Racial hate acts not just something from the past

Editorials

January 12, 2013

Racial hate acts not just something from the past

By The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Miss Associated Press Sat Jan 12, 2013, 08:00 AM CST

JACKSON, Miss. — The charges read in federal court in Jackson against 21-year-old Rankin resident Joseph Dominick sounded more like something from the civil rights era than today.

But in pleading guilty to a federal hate crime, for being part of group that regularly came to Jackson in 2011 and 2012 to harass African-Americans by throwing beer bottles and shooting metal ball bearings at them with sling shots, Dominick, just as others did who plead guilty before him, reminded us that while much has changed since then, racial hate acts are not something only from the past.

The case is related to one that made national headlines for Mississippi in 2012, when guilty pleas were entered by Deryl Dedmon, Dylan Wade Butler and John Aaron Rice of Rankin County, who pleaded guilty to federal hate crime charges relating to the June 26, 2011, hit-and-run death of James Craig Anderson, a black man, near a motel. That case was the first time the federal law known as the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crime Prevention Act has been used in which defendants’ actions resulted in a victim’s death.

The law, signed in 2009, was named in memory of James Byrd Jr., who was killed in Jasper, Texas, in 1998 after being dragged behind a pickup. Shepard, a student, was tortured and murdered in 1998 in Wyoming because of a perception that he was homosexual.

In December, Jonathan Kyle Gaskamp, 20, of Brandon; and William Kyle Montgomery, 23, each pleaded guilty in federal court in Jackson to one count of conspiracy to commit a hate crime and one count of committing a hate crime.

Dominick, like Gaskamp and Montgomery, was not part of the hit-and-run death of Anderson, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation said that, “On an occasion predating the death of Mr. Anderson, Dominick, Montgomery, Butler, and others known to the government traveled to Jackson in Dominick’s truck for the purpose of finding and assaulting vulnerable African-Americans. ...”

In other words, the night that Anderson was killed in the hit-and-run accident was not a singular, isolated incident of hatred by a group. That would be bad enough. But the reality we see now as revealed by federal prosecutors is horrific, and numbing. ...

We hope that federal authorities have continued success in closing this case, bringing all participants to justice. Further, we hope these convictions serve as notice to others that hate crimes in Mississippi will not be tolerated.

Online:

http://www.clarionledger.com

Text Only

Editorials

DOJ’s seizure of phone records is appalling
By The Vicksburg Post:
In today’s Department of Justice, the ends seem to justify the means.
And it is sickening.

May 25, 2013
Bryant tantrum on education major standards was misguided
By the (McComb) Enterprise-Journal:
That was quite a tantrum Gov. Phil Bryant pitched at the College Board recently, criticizing its members for voicing concerns about his effort to increase standards for education majors.

March 29, 2013
Legislature to City Hall not sure move
Five Mississippi House members are running for mayor this year, and while name recognition might provide some advantage, lawmakers have had a mixed record in trying to go from the Capitol to City Hall.

March 27, 2013
Nation’s economy improving, but state’s still lagging
By The (Jackson) Clarion-Ledger
It’s been a long time coming, but finally there are bright economic signs nationally that seem here to stay a while.

March 23, 2013
Armed teachers dangerous idea for school safety
By (Columbus) The Commercial Dispatch:
The Mississippi House of Representatives sent back to the Senate a bill that would arm teachers.
Before sending it over, the House, by a 70-46 vote, amended the Senate’s bill in two major ways. Actually, the House did more than amend it. They neutered it.

March 22, 2013
Not every bill grabs headlines
The first two bills that Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed during the 2013 legislative session dealt with money.
House Bill 19 gave more cash to the agency that coordinates a program to put all emergency offices under the same digital communications system. House Bill 20 moved money from the car tag reduction fund to the Budget Contingency Fund. Lawmakers use the contingency fund to cobble together cash for the overall state budget.

March 20, 2013
Transparency key to ‘best watchdogs’ oversight
By The (Tupelo) Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal:
Rep. Jerry Turner’s effort to require open meetings of water associations and notice of meetings in which members of boards of directors will be elected remains alive in the Legislature. It should be enacted in the interests of transparency in the running of the nonprofit associations providing water for a significant percentage of Mississippi’s population.

March 16, 2013
Miss. makes news, good news, this time
By The (Columbus) Commercial Dispatch:
Generally, when Mississippi makes national news — especially of late — it is not the sort of notoriety we welcome. ...
So March 3, when Mississippi again made national news, we braced ourselves for the embarrassment that was sure to follow.
Only this time, it wasn’t anything to be embarrassed about.
Imagine that.

March 15, 2013
Ag’s legal expenses top $2.4M for year
An ongoing lawsuit challenging Mississippi’s foster care system has cost the state at least $4.4 million in legal expenses and fees since 2008.
Expenses continue to rise as the plaintiffs and the state work toward a telephone status conference scheduled for April 25 with U.S. District Judge Tom S. Lee. The price tag this year is $1.35 million.

March 13, 2013
Ag’s legal expenses top $2.4M for year
An ongoing lawsuit challenging Mississippi’s foster care system has cost the state at least $4.4 million in legal expenses and fees since 2008.

March 13, 2013
More Editorials Headlines

Editorials

Search Results

Racial hate acts not just something from the past

Site Map

Contact Us