Essay 126

Law & Disorder with MultiCultClassics Minutes…

• Hasta la vista, Las Chepas. The governors of New Mexico and the Mexican state of Chihuahua agreed to shut down areas of the small border town. Illegal immigrants and drug and human smugglers have used Las Chepas as a staging ground. Abandoned buildings will be boarded up or bulldozed as part of the emergency effort initiated by New Mexico. Security and law enforcement will be beefed up as well.

• Washington, D.C. continues to crack down on MS-13, the notorious Latino street gang. This week, 19 suspected gang members faced a federal indictment charging them with racketeering. Increased violent crimes linked to MS-13 led local law enforcement to seek federal assistance. But given that the gang boasts membership of up to 10,000 nationwide, it’s unlikely officials will deep-six MS-13 anytime soon.

• On September 14, Texas plans to execute a Black woman for the first time since the Civil War. However, defense lawyers are mounting an argument that the convicted murderer is actually innocent. Frances Newton has been on Death Row for nearly 17 years for killing her husband and two children. In light of the recent controversies surrounding the justice system in Texas (see Essays 112 and 121), maybe someone should replace the lethal injection with some legal injection.

• The LAPD is under fire again for beating civilians. This time, the cops roughed up the western regional director of the Nation of Islam Tony Muhammad. The incident took place during a street vigil for a slaying victim, as a group of people allegedly assaulted cops. Witnesses insisted Muhammad was attacked without provocation. The LAPD told a different tale, arguing Muhammad “became quite belligerent and joined in the assault.” The cops suffered a torn pocket and name tag, while Muhammad sported a severely bruised and swollen face, forehead lump and possible concussion.

• In a twisted case of profiling, a private contractor working for the Pentagon prior to May 2000 mistakenly identified Condoleezza Rice as a potential security risk. The group had operated with a counter-terrorism unit within the Pentagon, using sophisticated computer programs that analyzed data for patterns of suspicious behavior. Wonder if Pat Robertson ever popped up on their monitors.