The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) today welcomed an announcement by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education that they will investigate two additional components of an SPLC civil rights complaint that describes widespread discrimination against Latino students and their families in Louisiana’s Jefferson Parish Public School System (JPPSS).
The SPLC today called on the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) to reduce the wildly excessive rates that telephone companies charge for collect calls made by state inmates – fees that are 15 times higher than charges for calls made outside of jails and prisons.
A Louisiana judge has ordered the sheriff of Vermilion Parish to release records that will help the SPLC determine whether the rights of detained immigrants have been systematically violated.
The U.S. Departments of Justice and Education have responded to a civil rights complaint by the Southern Poverty Law Center by announcing they will investigate Louisiana’s Jefferson Parish Public School System for discriminating against Latino students.
The SPLC today welcomed the U.S. Department of Justice’s decision to intervene in an SPLC civil rights lawsuit challenging the brutality and inhumane conditions at the Orleans Parish Prison in New Orleans.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed suit today against a Louisiana sheriff who is refusing to release public documents that could confirm concerns that the rights of immigrants detained in Louisiana have been systematically violated
Vermilion Parish (La.) Sheriff Michael Couvillon refused to turn over public records related to the detention of individuals suspected of being undocumented. The SPLC requested the records under the Louisiana Public Records Act to determine if the sheriff’s office was holding immigrants in jail for prolonged periods of time due to unconstitutional racial profiling.
Louisiana’s Jefferson Parish Public School System failed to provide adequate translation and interpretation services for Spanish-speaking parents with limited English proficiency and created an environment hostile to Latino students. The school system provided school notices in English to English-speaking parents but failed to provide this information to Spanish-speaking parents in Spanish – discriminating against these students and violating state and federal law. The SPLC filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice, resulting in a settlement agreement between the school system and federal authorities.
At Maggiore Elementary School in Jefferson Parish, La., there were no interpreters for students with Spanish-speaking parents.
African-American students and students with disabilities in Louisiana’s Jefferson Parish Public Schools were disproportionately referred to alternative school, where they often languish for months or even years before returning to regular classes. These students often were referred to alternative schools for minor misconduct, such as disrespectful behavior, use of profanity, disrupting class and horseplay.
