ACLU/NAACP Town Meeting on Sheriff Strain

[Keseys Ghost]

Tonight's meeting addressing St Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain's announced policy of racial profiling was well attended (about 100 citizens) and well recieved. We are currently awaiting the media spin before commenting, but post these photos for the time being:



(Left to right) Moderator, Greater Covington NAACP President Annie Spell (standing); King Downing, National Coordinator of the ACLU Campaign Against Racial Profiling; Louisiana ACLU Executive Director Joe Cook; Loyola University of the South law professor and human rights activist Bill Qigley; Redditt Hudson, Racial Injustice Manager, Eastern Missouri ACLU; Justo Garcia, United States Department of Justice; and Kwame Asante', Louisiana NAACP Director.



Buddy Spell, appearing on behalf of the Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers



Bill Quigley appeared on the local TV news this evening suggesting that Strain's comments reduced the image of St Tammany residents to that of "rednecks" with "sheets in the closet and torches in the backyard"



Citizens shared their fears and concerns relative to the the Sheriff's comments



Redditt Hudson, drawing on his years as a detective with the St. Louis Police Department, spoke of the danger posed by the institutional culture which nurtures the abuse of power and how that culture might be best confronted



The empowerment of a community

More as the media files its stories....