immigrant members. The union could be liable for failing to represent members if it fails to challenge employer abuse. The union has no reason to determine the immigration status of a worker; unions must represent all workers regardless of status. However, a union representative must not assist a worker in presenting documents that the representative knows are false.
The union may request information about and bargain over employer I-9 audits.
Request information about the reason for and the scope of the audit, and request copies of any documents the employer received from any government agency.
The union may represent workers in reverification of work authorization documents.
Employers are only allowed to reverify identity and work authorization documents for expired documents, such as an expired work permit or visa, but not for a lawful permanent resident card with an expiration date. If the reverification is based on the expiration of the employeeâs work permit, bargain for an unpaid leave of absence. Object to unlawful reverification of current workers such as non-citizen nationals, lawful permanent residents, refugees, asylees, or individuals with temporary protected status. Weingarten allows a union representative or steward to be present if an employer seeks to meet with a worker regarding employment authorization or other immigration issues. Grieve any adverse actions against workers based on unlawful reverification attempts.
If an employer gets a SSN âno-matchâ letter, the union can remind them that:
A âno-matchâ letter does not provide authority for an employer to terminate, suspend, lay off, or impose other discipline on an employee, and an employer who does may violate federal labor law.
The purpose of a âno-matchâ letter is to notify an employer when a reported employeeâs name or social security number does not match Social Securityâs records. The SSA has no authority to enforce the immigration laws, and the employer should give employees an opportunity to update their documents and information.
Ensure that contracts have provisions that state: âThe Company will not discipline, discharge or otherwise act against any worker who is absent from work for up to [NUMBER] days because of arrest, detention or incarceration, and those days will not count against the workerâs time and attendance record.â
Engage with employers about immigration enforcement to establish protocols for their interaction with ICE in the workplace. (E.g. confirm that ICE may not enter private property without a warrant signed by a judge.)
Train members, stewards, and staff on the basic rights of individuals during an immigration enforcement action, the unionâs rapid response plan, and family safety plans.
Establish relationships with local community leaders, allies, non-profits, immigrant rights groups, and legal service providers to be in communication during raids and mobilize the community to support workers and families.
Additional Resources
United Latinos of the UFCW Know Your Rights Resources
United Latinos App Available in the App Store and Play Store
Additional Know Your Rights Resources from CLINIC are available here:
Rapid Response Toolkit
Emergency Planning for Families
Know Your RightsÂ
Additional Know Your Rights materials in various languages from the ILRC are available here
A Know Your Rights video is available here.
Here is a list of local organizations that can support you and your community if you are impacted by a raid or other immigration enforcement activity:
Baltimore, MD
CASA Hotline 1-855-678-2272
Chicago, ILÂ Â Â Â Â
Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights: 1-855-435-7693 (1-855-help-my-family)The Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP): 773-471-8208 ext 120 The Resurrection Project: 312â666-3062 National Immigrant Justice Center: 1-855-435-7693 (1-855-help-my-family) West Suburban Action Project (Proyecto de AcciĂłn de los Suburbios del Oeste): 708-410-2000
Houston, TX
For Families and Their Education (FIEL Houston): 1-713-364-3435
Miami, FL
Americans for Immigrant Justice: (305) 573-1106 Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC): (305) 571-7254
New York, NY
New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC): 212-627-2227 Make the Road NY: Brooklyn: 718-418-7690
Queens: 718-565-8500 Staten Island: 718-727-1222 Long Island: 631-231-2200 Westchester: 914-948-8466
BAJI New York, NY â Telephone: (347) 410-5312 New Sanctuary NYCÂ https://www.newsanctuarynyc.org/
Newark, NJ Make the Road NJ: 908-368-1196
San Francisco, CA SIREN: Text this number for rapid response: 201-468-6088 SF Rapid Response Network: 415-200-1548 Alameda County Rapid Response: 510-241-4011 San Mateo County Rapid Response: 203-666-4472 (203-NOMIGRA) Santa Clara Rapid Response: 408-290-1144 Marin County Rapid Response: 415-991-4545
Southern California: CHIRLA: 888-6CHIRLA (888-624-4752)
Atlanta, GA Los Vecinos de Buford Highway: 770-715-7200 Asian Americans Advancing Justice: 404-890-5655 Coalicion De Lideres Latinos (CLILA): 706 529 9216 GA Latino Alliance for Human Rights: 770-457-5232
Denver, CO Colorado Rapid Response Network: 1-844-864-8341 Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition: 303-922-3344
New Orleans, LA New Orleans Workersâ Center for Racial Justice: Message them on Facebook:Â https://www.facebook.com/NOWCRJ/
Washington, DC DMV Immigration Crisis Hotline 202-335-1183 CASA: 1-855-678-2272
 from Protecting your constitutional rights during a workplace raid
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US Billionaire Financier Lured Underage Ladies For Intercourse Acts: Prosecutors
http://tinyurl.com/y3g4x3zd Jeffrey Epstein was arrested in New Jersey, the place he had returned on his non-public aircraft from Paris. New York:Â American financier Jeffrey Epstein was charged with intercourse trafficking on Monday, as prosecutors accused him of luring dozens of women as younger as 14 to his luxurious houses in New York and Florida and paying them for intercourse acts. An indictment unsealed in federal courtroom in Manhattan accused Epstein, 66, of arranging for women to carry out nude âmassagesâ and different intercourse acts, and paying some women to recruit others. The previous hedge fund supervisor âdeliberately sought out minors and knew that a lot of his victims had been in actual fact below the age of 18, together with as a result of, in some cases, minor victims expressly instructed him their age,â the indictment mentioned. Epstein was charged with one depend of intercourse trafficking and one depend of intercourse trafficking conspiracy, for alleged misconduct from a minimum of 2002 to 2005. He faces as much as 45 years in jail if convicted. Prosecutors will ask a decide that Epstein be detained pending trial as a result of heâs a âimportantâ flight danger, U.S. Legal professional for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey Berman, mentioned at a press convention. âThe alleged conduct shocks the conscience, and whereas the charged conduct is from a variety of years in the past, itâs nonetheless profoundly essential to the various alleged victims, now younger ladies,â Berman mentioned. They deserve their day in courtroom.â Epstein has mentioned in earlier courtroom filings that his encounters with alleged victims had been consensual and that he believed they had been 18 once they occurred. His lawyer, Jack Goldberger, mentioned earlier than the indictment was made public that Epstein will plead not responsible. Epstein is predicted to seem in courtroom on Monday. Epstein ties to Trump, Clinton Epstein was arrested on Saturday night time at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, the place he had returned on his non-public aircraft from Paris. Berman mentioned a search of Epsteinâs mansion in Manhattan, performed below a search warrant, uncovered proof together with ânude images of what gave the impression to be underage women.â He inspired different victims to return ahead and phone prosecutors. Identified for socializing with politicians and royalty, Epstein as soon as had associates together with U.S. President Donald Trump and former president Invoice Clinton, and in line with courtroom papers Britainâs Prince Andrew. None of these folks had been talked about within the indictment. The case is being dealt with by the general public corruption unit of Bermanâs workplace. Berman mentioned he wouldnât touch upon Epsteinâs associates and added âto not learn into that a method or one other.â Trump praised Epstein in an interview with New York journal in 2002. âIâve identified Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific man,â Trump mentioned. âHe is plenty of enjoyable to be with. Itâs even mentioned that he likes stunning ladies as a lot as I do, and plenty of of them are on the youthful aspect. Little question about it â Jeffrey enjoys his social life.â Earlier deal Epstein first got here below investigation in 2005 after police in Palm Seaside, Florida, obtained experiences he had sexually abused underage women in his mansion there. By 2007, Epstein was going through a possible federal indictment for sexually abusing dozens of women between 1999 and 2007, directing others to abuse them, and paying staff to convey victims to him, in line with courtroom filings. Nevertheless, Epstein struck a deal to plead responsible in 2008 to a lesser Florida state felony prostitution cost. He served 13 months in a county jail, however was allowed to depart in the course of the day to go to his workplace, and agreed to register as a intercourse offender. Prosecutors concerned in that settlement, which has been criticized by Epsteinâs accusers, included Alex Acosta, then the U.S. Legal professional for the Southern District of Florida and now Trumpâs Secretary of Labor. A spokeswoman for the Division of Labor on Sunday declined to touch upon Epsteinâs arrest. âMassagesâ Epstein would initially recruit victims to supply âmassages,â which they might carry out nude or partially nude, the indictment mentioned. Prosecutors mentioned the encounters would turn out to be more and more sexual in nature, generally together with groping and oblique contact with victimsâ genitals, the place Epstein would usually masturbate and ask victims to the touch him whereas he did. Epstein paid women to recruit new women, to make sure a âregular provide of recent victims to take advantage ofâ prosecutors mentioned. Three unnamed staff, one in Manhattan and two in Palm Seaside, aided Epstein by arranging a few of his sexual encounters, the indictment mentioned. A number of of Epsteinâs accusers had challenged his Florida deal in courtroom, saying they had been denied an opportunity to specific their views, violating the federal Crime Victimsâ Rights Act. In February of this 12 months, a U.S. district decide in Florida agreed, saying the deal was unlawful. Even so, the U.S. Division of Justice mentioned in a courtroom submitting final month there was no cause to cancel the settlement. Democrats within the U.S. Home of Representatives confronted Acosta about his function in April, throughout a listening to earlier than a Home subcommittee on a routine funds matter. Acosta instructed lawmakers that human trafficking was âan extremely essential challenge,â and that his workplaceâs efforts ensured that Epstein could be punished. âI perceive the frustration,â Acosta mentioned. âIt is essential to know that he was going to get off with no jail time or restitution. It was the work of our workplace that resulted in him going to jail.â The Justice Division is investigating whether or not authorities legal professionals dedicated skilled misconduct within the Florida case. (Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.) Get Breaking news, dwell protection, and Newest News from India and all over the world on NDTV.com. Catch all of the Dwell TV motion on NDTV 24Ă7 and NDTV India. Like us on Facebook or observe us on Twitter and Instagram for latest news and live news updates. Budget 2019: Discover the most recent information on ndtv.com/funds. Use the income tax calculator to find out about your tax legal responsibility (function(d, s, id) {var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if (d.getElementById(id)) return;js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;js.src = "http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.5&appId=213741912058651";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); Source link
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One Immigration System, Two Outcomes for Cuban Couple Seeking Asylum
A caress and a kiss.
Thatâs all Angela Mairielys Lazo Torres had time for before guards escorted her from her husbandâs hospital room after less than a minute. It had been seven months since she last traveled to Louisiana to see JosĂ© Antonio HernĂĄndez Viera, 40, in detention, and she wasnât even given the time to tell him, âI love you.â
âThey didnât let me see him," Lazo Torres, 36, said of the brief interaction. "They didnât let me speak to him. They didnât let me do anything."
That was on Wednesday, June 19. Then, radio silence for the next two days. When she and an outreach paralegal from the Southern Poverty Law Center returned to Acadia General Hospital in Louisiana on Thursday, they were told HernĂĄndez Viera no longer appeared in the system. Attorneys contacted the hospital and an assistant warden at Pine Prairie ICE Processing Center, but no one gave them any information about his condition after hip replacement surgery.
âI didnât know how he was, or where he was, or what was happening to him,â Lazo Torres said.
On Friday, Hernåndez Viera was transported back to Pine Prairie in handcuffs and chains, he said, his body pushed and jostled into a vehicle with no wheelchair ramp. As he lay across the seat during the roughly hour-long drive, his head painfully bumped into plastic on one of the doors. He was then whisked back to the hospital for more drugs, only to return to Pine Prairie in the early hours of the morning, he and his lawyer said.
Around 3 a.m. Saturday, June 22, HernĂĄndez Viera was finally allowed to call Lazo Torres.
âI told my wife that I felt so bad, in such a bad condition, that I wouldnât live,â he told NBC.
His suffering was nowhere near over, according to his account. Back at Pine Prairie, he was left in his wheelchair overnight, he said, from 3 a.m. until around 9 a.m. And during the days after his surgery, he tried not to eat much because he feared if he had to use the toilet, no one would help him.
He was treated like an animal, he felt â âlike a person without rights, totally helpless.â
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson Bryan Cox told NBC that ICE could not give specifics about the medical treatment of a particular detainee without his or her written consent, but added that âICE is committed to ensuring the welfare of all those in the agencyâs custody, including providing access to necessary and appropriate medical care.â
HernĂĄndez Viera is an asylum seeker from Cuba, where he faced economic and political persecution because of his familyâs opposition to the Castro government. He says he was detained multiple times there and beaten in front of his family once. He has never been convicted of a crime, according to attorneys from the SPLC, and ICE in a document from December did not designate him as a security risk.
âThese are not people who should be looked at as demons,â said Martin High, a Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative volunteer attorney. âTheyâre just regular people that have been in a really bad situation that has nothing to do with their choices in life.â
In May 2018, HernĂĄndez Viera applied for admission into the United States in Hidalgo, Texas, at a port of entryâ as asylum seekers are supposed to do. During his credible fear interview the following month, a first hurdle in the asylum process, the interviewer checked boxes indicating that he had established a credible fear of persecution based on his "political opinion."
More than a year later, he is still in a facility run by the Florida-based detention company GEO Group â despite the fact that asylum seekers who establish a credible fear are supposed to be eligible for parole, where they await their immigration hearings outside detention. He has a sponsor. Both his wife and 3-year-old daughter are waiting for him. Instead, he is being held in Louisiana, where a hip problem that was once manageable quickly deteriorated so that he could not even walk.
Now, he is staring down deportation. ICE says he is unlawfully present and "received all appropriate legal process" before being ordered removed in December and denied an appeal in May.Â
Two weeks after surgery, he was not granted a stay of removal, which means he could be deported any day and his wife believes this is imminent.
âI think, if he were returned to Cuba right now,â said High, âI think heâd be headed to prison right away and heâd never get out.â
HernĂĄndez Viera has two chances to remain stateside: a petition for review in the fifth circuit court of appeals, where he is represented by High, and a habeas petition. Petitions for review are usually tough to win, said High.
Which leaves the petition for a writ of habeas corpus claiming that his detention is unlawful. Ironically, one of HernĂĄndez Vieraâs last chances to stay with his family hinges on the facts of the hellish treatment he says he has lived through since surgery left him at the discretion of ICEâs care.
STUCK Lazo Torres has the same asylum claim as her husband. But though they say they were persecuted together in their home country, Americaâs immigration system has treated them differently.
She came to the U.S. with her two daughters in February 2018, while her husband lagged behind. When she and the girls arrived here, they were held for 20 days at a family detention center in Texas and then released, she said.
She is now applying for a green card based on a provision in the Cuban Adjustment Act that says Cubans who have lived in the U.S. for at least a year can become lawful permanent residents. Meanwhile, he is detained âpending removalâ to Cuba, according to ICE.Â
During a recent call with HernĂĄndez Viera, Lazo Torres said their 3-year-old daughter âstarted to cry because she wanted to see him.â
âShe asks for him every day,â Lazo Torres said.
In November, after six months in custody, the SPLC submitted a parole request for HernĂĄndez Viera (he had previously been denied parole). Attorney Laura Rivera wrote how HernĂĄndez Vieraâs 7-year-old daughter in Cuba had an often terminal strain of cancer, and how HernĂĄndez Viera would be more able to actively communicate with her and help to support her from outside of detention. She also mentioned his toddler in the U.S., who had begun to suffer from asthma and bronchitis that her physician said was due to the âemotional distress from not having her father around.â
HernĂĄndez Viera would not begin to accrue time in the U.S. until he was released from detention. To be able to apply for a green card like his wife, he had to be granted parole.
In December, HernĂĄndez Viera represented himself in his asylum hearing. It can be difficult to access counsel while detained, especially in more remote facilities such as Pine Prairie, and migrants are not guaranteed representation in civil cases. The judge in his case, who had a recent 83.8% asylum denial rate, compared to 65% nationwide in 2018, ruled that he had not met the burden of proof to establish that he would be persecuted or tortured if he returned to Cuba. Then, ICE denied his parole request â not because he was a flight risk or a danger to the community, but because he had been ordered removed. That meant he was confined at Pine Prairie during his appeal, which was denied months later.
âTheyâre owners of him and theyâre not going to let him leave for any reason,â said Lazo Torres.
HernĂĄndez Vieraâs experience coincides with other detainees under the purview of the New Orleans ICE field office, which in 2018Â approved fewer than 2% of parole requests. âItâs awesome power to deprive people of their physical liberty,â Rivera said, adding that who gets out and who stays in is âarbitrary.â
âI think that Jose Antonioâs mistreatment and prolonged detention is just an extreme example of what happens to immigrants in ICE custody day in, day out,â she said.Â
âUNBEARABLE PAINâ In Cuba, HernĂĄndez Viera had hip problems, but he could still walk.Â
Then, he came to the U.S. and was detained by ICE.
HernĂĄndez Viera wrote on a GEO Group request for health services dated to January: âI would like to know what they are going to do with me as I can no longer tolerate the pain in my hip and they donât attend to me. Please I need an answer. Thank you.â
A month later, he again requested health services: âI have problems with the medicine that theyâre giving me, it gives me nausea and drowsiness...â
And in March, he wrote this: âI have an unbearable pain, every time that I go to the doctor or the attorney visits me when I get there the pain is stronger⊠Moreover, I can no longer take the medicine that relieves me some.â
Progress notes from March indicate that HernĂĄndez Viera was diagnosed with severe osteoarthritis in his left hip and that he was already waiting for surgery, which would not be performed for three more months. In the meantime, he was doled out a cocktail of drugs â including opioids â that discombobulated him so much he had to clutch the walls to walk.
When asked about HernĂĄndez Viera's medical treatment, GEO Group Executive Vice President Pablo E. Paez referred questions to ICE.Â
Finally, doctors scheduled HernĂĄndez Vieraâs surgery for June 19.Â
Lazo Torres flew to Louisiana from Tampa, Florida, for the surgery, but she was not allowed to see her husband. The outreach paralegal who went with her, Jaclyn Cole, was also denied access to HernĂĄndez Viera at the hospital, even though she needed for him to sign urgent documents.
On June 21, attorneys from the SPLC received a letter from an associate general counsel for the Lafayette General Health System, which includes Acadia General Hospital. The letter claimed that the hospital had been told HernĂĄndez Viera was a security risk and could not have any visitors, including counsel. It noted that two guards were posted to his room, and that the hospital had been told not to share any information about him.
âOur hospital is in the middle of an issue between SPLC and ICE. In this situation, we must defer to law enforcement while Mr. Viera is in our hospital for the safety of Mr. Viera, the other patients, our staff and the ICE officers,â the associate general counsel wrote.Â
Once HernĂĄndez Viera returned to Pine Prairie, the compression socks that were meant to keep him from getting blood clots were taken from him for days, said CJ Sandley, one of the attorneys working on his habeas petition. Both Sandley and Lazo Torres said HernĂĄndez Viera has gone for physical therapy only once since his surgery. There are no grab bars for toilets and showers to keep him from further injury, Sandley said, and she heard reports that there were bugs in his infirmary cell.
Dr. Allen Keller, an associate professor of medicine at the New York University School of Medicine and director of the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture, said HernĂĄndez Viera is suffering from post-traumatic stress and depression as a result of trauma in Cuba and prolonged detention in the U.S. After visiting Pine Prairie, he is concerned HernĂĄndez Viera is not getting adequate physical therapy and said immigrant detention does not lend itself to recovery from hip surgery.
âThis is a real important window right now, these next few weeks following the surgery,â Keller said. âIn my professional opinion, itâs essential to his physical and mental well-being that he be released immediately.â
Itâs these conditions on which HernĂĄndez Vieraâs second legal option, the habeas petition, relies. His attorneys are arguing that he should be released from custody or provided adequate medical care at Pine Prairie. Otherwise, they have reason to fear that deportation could be imminent. On Friday in the early morning, Lazo Torres said she heard her husband was removed from detention and being sent back to Cuba; attorneys could not immediately confirm that.Â
âSending him back to Cuba,â said Keller, âespecially as he is recovering from hip replacement, could be the equivalent of a death sentence.â
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the SPLC This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. One Immigration System, Two Outcomes for Cuban Couple Seeking Asylum published first on Miami News
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What is the Difference Between State & Federal Criminal Law?
Prosecution occurs at both the federal and the state levels and so a federal offense is one which is prosecuted under national criminal law rather than under state criminal law under which most of the offenses committed in the United States are prosecuted. Federal offenses normally involve national government agencies such as the United States DEA, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, Department of Homeland Security, the IRS, Border Patrol, Secret Service, or even possibly the USA Postal Service. There is a group of 12 circuits in the Federal court system, distributed throughout the United States. Each circuit has a headquarters along with a number of smaller district courts located around their area. U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit (Washington, DC) U.S. District Court, D.C.- Washington, DC U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit (Boston, MA) Example: U.S. District Court, District of Maine- Portland, ME U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit (New York, New York) Example: U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York- Syracuse, NY U.S. Court of Appeals, 3rd Circuit (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) Example: U.S. District Court, District of the Virgin Islands- Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, VI U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit (Richmond, VA) Example: U.S. District Court, Eastern District of North Carolina- Raleigh, NC U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit (New Orleans, Louisiana) Example: U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas- San Antonio, TX U.S. Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit (Cincinnati, OH) Example: U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio- Columbus, OH U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit (Chicago, IL) Example: U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, WI U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit (St. Louis, Missouri) More Information Example: U.S. District Court, District of South Dakota- Sioux Falls, SD U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit (San Francisco, California) Example: U.S. District Court, District of Idaho- Boise, ID U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit (Denver, CO) Example: U.S. District Court, District of Colorado- Denver, CO U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit (Atlanta, Georgia) Example: U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida- Tallahassee, FL Usual Federal offenses can contain: Narcotics trafficking Crimes accompanying immigration to the U.S. Crimes that incorporate weapons charges Gang crimes White-collar illegal activity Electronic crime and fraud Why Procure a Federal Criminal Defense Attorney The federal criminal justice process is not intended for people to reflect themselves. When you are detained, you want an attorney to stand up for your rights, fight back against overzealous police officers, and also obtain the best result possible. Get in touch with a criminal attorney for more information. This is one reason for an attorney. You do not wish to wander aimlessly at any stage through the legal system without a manual. Getting lost in a jumble of legislation and questionable conviction is not just frightening but can put the rest of your life in peril. The prospect of your own life shouldn't be a bargaining tool when you are facing time in court. The state court and federal court have been two completely distinct strategies -- with unique courthouses and judges. Federal judges may preside over national criminal cases, while elected state court judges preside over state criminal cases. Assistant U.S. Attorneys litigate federal scenarios, whilst state district attorneys and city attorneys insure country offenses. Criminal defense lawyers are the best investment to make regarding case investigation. Not merely do they know the ins and outs of their legal system, but they can look over your situation using fresh and unbiased eyes. They spend their lives working to shield you and your nearest and dearest from regulations that are unnecessary. It is their passion to keep others from an outcome overly harsh for the crime. A high-quality lawyer is not merely able to assist you with your case, but also uses their trained intellect to discover difficulties with the prosecution. Just because someone was detained on suspicion for a crime doesn't mean that the presumed victims are not responsible in some manner as well. Every case is different, and smaller details can function to sufficiently swerve a court ruling. No one would like to have given more of a prison punishment than they deserve. Typically, discipline is greeted with a personal sense of pity and guilt, rather than having an enthusiastic and greedy mindset. So then, the question would be why do so many people put off finding a criminal defense lawyer? With no lawyer that understands a scenario, how then can anybody keep from unnecessary fees? With a large number of people arrested yearly for an entire slew of criminal crimes, it will become simple to lump them into a single group: guilty. This isn't true a sizable amount of the moment. The media and common society like to consider from the striking, and so it will become difficult to slough off the word when in court. A defense attorney understands the problem society induces and thinks in your innocence. Folks commonly misinterpret the notion that they should employ a lawyer only after they've been arrested or charged with a violation. This, however, is totally a farce. Without an attorney present during police interrogations, then there is not any counselor there to help you from admitting to a crime you didn't commit or from saying anything which could function as a detriment for your defense. No matter what crime you've been charged with, it is crucial to procure legal representation that's experienced and knowledgeable in navigating the criminal justice system. That is of special importance if you've already been charged with a federal offense since the paragraphs for national charges are so stringent. Court Cases Litigated by a Federal Criminal Defense Law Firms might be: Battery Attempted Killing and Conspiracy to Commit Homicide Financial Fraud Bankruptcy Fraud Bribery A Conspiracy Embezzlements Blackmailing Extortionate Extensions and Collections of Credit Federal Bank Stealing Firearms Charges Use or Carrying Guns Relation to a Crime of Violence or Drug Dealing Crime Confiscation Proceedings Forgeries Harboring a Fugitive Health Care Fraud Hobbs Act Extortion, Theft and Public Corruption Kidnapping Loansharking Postal Fraud and Digital Making Fictious Statements Misprision of a Felony Real Estate Fraud Capital Laundering Narcotics Charges Obstruction of Justice Lying Under Oath Public Corruption RICO Financial Fraud Sexual Abuse of Minors Stalking Tax Cheating Theft of Government Property Unlawful Usage of Aliens List of the Punishments for federal offenses? Another major difference between national crimes vs. country crimes is the essential sentence. Federal judges have been guided by the federally adopted sentencing regulations when supplying a conviction penalty. Mandatory minimum prison penalties mean that national sentences are inclined to be considerably more lengthy than nation paragraphs. Even if their crimes are alike, someone being stranded for a national crime will generally face a much more unpleasant punishment than someone who has been convicted of a state offense. There is a large system of federal prisons throughout the United States of America. You may reside at any of them depending on a number of factors. If you have psychological or physical health issues, you will probably go to a Federal Medical Center like MCFP. MCFP is a common name for the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners. The facilities where paragraphs are completed disagree, as well. Individuals sentenced to take some time for a national offense will be delivered to federal prison, although people who serve time for a state crime is going to probably be mailed to state prison. Federal prisons tend to house more non-violent offenders (for instance, people convicted of white-collar crimes), while local prisons house large populations of individuals convicted of violent crimes.
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