April, 08 2009, 02:17pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Will Matthews, ACLU national, (212) 549-2582 or 2666; media@aclu.org
Nsombi Lambright, ACLU of Mississippi, (601) 573-3978; nlambright@aclu-ms.org
ACLU to Hold Teleconference THURSDAY to Announce Lawsuit Charging Police in Mississippi
With Racial Discrimination and Excessive Force Against Schoolchildren
JACKSON, Miss.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Mississippi will hold a teleconference for reporters tomorrow, April 9, to announce the filing of a federal civil rights lawsuit charging police officers and school officials in Mississippi with assaulting and racially discriminating against schoolchildren riding on a school bus. The lawsuit names as defendants a Mississippi police department, a school district and several of their officials.
The teleconference will include ACLU lawyers who will discuss the lawsuit and the broader issue of how police in school settings contribute to the school-to-prison-pipeline - a disturbing national trend wherein children are aggressively funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. Several parents of students involved in the school bus incident will also participate in the teleconference by answering questions about the incident.
WHAT: A teleconference to announce the filing of a federal civil rights lawsuit against members of a Mississippi police department and officials from a Mississippi school district.
WHO: Lawyers from the ACLU and the ACLU of Mississippi as well as the parents of several students who were abused by police, unlawfully arrested and subjected to intentional racial discrimination.
WHEN: Thursday, April 9, 11:30 a.m. CT
WHERE: Toll-Free Dial-In number for reporters is (800) 288-8968
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
(212) 549-2666LATEST NEWS
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Reports released this week from two organizations that advocate for journalists underscore just how deadly Gaza has become for media workers.
Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) 2024 roundup, which was published Thursday, found that at least 54 journalists were killed on the job or in connection with their work this year, and 18 of them were killed by Israeli armed forces (16 in Palestine, and two in Lebanon).
The organization has also filed four complaints with the International Criminal Court "for war crimes committed by the Israeli army against journalists," according to the roundup, which includes stats from January 1 through December 1.
"In Gaza, the scale of the tragedy is incomprehensible," wrote Thibaut Bruttin, director general of RSF, in the introduction to the report. Since October 2023, 145 journalists have been killed in Gaza, "including at least 35 who were very likely targeted or killed while working."
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When counting the number of journalists killed by the Israeli army since October 2023 in both Gaza and Lebanon, the tally comes to 155—"an unprecedented massacre," according to the roundup.
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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Thursday sued Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits, alleging that the nation's largest alcohol distributor, "violated the Robinson-Patman Act, harming small, independent businesses by depriving them of access to discounts and rebates, and impeding their ability to compete against large national and regional chains."
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"Operating in the highly competitive alcohol distribution business, we offer different levels of discounts based on the cost we incur to sell different quantities to customers and make all discount levels available to all eligible retailers, including chain stores and small businesses alike," the company said.
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