Former New Mexico Deputy Indicted on Excessive Force

Department of Justice

Office of Public Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, June 29, 2012

Former New Mexico Sheriff’s Deputy Indicted for Using Excessive Force

WASHINGTON – A federal grand jury in Albuquerque, N.M., returned a one-count indictment charging former San Juan County, N.M., Sheriff’s Deputy R. Dale Frazier, 56, with unlawfully assaulting a man with a dangerous weapon.
  
 The indictment was announced today by Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division; Kenneth J. Gonzales, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico; and Carol K.O. Lee, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office.

The indictment, which was returned on June 27, 2012, charges Frazier with one count of violating the victim’s right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer.

According to the indictment, Frazier unlawfully assaulted a man on March 17, 2011, in Farmington, N.M., by striking him in the head, neck and body with a flashlight.  The repeated strikes by Frazier resulted in bodily injury to the victim.

If convicted, Frazier faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

This case is being investigated by the Albuquerque Division of the FBI.  It is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Sheldon L. Beer of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Baker for the District of New Mexico. 

An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

New Mexico Teen Kicked Out of School and Publicly Humiliated For Pregnancy; the New Scarlet Letter?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

GALLUP, N.M. – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of New Mexico filed a lawsuit today on behalf of Shantelle Hicks, 15, who was initially kicked out of middle school and then publicly humiliated at an assembly by the school director and another staff member because she was pregnant. 

The complaint alleges that school administrators violated Hicks’ constitutional right to equal protection under the law, Title IX’s prohibitions against sex and pregnancy discrimination and violations of her right to privacy. 

“It was so embarrassing to have all the other kids staring at me as I walked into the gymnasium,” said Hicks. “I didn’t want the whole school to know I was pregnant because it’s not their business, and it wasn’t right for my teachers to single me out.” 

Hicks attends Wingate Elementary School, a Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school, and is currently in the eighth grade. She discovered she was pregnant approximately three weeks before the assembly, and she and her mother told the director of the middle school and two other staff members. They initially responded by kicking her out of school. The ACLU of New Mexico sent a demand letter to the school, informing them that it is illegal to deny a student access to education because of pregnancy status. Wingate readmitted Hicks after four missed days of instruction. 

Approximately two weeks later the director of the middle school and another staff member had Hicks stand before the entire middle school at an assembly and announced that she was pregnant. Until that point, no one other than Hicks’ sister knew that she was pregnant. 

“Too often, pregnant students face significant barriers or outright discrimination in school,” said Galen Sherwin, staff attorney with the ACLU Women’s Rights Project. “Instead, schools should give pregnant and parenting students the support they need to help them succeed, for both themselves and for their children.”  

“The ACLU’s lawsuit seeks damages and declaratory relief for violations of Hicks’ constitutional right to equal protection under the law and of Title IX prohibitions against sex and pregnancy discrimination in education.” 

“We believe that Wingate intentionally humiliated Shantelle in retaliation for her refusal to leave the school,” said ACLU of New Mexico cooperating attorney Barry Klopfer. “It is outrageous that educators would subject a young woman in their care to such cruelty. Adopting one’s moral convictions from the Scarlet Letter is completely inappropriate and fails to take into account a child’s educational needs.” 

Lawyers on this case include Klopfer, Alexandra Freedman Smith, Laura Schauer Ives and Maureen Sanders of the ACLU of New Mexico; and Sherwin and Lenora Lapidus of the ACLU Women’s Rights Project. 

More information about this case can be found at: www.aclu.org/womens-rights/hicks-v-edsitty-beach

Sharper Focus on Diversity Could Pay Off For Business, Ebook Author States

News Release
Susan Klopfer
sklopfer@gmail.com
http://susanklopfer.com/

Diversity eBook nominated for Global Award.

(Gallup, New Mexico) -- Is the time ripe for another book on diversity? Author Susan Klopfer believes so, "...since the money part of the diversity message still hasn't hit home for most business leaders."

If American business has been talking the language of diversity for over 20 years, why do we still hear shocking complaints of ethnic mistreatment and cultural misunderstanding? Business author Klopfer asked this question after gathering diversity-related stories for her newest ebook, Cash In On Diversity; How Getting Along With Others Pays Off.

Klopfer's ebook is available through Smashwords, the Internet's largest ebook publisher and distributor to most major ebook retailers, including ibooks, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Stanza and others.

A civil rights author, journalist and professional book editor, Klopfer is a storyteller and her ebook’s characters reveal unfortunate accounts of “what still goes on in far too many business environments, even when we’re told through corporate messages via countless blogs, seminars, speeches, books and videos that major diversity issues have long been settled.”

One of Klopfer’s stories, for instance, focuses on a young man who wears tasseled shoes to work and is fired by a major pharmaceutical company because he doesn’t “fit in”; another, of an Island woman who is expected to cook a special meal every year so her cohorts can experience “true” diversity; and, still another story tells about a new employee who is asked to “set up” a “real quick diversity program” (“maybe write a blog or put up a Facebook page”) so the company will look good to its African American customers. “Try win a diversity prize!” his boss commands.

Cash In On Diversity blends practical experience with academic findings and provides do-able solutions, along with a diversity and psychology FAQ contributed by a social and clinical psychologist.

Adding value to this easy-to-read 12-chapter ebook is a discussion of five common diversity mistakes companies frequently make, like seeking “one size fits all” training and solutions.

Readers also benefit from a specific tips for communicating with non-native speakers, as well as a unique diversity questionnaire, and an 11-Point Organizational Diversity Analysis.

Also featured is the script from Klopfer’s popular diversity webinar, followed by a complete glossary of critical diversity terms (from Abrahamic religions to xenophobia).

“When we have a better grasp of diversity terms, we can really understand current problems and then have a better chance of solving them,” Klopfer, a communication specialist, asserts.

In doing her informal research, the diversity author noticed that big businesses often do no better than small organizations when it comes to really understanding diversity, and making use of its benefits.

“Too often, culturally naive business managers, even in large, sophisticated organizations, lead their companies into losing millions of dollars in lost opportunities due to problems stemming from simple cultural misunderstandings, which can lead to the mismanagement of employees. Just look at the high volume of lawsuits.”

Miscommunication and a lack of cross-cultural understanding are two main barriers organizations face when it comes to working globally, Klopfer states. “In an increasingly aggressive global business environment, there’s no time for the misinterpretation and blunders that result from failing to recognize and understand each other’s values.”

Klopfer holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University and an undergraduate degree in Communication from Hanover College. A former journalist and technical writer, she is the author of an alternate book selection for the Book of-the-Month Club (Abort! Retry! Fail!) and worked as a computer book development and acquisitions editor for Prentice Hall. Klopfer recently lived in the Mississippi Delta where she wrote two civil rights history books, including the story of Emmett Till. From this experience, she became interested in diversity management and chose to blend her journalism, business and civil rights experiences and knowledge.

Klopfer currently resides in Gallup, New Mexico where she recently opened a vintage and southwestern gallery.

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"In a world where ethnic conflict seems emerging and re-emerging, Susan Klopfer has written a luminous book defending the value of ethnic intimacy and arguing the virtue and art of story as a powerful means of achieving that intimacy. Her book could not have come at a better time."

Robert Alpert, civil rights activist and teacher

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Cash In On Diversity; How Getting Along With Others Pays Off ($3.99. Smashwords, 2011) is a practical guide written for business people, educators, health workers, lawyers, ministers, engineers, computer experts, students and all others who want to do a better job of relating to each other in their daily lives. Easy-to-read, storytelling approach. Includes a valuable glossary plus avaluable, free gift to readers.

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