Cross post from My Left Nutmeg
UPDATE: You can read DOJ’s remarkable report on East Haven’s bias problem below.
Did we need the Department of Justice to tell us the obvious regrading East Haven’s attitude towards Latinos?
The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice has found that East Haven police have engaged in widespread “biased policing, unconstitutional searches and seizures, and the use of excessive force.”
The complaints arose from New Haven advocates and Latinos who had complained of discriminate treatment by East Haven police. The justice department launched an investigation after a Yale Law School clinic filed a request on behalf of the victims. The department released the findings of that probe at a press conference Monday.
The report cites the Feb. 19, 2009 incident with Father James Manship of Fair Haven’s St. Rose of Lima Church. On that day, Manship showed up to an East Haven bodega to document an incident of alleged harassment. When Manship walked into the store with his video camera, East Haven police arrested the priest for filming them. Charges were later dropped.
Investigators also found that the East Haven police department was interfering with the federal investigation and that people seeking to cooperate were retaliated against.
…and I thought Danbury was bad
The DOJ, headed by Eric Holder, no longer has standing or credibility in such determinations.