Anti-Defamation League issues statement on Arizona shooting

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PRN - GHN News - The Anti-Defamation League is standing up against hate speech with its
recent declaration, along with other groups tired of the type of
language that risks lives and reputations.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL)  condemned the tragic shooting rampage that wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and killed and wounded more than a dozen innocent bystanders in Tucson,

with reports of six dead and 14 wounded.  In doing so it underline the
serious problems that take place where hate speech is allowed to linger.

Miriam Weisman, ADL Arizona Regional Board Chair, and Bill Straus, ADL Arizona Regional Director, issued the following statement:

"We
are shocked by this unconscionable and horrific act of violence against
one of our highly respected public servants.  We agree with President
Obama and House Speaker John Boehner that
this was more than an attack on one member of Congress – it is an
attack on all public servants and the very fabric of our democracy.

During
her years in the statehouse, Rep. Giffords served on the ADL Arizona
Regional Board.  Her affiliation with ADL, which monitors and exposes
hate and extremist groups, contributed to her awareness of the nexus
between hate ideology and violence.  It is a testament to her dedication
to her constituents that despite past threats against her, Rep.
Giffords has always been so accessible to the people she represents.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Congresswoman Giffords and the other
victims and their families.

ADL remains in contact with
law enforcement as investigators endeavor to establish a motive for the
attack. It is critical to determine whether the alleged shooter, Jared Lee Loughner,
acted alone or with others, and whether he was influenced by extremist
literature, propaganda or hate speech.  While it is still not clear
whether the attack was motivated by political ideology, the tragedy has
already led to, as Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik
put it, "soul searching" about the connection between incivility and
violence. We applaud Sheriff Dupnik's statements condemning the volatile
nature of political discourse in America and for taking this
investigation seriously.

The Anti-Defamation
League was founded in 1913.  It is reputed to be the world's leading
organization as it has often led the fights not only against
anti-Semitism, but also against other behaviors that cause hatred,

prejudice and bigotry.

Vigilante justice remains part of the West's traditions

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GHN News Editor - A
recent case in the State of Arizona reveals vigilante justice continues
to be the way some people settle problems, but that doesn't mean it
something the law allows, as in the case of border vigilante Roger
Barnett.
Barnett, it is said, accosted a group fo 16 illegal

immigrants in 2004 near Arizona on State Highway 80.  He held the
immigrants at gunpoint until Border Patrol arrived.  This is that vigilante justicethat historically took place in border towns of the past.

He
is now being held for $73,000 damages in the case, following an Arizona
jury's award, although the 9th Circuit is deciding whether the verdict
should be reversed.

According to the Mexican American Legal
Defense and Educational Fund, which represented the group, Barnett had
hollered to the women in Spanish,
"My dog is hungry, and he's hungry
for ass."   The jury decided to award damages to the victims for
emotional distress and assault claims in February 2009.

Last
Wednesday Barnett's lawyer John Kaufmann maintained that these damages
should not have been awarded and that the case itself "should never have
been presented to the jury."  He maintains the jury is simply punishing
his client for bad behavior.

In the meantime Arizona remains at the crucible in the area of immigration with its new law
continuing to draw fire as well as imitators, both inside and outside
the state, as the federal government continues to maintain the state
stepped outside the limits of the law in enacting its own laws on the
subject.  That too is a form of justice the federal government in some

words declares a form of vigilantism in itself.