Connecticut town paying $450K in civil rights suit
Source: Associated Press
Connecticut town paying $450K in civil rights suit
By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN, Associated Press | June 9, 2014 | Updated: June 9, 2014 3:01pm
EAST HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut town has agreed to pay $450,000 to settle a civil rights lawsuit by Latino residents and adopt what an attorney called some of the nation's strictest limits on immigration enforcement by local police.
East Haven won't keep people detained at the request of immigration authorities unless they have a criminal warrant signed by a judge. The town will no longer hold a person solely for a civil detainer, a request from Immigration and Custom Enforcement to state or local authorities to notify the federal agency before releasing someone so ICE can transfer the person to federal custody.
East Haven police "now has the strongest separation of policing and immigration enforcement of any law enforcement agency in Connecticut and, I believe, in the nation," said Michael Wishnie, a Yale Law School professor who represented the plaintiffs along with students through the school's Worker & Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic.
East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr. said the town did not admit wrongdoing and called the settlement an important step forward.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Connecticut-town-paying-450K-in-civil-rights-suit-5538865.php
= new reply since forum marked as read
"I might have tacos" when asked what he was going to do for the Latino community.
http://www.wfsb.com/story/16595269/east-haven-mayor-taking-heat-for-taco-comment
"What are you going to do for the Latino community?" asked one reporter Tuesday.
"I might have tacos. I'm not quite sure yet," replied East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo.
Eyewitness News spoke to Maturo about the comment, and he said that he blames himself for the mistake and said the comment is taking away from the bigger story.
