The Southern Poverty Law Center and community members urged county leaders at Florida's Hillsborough County Juvenile Justice Task Force meeting today not to adopt juvenile detention policies similar to those of Polk County, where an SPLC lawsuit has been filed against the sheriff who houses children charged as juveniles in an adult jail.
The Southern Poverty Law Center is part of a coalition of civil rights groups challenging misguided state laws in Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. Frustration with Congress’ failure to reform the nation’s immigration policy is not sufficient reason for states to create a patchwork of policies that throw lives into disarray and sow fear, bigotry and confusion in communities.
Xenophobia and a desire to find a scapegoat for these hard economic times will spur more anti-immigrant legislation. And there’s no shortage of lawmakers unwilling to hear other viewpoints. But there are still people unwilling to allow their state to be governed by fear.
The Southern Poverty Law Center urged Louisiana lawmakers to oppose a bill that bans state contracts from providing anti-discrimination protections to vulnerable populations that include LGBT people and English language learners – provisions that threaten to stifle economic growth and harm the state’s school children.
The Southern Poverty Law Center commends Sheriff Marlon Gusman’s decision to close the Orleans Parish Prison House of Detention, but the Sheriff’s Department needs to make additional reforms to better protect the community and save taxpayer dollars.
