Department of Justice

Office of Public Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Two Women Plead Guilty in Maryland to Civil Rights Violations

Two Baltimore women pleaded guilty today for their involvement in a racially-motivated conspiracy to interfere with an African family’s housing rights by hanging a dead raccoon on the family’s porch, the Justice Department announced.

Dena Whedbee, 42, and her daughter Brittany Whedbee, 20, each pleaded guilty in the District of Maryland to one count of conspiracy to deprive a person of civil rights and one count of violating the Fair Housing Act.

According to their plea agreement, in April 2010, Dena Whedbee and Brittany Whedbee conspired with Joshua Wall, Billy Pratt and another co-conspirator to hang a dead raccoon from a noose on the porch of a family from Africa, in order to frighten the family and interfere with their housing rights.   Dena Whedbee admitted that she and another co-conspirator found the dead raccoon, and that Wall, Pratt and the other conspirator used the raccoon to carry out their plan on the night of April 29, 2010.   Both Dena and Brittany Whedbee also admitted that they encouraged their co-conspirators to hang the raccoon on the family’s porch.

The defendants face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for conspiracy to deprive a person of civil rights and one year in prison and a $100,000 fine for violating the Fair Housing Act.  U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander has scheduled sentencing for Dec. 14, 2012. 

Billy Pratt, 24, of Baltimore, and Joshua Wall, 20, of Essex, Md., previously pleaded guilty for their involvement in the conspiracy.   Their sentencings are scheduled for Aug. 17, 2012.

This case was investigated by Special Agent Mia Winkley of the FBI, and is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Angie Cha of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney P. Michael Cunningham.

Voting Rights Under Observation by DOJ

Department of Justice

Office of Public Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, June 25, 2012

Justice Department to Monitor Elections in New York

The Justice Department announced today that it will monitor primary elections on June 26, 2012, in Orange County and Queens, N.Y., to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  The Voting Rights Act prohibits discrimination in the election process on the basis of race, color or membership in a minority language group. 

Under the Voting Rights Act, the Justice Department is authorized to ask the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to send federal observers to jurisdictions that are certified by the attorney general or by a federal court order.  Federal observers will be assigned to monitor polling place activities in Orange County based on a federal court order entered in 2012.  The observers will watch and record activities during voting hours at polling locations in these counties, and a Civil Rights Division attorney will coordinate the federal activities and maintain contact with local election officials. 

In addition, Justice Department personnel will monitor polling place activities in Queens.   A Civil Rights Division attorney will coordinate federal activities and maintain contact with local election officials.

Each year, the Justice Department deploys hundreds of federal observers from OPM, as well as departmental staff, to monitor elections across the country.  To file complaints about discriminatory voting practices, including acts of harassment or intimidation, voters may call the Voting Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division at  1-800-253-3931.

Visit www.justice.gov/crt/voting/index.php for more information about the Voting Rights Act and other federal voting laws.

Georgia Sheriff and Jailer Facing Civil Rights Charges; DOJ release

Department of Justice

Office of Public Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, May 14, 2012

Wilcox County, Georgia, Sheriff, Son and Jailer Face Civil Rights Charges in Superseding Indictment

The Justice Department, along with U.S. Attorney Michael J. Moore, Middle District of Georgia, today announced that a grand jury returned a superseding indictment against former Wilcox County Sheriff Stacy Bloodsworth; his son, Austin Bloodsworth; and former Wilcox County Jailer Casey Owens.   The superseding indictment charges the defendants with assaulting three different inmates inside of the Wilcox County Jail on July 23, 2009, thereby violating their civil rights.   As a result of the assaults, one inmate suffered a broken jaw, and two other inmates sustained bruises and scratches.   The indictment also charges the defendants with conspiring to cover up the assaults.   In addition, Stacy Bloodsworth and Austin Bloodsworth were charged with lying to the FBI, while Owens was charged with writing a false report about the incident.  Stacy Bloodsworth was charged with tampering with one of the victims, as well as two witnesses.

In addition to the civil rights and obstruction of justice charges stemming from the assaults that took place on July 23, 2009, the superseding indictment also charges Stacy Bloodsworth with violating the civil rights of individuals on two other occasions.   Former-Sheriff Bloodsworth is charged with assaulting Wilcox County Jail inmate M.A. in July 2009, causing him to suffer a laceration and pain.   It also charges the former sheriff with assaulting N.S. in November 2009, causing him to suffer a concussion, bruising, and pain.

The civil rights charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years for each count, and the conspiracy and false statements charges carry a maximum penalty of up to five years.   Additionally, Stacy Bloodsworth faces a maximum penalty of 20 years for each count of witness tampering, while Owens faces a maximum penalty of 20 years for his writing a false report.

A prior indictment, which was unsealed on Feb. 17, 2012, charged Stacy Bloodsworth, Austin Bloodsworth, Owens and former Wilcox County Jail trustee Willie James Caruthers with civil rights violations in connection with the July 23, 2009, assault of the three inmates; with conspiring to cover up the assaults; and with committing various obstruction of justice offenses.

On April 4, 2012, defendant Caruthers pleaded guilty to acting with several others, including law enforcement officials, to assault an inmate in the Wilcox County Jail on July 23, 2009.  Caruthers also pleaded guilty to conspiring to tamper with a witness in connection with the assault.   During his plea hearing and in his factual basis, Caruthers admitted that he, along with several other individuals, including law enforcement officers, assaulted Wilcox County inmate K.H., causing K.H. to suffer a broken jaw.   Caruthers further admitted that he was present when several individuals, including then-Sheriff Bloodsworth, assaulted inmates K.F. and T.O., causing both of them to sustain bruises, scratches and pain.   Caruthers further admitted that he conspired with several other people, including Stacy Bloodsworth, to cover up the fact that law enforcement officials and others had used excessive force against inmates K.H., K.F. and T.O.  Caruthers acknowledged that the plan of the conspiracy was for the co-conspirators to prepare false reports and submit them to Wilcox County Sheriff’s Office officials, and to make statements consistent with those false reports to anyone inquiring about the excessive use of force incident.  When Caruthers is sentenced, he faces a maximum penalty of up to 10 years on the civil rights violation, and a maximum penalty of up to five years on the conspiracy charge.

On March 5, 2012, former South Central Georgia Drug Task Force Agent Timothy King Jr., 31, pleaded guilty to a bill of information charging him with conspiring to tamper with a witness in connection with the July 23, 2009 assaults of inmates K.H., K.F. and T.O.   During his plea hearing, King admitted that he conspired with several other people, including a law enforcement official, to cover up the fact that law enforcement officials and others had used excessive force against the three inmates.   When King is sentenced, he faces a maximum penalty of up to five years.

This case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Gerard V. Hogan and Trial Attorney Christine M. Siscaretti of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant United States Attorney Paul C. McCommon III of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Wrongful Use of Taser Lands County Sheriff's Sergeant in Prison

U.S. Dept. of Justice
Civil Rights Division
News Release
April 30, 2012
-----------------------

Former Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s sergeant, Althea Mallisham, 52, has been sentenced to 61 months in prison for civil rights convictions for wrongfully using a Taser against three detainees during separate incidents over a four month period in 2008.

On Nov. 16, 2011, Mallisham pleaded guilty to three felony civil rights offenses at which time she admitted that on separate occasions while she was on duty as a Tuscaloosa Sheriff's sergeant and acting under color of state law, she used an X26 Taser to electro-shock three pre-trial detainees as a means of punishment. In each instance, the pre-trial detainees were either restrained in handcuffs or securely locked in a jail cell.  None of the three detainees posed a physical threat to any officers or other detainees when they were electro-shocked.  In each instance, Mallisham willfully exceeded and abused her authority under state law.

“Law enforcement officers who abuse their power to maliciously subject those in their custody to extreme pain will be held accountable,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will continue to vigorously prosecute those who cross the line to engage in acts of criminal misconduct.” 

To read more, click here.

Two Harlan County, Kentucky, Men Indicted for Federal Hate Crime Against Individual Because of Sexual Orientation; Update on DOJ and Trayvon Martin -- Zimmerman

Released by the

U.S. Dept. of Justice

Civil Rights Division

Thurs., April 12, 2012

Indictment Marks the First Case Charged Under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act Involving Sexual Orientation

Two Harlan County, Ky., men were indicted today for their roles in kidnapping and assaulting a gay man because of his sexual orientation, the Justice Department announced today.

A federal grand jury in London, Ky., returned a three-count indictment charging David Jason Jenkins, 37, and Anthony Ray Jenkins, 20, for kidnapping and assaulting Kevin Pennington, and for conspiring with each other and with other unnamed individuals to commit the kidnapping.

Matthew Shepard, left 

The indictment charges the men with committing a hate crime in violation of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which expanded federal jurisdiction to include certain assaults motivated by someone’s sexual orientation.  This case marks the first federal hate crime charging a violation of the sexual orientation provision of the statute.

The indictment alleges that on April 4, 2011, the two defendants kidnapped and assaulted Kevin Pennington because of Pennington’s sexual orientation. According to the indictment, the defendants enlisted two women to trick Pennington into getting into a truck with the defendants, so that the defendants could drive Pennington to a state park and assault him. According to the indictment, the defendants then drove Pennington a secluded area of the Kingdom Come State Park in Kentucky and assaulted him. To read more,click here.

Meanwhile...

Holder: Justice Dept. will act on Trayvon Martin case if evidence of civil rights crime

Attorney General tells Rev. Al Sharpton group fighting youth violence is a top priority 

Reported by the New York Daily News:

Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that the Justice Department will take appropriate action in the killing of Trayvon Martin if it finds evidence that a federal criminal civil rights crime has been committed.

The attorney general made the comment in an appearance before a civil rights organization founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton.

Holder says the department will conduct a thorough and independent review of the evidence in the Martin matter.

The attorney general says one of the department's top priorities is preventing and combating youth violence and victimization.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/holder-justice-dept-act-trayvon-martin-case-evidence-civil-rights-crime-article-1.1059685#ixzz1rrBMbro9

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/holder-justice-dept-act-trayvon-martin-case-evidence-civil-rights-crime-article-1.1059685#ixzz1rrBFfp2v

Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division: Katrina Follow-up Announcement on Danzinger Bridge Shooting

Department of Justice

Civil Rights Division

Danziger Bridge, New Orleans, where shooting took place after Katrina.

The Justice Department announced today that five officers from the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) were sentenced in connection with the federal civil rights prosecution of a police-involved shooting that occurred on the Danziger Bridge in the days after Hurricane Katrina, leaving two innocent civilians dead and four others seriously wounded. The defendants were also sentenced for their roles in an extensive cover-up of the shooting U.S. District Court Judge Kurt Englehardt imposed long prison sentences on the four officers who were involved in the shooting on the bridge.

He sentenced those four officers as follows:

Sergeant Kenneth Bowen was sentenced to 40 years in prison;

Sergeant Robert Gisevius was sentenced to 40 years in prison;

Officer Robert Faulcon was sentenced to 65 years in prison;

and Officer Anthony Villavaso was sentenced to 38 years in prison.

The fifth officer, Sergeant Arthur “Archie” Kaufman, was a supervisor who was not involved in the shooting, but who helped the other officers cover up what they had done. Kaufman was sentenced to six years in prison. To read more, click here.

Background:

The Commission on Civil Rights approves motion asking Congress allow it to take Justice Department to court if it refuses to enforce commission's subpoenas and other "lawful requests"

ABC News/Politics

The Commission and Agency Have Clashed Over the Case of the New Black Panther Party

The Commission on Civil Rights has approved a motion asking Congress to essentially allow it to take the Justice Department to court if it refuses to enforce the commission's subpoenas and other "lawful requests" pertaining to a lawsuit against the New Black Panther Party.

In a heated, often unruly meeting where tempers flared, most of the eight-member, conservative-heavy commission accused the Justice Department of failing to enforce the voting rights law in a race-neutral way in the case of the black panthers.

The Bush administration filed a voter intimidation lawsuit against three members of the New Black Panther Party in January 2009, alleging that they intimidated voters outside a polling place in Philadelphia in November 2008 by hurling racial slurs.

ABC reports: Continued
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Susan Klopfer, MBA, helps organizations discover and implement diversity plans. Visit Susan's website to learn about her free online workshop, Five Costly Diversity Mistakes Companies Make and How To Avoid Them. http://susanklopfer.com