Senate Votes to Confirm Thomas E. Perez as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Senate voted 72 to 22 to confirm Maryland Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez as the nation’s Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Department of Justice. The confirmation is long overdue in light of the fact that our nation requires a strong leader for the division after eight years of little civil rights enforcement.

MALDEF & Texas RioGrande Legal Aid Decry School Districts Efforts to Keep Children Out of Schools

SAN ANTONIO, TX – Today, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA) strongly criticized Texas school districts seeking to exclude students from enrollment based on allegations that the students do not reside within school district boundaries. MALDEF and TRLA are working to inform parents, students and educators of the legal rights of students attending public schools in Texas and the state and local requirements that school districts must adhere to governing student enrollment.

Civil Rights Groups Express Outrage; Defendants in Hate Crime Murder of Latino, Father of Two, Receive Six- and Seven-Month Sentences

SHENANDOAH, PA – Today, the Schuylkill County Court sentenced Brandon Piekarsky and Derrick Donchak to six and seven months in county jail on simple assault and alcohol-related convictions, respectively. Both defendants were acquitted of third-degree murder and aggravated assault, respectively, last month after a jury trial relating to their role in the fatal beating of Luis Ramirez, a 25-year-old Mexican immigrant and father of two. Despite the evidence of a hate-driven attack that resulted in the death of a human being, the defendants were convicted of minor crimes and the corresponding convictions and sentences are wholly disproportionate to the crimes committed.