“The Case of Joe Campos Torres” is a documentary film about one of the most infamous cases of police misconduct in Houston history. Produced at KPRC-TV, Channel 2 in Houston in 1978 by Tony Bruni and written and edited by Carlos Calbillo, this documentary feature is reported by John Quiñones, now of ABC News in New York City.

Shot on location throughout Houston, this film chronicles the event and subsequent community protest meetings and community/police department negotiations and the legal actions taken by the Torres family against the Houston Police Department.

The writer/editor, Carlos Calbillo will be present for Q&A after the film. Members of the Torres family and representatives of the Houston Police Department have been invited to the screening and may also take part in the Q&A.

To be screened on Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 7PM at the Houston Community College Northline Campus, 8001 Fulton St. Houston, TX 77021

FREE and open to the public.

Greetings!

L. A. DISTRICT ATTORNEY SETTLES CASE
AGAINST NATIVO LOPEZ

By: Alexis Calvo

A settlement not totally to the liking of the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office was finally reached after twenty-four months of attempting to bring to trial the case against Nativo Lopez, National President of the Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) and the Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana. Originally charging Lopez with eight felony counts of voter fraud and perjury in June 2009, District Attorney Steve Cooley finally conceded to eliminate seven counts and stand on one count of voter registration fraud, a felony wobblier, which will be reduced to a misdemeanor and expunged from the record (constituting a dismissal) after twelve months assuming Lopez complies with probation conditions of 400 community service hours.

The original case was filed by the district attorney in June 2009 with four felony charges and subsequently amended to include four additional felony counts for a total of eight. After one year the D.A. was unable to bring the case to a preliminary hearing, and actually came close to losing the case, Commissioner Kristi Lousteau, the first judge to hear the matter, was overheard to say by the eleventh month of the case. The D.A. then moved to convene the Los Angeles County Grand Jury to obtain an indictment, which it successfully did in June 2010. One year later, after three different judges ordered Lopez to be examined by court-ordered psychiatrists on six separate occasions and three incarcerations lasting from four hours to five days, including two instances of strict solitary confinement, and having been before six superior court judges, the case was finally set for trial on June 22nd before Superior Court Judge William Ryan.

Lopez sought to have private counsel engaged after defending the case himself for most of the two years with no previous legal court experience. However, two judges denied him the right to legal counsel of his choice and imposed on him the public defender over his repeated objections on the record. Judges George G. Lomeli and Patricia Schnegg also denied him additional time for private counsel to prepare for a trial.

With literally one day to prepare for a trial, review all discovery documents, interview prospective witnesses, and prepare pre-trial motions, the defense was inclined to offer a settlement in the interest of the defendant. At the end of the day, the district attorney’s office was motivated to drop seven felony counts, not seek any jail time, and settle for a plea on the one felony charge (defined as a wobblier – could be filed as a felony or a misdemeanor), which it conceded would be reduced to a misdemeanor and ultimately dismissed from the record once Lopez completes the community service hours. On the other hand, conviction of the eight felony counts was the equivalent of a 48-year prison sentence.

Lopez never conceded that he had not taken up residence in his Boyle Heights office during the height of the historic immigrants’ rights marches of 2006 thru 2008, the period under investigation by the D.A.’s office. Cooley conceded that Lopez had been registered to vote in only one location, not two, and that he voted only once in each of the elections – never in two jurisdictions and never more than once. To the prosecutor’s insistence that Lopez verbalize a plea of guilty to the one count, Lopez responded, “a plea of guilty has been entered because it is in my interest to do so based on the plea agreement reached with the district attorney’s office.” Judge Ryan immediately found this acceptable and so ordered.

Lopez was quoted as declaring, “I am happy to put this behind me, and ironically glad that District Attorney Steve Cooley brought the charges against me. Over the past two years I was forced to study the law, the judicial system, the common law, courtroom decorum and procedure, and the Uniform Commercial Code, like never before. Cooley put me on a course of study that I would not have otherwise pursued. With this knowledge I am now positioned to help literally tens of thousands of others to work their way through the legal system. I now intend to continue a serious study of law and commercial remedies for the layperson. I have turned lemons into lemonade.”

The offenses for which Lopez was charged are actually extremely common. The most common occurrences of an individual registering to vote in a domicile where he does not live 100 percent of the time are college students living and studying elsewhere, but maintaining their voter registration address in the residence of their parents; business-persons who have a business address and a residence address elsewhere; and individuals who frequently travel and have multiple residences. Many people have made the observation that the prosecution by the D.A.’s office against Lopez was politically motivated and heavy-handed in terms of the multiple felony charges.

Dissimilar to other public officials charged with criminal offenses in the recent past, Lopez was not accused of texting pornographic photos of himself to women, soliciting sex from prostitutes, laundering money, trafficking arms, abusing drugs or alcohol, attempting to bribe a government official or soliciting a bribe for himself, sexual assault on a women, or other such felonious crime. He was accused of registering to vote from his office domicile and voting from that address and allegedly residing elsewhere – and because of that he received the wrath of Cooley’s office with eight felony charges.

Lopez was actually born in Boyle Heights and has maintained offices in East Los Angeles since the 1970s with the numerous organizations with which he has been affiliated over the past forty years, including the Center of Autonomous Social Action (CASA), Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, and the Mexican American Political Association (MAPA). He has participated in multiple electoral and political campaigns throughout the Los Angeles metropolitan region, which have resulted in the election of many public officials, both Latino and non-Latino. His most prominent and recent activities in the region were the historic immigrants’ rights marches and economic boycotts.

ORIGIN OF THE CHARGES

The origin of the charges against Nativo Lopez stemmed from an internal dispute within the Green Party Los Angeles County Council. Old guard conservative leadership led by Michael Feinstein lost their power sway to a reform slate, which came to prominence in the primary elections of June 2006. Lopez represented the Senate District 22 as a county party delegate, encompassing the cities of Boyle Heights, Maywood, and parts of the city of Los Angeles, and immediately became a target of harassment, surveillance, and spying by the Feinstein faction. Feinstein’s group refused to concede the reins of leadership to the reformers and launched attacks against a number of its leaders, including Lopez.

Court documents revealed that the source of the original complaint to the California Secretary of State’s Office, and subsequently to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, was the Feinstein cohorts. This party faction worked with state and county police agencies to run Lopez out of the Green Party. Lopez actually ceased any party activities in 2008 after concluding with other party activists that this party could not be a viable alternative to disaffected Democratic and independent Latino voters. State and county detectives and investigators conducted surveillance against Lopez in 2008 and 2009, with the connivance and cooperation of the Feinstein faction, prior to filing the criminal charges in June 2009. “Feinstein and his allies were not interested in a darker hue of green for the Green Party by way of recruiting thousands of new adherents of color to the party as we had intended and repeatedly proposed,” stated Lopez. “And the party has remained a miniature cult under the control of white party activists in the face of a colored tsunami of demographic shift throughout California, but especially in the Los Angeles metropolitan region,” he concluded.

ONLY REGRETS

At the conclusion of the case, Lopez expressed that, “I only regret that we did not have the opportunity to challenge the manner in which the county grand jury is convened by the district attorney’s office, which truly does not reflect the racial and ethnic composition of the surrounding community of Los Angeles – of the accused; and that we were not permitted the time to challenge the selective prosecution trajectory of the D.A.’s office over the years, which has been oriented against persons of color.”

He also expressed his deep gratitude to the many people that stood by him on some fifteen court appearances, and contributed to his defense, especially the hard-working immigrant workers who took days off from work to accompany him to the court.

*Reproduction of this article is permitted. Please credit the author.

Most people suppose that Fernandez is a supporter of the Mexican people. He certainly makes enough money off of us. However, I’m not convinced. He also played for the Republican National Convention in 2000 at a time when Republicans were becoming radically anti-Mexican.

I understand that for some, questioning Vicente, is like questioning Jesus, but let us take a look at his decision in the context of the political situation in Arizona, and for that matter, the whole country.

SB1070

SB1070 is one of the most onerous laws ever passed in the United States. The law requires local law enforcement officials to enforce federal immigration law, laws for which they have no authority, no training, and often no desire to enforce. The law lends itself to racial profiling. In one version of the law, police officers were obligated to check the immigration status for anyone whom they suspected of being undocumented…under any circumstances.

This could mean that a victim of rape, robbery or assault could essentially be deported for having reported such a crime. Such a policy would have led to lawlessness in our community. Eventually, some of the provisions were changed, and still others are being blocked by the Supreme Court.

Incidentally, similar measures could be coming to Texas.

It is these policies that the compañeros in Arizona are warning the country about, and this is why they are urging the boycott on Arizona, and on companies tied to such legislation like Budweiser.

Enter Chente

Vicente Fernandez, in one of his most famous songs, calls himself “The Son of The People.” I find it hard to believe that a true son of the people, especially after having made so much as a result of the people’s loyalty, could make a deal with a company and a state that has treated the people, our people, as animals. It makes me believe that he is a son of something other than the people!

The main group protesting Budweiser, Arizona and now Fernandez is a group known as Puente. They are urging people not to be tricked by a hypocrite like Fernandez.

They bring up some very good points. Why would you spend your money with a company, a singer or a state that turns around and uses that money to harm your community? Not only are you giving up the struggle, but you are buying the ropes with which they are hanging you.

The Boycott Theory

Many activists and organizers excuse the undocumented from the struggle for their own rights. They say that the cost of deportation is too high or that the undocumented people are too busy trying to put food on the table. I am not one of those people who accept those excuses. History has proved that the most successful struggles are those in which the people who are most affected stand up for themselves. What if Zapata or Villa or Cuauhtémoc had said that the cost for resisting was too high? Where might we be?

Even for those who believe in the excuses, there is no excuse for failing to participate in this boycott. All we have to do is NOT buy Budweiser, Arizona or Vicente Fernandez.

Reportedly, Fernandez wants to console the people through song. I hope that there is no part of our community which is dumb enough to be sung to death. For the rest of us, we won’t allow our money to be used to buy the ropes which will hang us.

This weekend, I was invited by some friends of mine to visit Cleveland, Texas.  The trip was not a leisurely one.  We were invited to meet with a community which had been affected by a horrific incident-the gang rape of an 11-year old by a group of men.   This young girl was lured to an isolated location, where men from the age of fourteen to twenty seven years of age took turns having sex with her on different occasions.  I was also informed that in later incidents, members of the same group threatened to kill this young girl if she did not return to the same location to be raped again.  If this isn’t enough of a tragedy, this child, her parents and the community quickly became victims of an ensuing media circus. 

Racial Perspective

One of the most attractive parts of the story for mainstream media types is that the victim of this rape was a so-called Latina.  All of the accused are black.  Traditionally, there is little else that attracts mainstream media more than racial problems, especially when the two sides are people of color. 

Quanell X, a local activist, staged a town hall meeting in Cleveland to discuss some points of concern with the situation.  Many people involved in social justice and human rights have learned to be guarded with the criminal justice system.  Having protested cases like Pedro Oregon’s murder at the hands of HPD in the nineties to most recently the detention of babies in immigrant jails like Hutto, I understand the apprehension of other activists when it comes to issues of criminal justice. In general, Mr. X is correct in questioning law enforcement’s process with people of color. 

In his speech, he clearly said that any adult who had sex with a child should “have his butt whooped” and go to jail.  He also said that he told one of the accused who had admitted to his crime that he had to pay for his crime, even if the accused did not know her age, and he scolded black elders for losing control of their neighborhood.  He said that those who admitted their involvement did the right thing, and that those who were involved needed to pay for their crime. 

However, he made some other statements, which many people, including myself, interpreted as blaming the victim and her parents.  “This rape did not happen one night. It did not happen in two days, this was going on over a protracted period of time so I have to ask the question if this young girl did not live in that neighborhood…(if she was) so much experiencing sex with so many African -American men (sic)…where was her mother.” 

I spoke to Quanell X about his comments for this piece.  He was adamant that he did not intend to blame the child.  “She is a baby,” he said.  “If these brothers are guilty of what they stand accused of, they are worthy of death.”  He repeated that phrase for emphasis.  However, he stood by the assertion that the parents bear some responsibility. 

I am relieved that he does not blame the victim, but I do not see the parents as being negligent in this case.  The NY Times reports that she was an honor student, and local witnesses claim that her siblings were as well.  Even if they were negligent, I don’t know that it would be accurate or correct for them to bear any responsibility for having been manipulated, even if that manipulation spanned a few months.

 Women’s perspective

As I heard Quanell X’s comments with a female listener, she quickly responded, “How can he say she was having sex?  She was being raped.” That sums up the sentiment of many women who have been following this case.

In Cleveland, Yolanda Navarro Black, made it clear that “CHILDREN CAN’T CONSENT TO SEX.”  She explained that it was not as much a racial incident, as it was a women’s issue.  Nothing else matters, except for the fact that a minor child had been raped by adult men.  It doesn’t matter whether the child thought she wanted to.  It does not matter how the child dressed.  It does not matter whether her parents were respectable or not.  “A child can’t say yes.”

A group of women organized a press conference to reiterate the same message.  They made it clear that this was not so much a racial incident, as it was a women’s issue.  

“We’re talking about race, why?” said Councilwoman Jolanda Jones in an interview about the press conference.  “I was a victim of rape at eight years old, and I didn’t report it until I was twenty one.  Part of the reason was because the rapists threatened to kill me and my family members.”  Reportedly, this is how the Cleveland rapists convinced the child to return to be victimized again.

Sylvia Gonzales, LULAC’s National Vice President for the Southwest, is preparing to take up a collection and to fundraise for the victim’s family.  “They are very much in need due to this incident,” she says.  She can be reached at 832-283-5752.

I applaud these women for putting ethics first and for questioning a strong personality in defense of women and family, before any man did the same.

Organizing/Bigger Perspective

In the end, I believe that race is pertinent.  Quanell X says that he believes that three of the accused are innocent.  From my experience, it is plausible that three out of the nineteen black men could be charged with insufficient evidence to support these charges. It is also plausible that race could play a part in their charges.  While I strongly object to his take on the victim’s family, I believe in due process, and that the guilty should spend a lifetime paying for their crimes.

For my part, I told the good people in Cleveland, that it was extremely important to have a standing organization which is prepared to deal with all injustices as they come.  Injustice exists most often when the people fail to organize in its own self-defense.  I encouraged them to begin meeting with the aim of preparing themselves for the likely event that justice might not be served in this or in many other cases to come.  Previous preparation is the key to fighting injustice.

Martínez, sin embargo, es sólo uno de los latinos últimamente implicados en este tipo de caso. El verano pasado, Carlos Almante, de la herencia dominicana, fue implicado en un caso parecido. Fue detenido después de que abordó a un avión que se dirigía a Somalia. Según los funcionarios, su misión era unirse a un grupo llamado al-Shabab, un grupo que el gobierno de EE.UU. considera un grupo terrorista. Además de estos dos casos, otros tres casos como estos se han producido desde el 9 / 11, con algunos casos dándose a conocer internacionalmente.

En un informe de NPR, Juan Zarate con el Centro de Estudios Estratégicos e Internacionales nos dice lo siguiente: “La gente no está preocupada que grandes partes de la comunidad o de las sub-comunidades se unan al-Qaeda… Es a la vez las tendencias de estas personas sino también sus casos particulares, las dimensiones sustantivas de su trabajo, y con quien se están comunicando, y lo que representan que ha dado base a la atención que han recibido de analistas contra-terroristas.”

Por lo general, es el perfil de los conversos que se está estudiando. La mayoría de estos conversos son de la clase media y son nacidos en este país, según los informes. También hay gran actividad de conversión que se produce en la cárcel. La mayoría de los científicos sociales analizan las causas de las actividades sociales a través de fuerzas endógenas (internas) y exógenas (externas).

Factores internos
Dentro de nuestra comunidad en estos momentos, hay un gran cambio para muchas familias. Millones de familias han pasado por el proceso de la migración, adaptándose completamente al nuevo estilo de vida, y al país. Al mismo tiempo, muchas de las fuerzas que mantienen la vida comunitaria no han viajado con ellos. Nuestro pueblo, lejos de casa, no ha sabido adaptarse a nuevas actividades sociales que cementan a sus hijos a la nueva comunidad. Así que la segunda y tercera generación a menudo se sienten sin raíces, “perdidos.”

Al mismo tiempo, algunos de nuestros sub-comunidades han sido llamados a reflexionar, o para ser “hallados.” Jóvenes de la clase media, en general, tiene más tiempo y ánimo para esta reflexión, y los presos se encuentran en circunstancias en la que la falta de reflexión es una receta para la perdición. En este momento, hay más jóvenes latinos de clase media en EE.UU. que en cualquier momento en la historia moderna. Además hay mas presos Latinos como porcentaje de la población que en cualquier momento en la historia moderna. Esto ha creado dos sub-comunidades de nuestro pueblo que tienen el tiempo, la motivación y el deseo de reflexionar. Entonces, ¿qué enseñan sus reflexiones?

Factores externos
Si alguien se toma el tiempo para reflexionar sobre nuestra posición actual en la sociedad, pronto se dará cuenta de que los Estados Unidos simplemente no nos quiere aquí, a pesar de nosotros somos los guardianes originales de esta parte del mundo. Ahora ye que han disfrutado de nuestra mano de obra a bajo costo y ahora que la bonanza económica ya no existe, nuestra lucha por los derechos humanos y por la dignidad son extremadamente incómodos para algunos sectores del pueblo blanco. Este análisis se ve a través de la política de inmigración actual. La falta de voluntad del gobierno para darnos una reforma migratoria integral sólo refleja el deseo de la sociedad para echarnos. Cuanto más tiempo que pasamos sin reforma, más de nuestras familias serán deportadas, y los menos que tienen que batallar con nuestras comunidades.

El otro factor externo es que nuestros líderes no han proporcionado un marco práctico y alternativo en el que se puede canalizar esta angustia cultural y esta reflexión. Los migrantes, se han criados con una desconfianza saludable y justificable a las autoridades de todo tipo. Sus hijos han aprendido a tener la misma desconfianza de los partidos existentes, figuras religiosas y otros pilares de la vida social. Estas instituciones han fallado totalmente a nuestra gente en este país también, y siguen fallando con más frecuencia. Nuestros líderes han fallado a la necesidad de establecer un movimiento pragmático que realmente amenaza la ortodoxia política, religiosa y social. Los líderes solo han proporcionado más de lo mismo.

Hay un movimiento, sin embargo, que amenaza todos los pilares sociales ya mencionados. Fue producido, no por casualidad, por otro grupo que es víctima de las clases políticas como el Tea Party: los musulmanes. Los musulmanes no han dejado de proporcionar un marco para tales preguntas. Siento totalmente que ninguna forma del Islam es la solución para nuestro pueblo, a pesar de que tengo un gran respeto por la religión. Espero ofrecer aquí una comprensión de por qué algunos de nuestra gente han considerado el Islam como una solución.

Necesitamos un movimiento propio que se ocupa de las cuestiones sociales, políticas y religiosas que tiene nuestro pueblo, no un movimiento basado en el terrorismo, pero basado en Nuestra Restauración como un pueblo. Si no ofrecemos un vehículo práctico para tal movimiento, otros lo harán. Por mi parte, estoy plenamente seguro de que pronto comenzará la marcha hacia Nuestra Restauración.

Martinez, however, is only one of the recent Latinos involved in such a case. The one immediately prior to Martinez involved Carlos Almante, of Dominican heritage. He was arrested in the summer, after he boarded a plane headed to Somalia. According to officials, he was headed to join a group called al-Shabab, a group which the US government considers to be a terrorist group. Besides these two cases, three other cases like these have occurred since 9/11, with some cases making international headlines.

In a report to NPR, Juan Zarate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies tells us the following: “It is not like folks are worried about vast communities or sub-communities of Latinos joining al-Qaida…It’s both the nature of these individuals but also their case studies, the substantive dimensions of their work, and who they are in contact with, and what they represent that I think is why Latino converts have garnered some attention from counterterrorism analysts and the community.”

Generally, it is the profile of the converts that is being studied. Most of these converts are middle class and native born, according to reports. There is also great activity of conversion occurring in prison. Most social scientists analyze reasons for social activities through endogenous (internal) and exogenous (external) forces.

Internal Factors
Inside our community right now, there is a great deal of change for many, many families. Millions of families have gone through the process of migration, completely adapting to a new lifestyle , and country. At the same time, many of the forces that kept the community going at home have not travelled with them. Our people, far from home, have failed to adapt new social activities that fully cement their children to the new community. So the second and third generations often feel rootless, “lost.”

At the same time, a few of our sub-communities have been called to reflect, or to be “found.” Middle class youth, generally, have more time and encouragement for such reflection, and prisoners find themselves in circumstances in which a lack of reflection is a prescription for perdition. At this point in time, there are more US middle class Latino youth than at any time in modern history. There are also more prisoners as a percentage of the Latino population than at any time in modern history. This has created two sub-communities of our people who have the time, motivation and desire to reflect. So what do their reflections teach?

External Factors
If anyone takes the time to reflect on our current position in society, they will quickly find that the United States simply does not want us here, despite us being the original caretakers of this part of the world. Now that they have done as they will with our labor, and now that the economic boom is over, our cries for human rights and dignity are extremely inconvenient for some portions of white America. This analysis is supported by the current immigration policy. The government’s lack of will to give us comprehensive immigration reform only reflects society’s desire to kick us out. The longer that we go without reform, the more our families are deported, and the less they have to deal with our communities.

The other external factor is that our leaders have failed to provide a practical alternative framework in which to funnel this cultural angst and reflection. Migrants, by upbringing, have a health and justifiable distrust of existing authorities of all kinds. Their children have learned to have the same distrust of existing parties, religious figures and other mainstays of social life. These institutions have totally failed our people in this country as well, and they continue to fail with more frequency. Our leaders have failed to fashion any pragmatic force which truly questions existing political, religious or social orthodoxy. They have only provided more of the same.

There is one movement, however, which questions all of the above. It is provided, not coincidentally, by another group being kicked around by the political and tea-party classes: Muslims. Muslims have not failed to provide a framework for such questioning. I wholeheartedly feel that neither radical nor terroristic nor trasitional Islam is the solution for our people, even though I have a great respect for the religion. I hope to provide here an understanding as to why some of our people have found this to be a solution.

We need a movement of our own which addresses the social, political and religious questions that our people have, a movement not based in terrorism, but based in Our Restoration as a people. If we do not provide a practical vehicle for such a movement, others will. As for me, I am fully confident that we will soon begin our march toward Our Restoration.

Some of them are members of Union Del Barrio, an organization from which I derive great inspiration. That these brothers and sisters can speak the truth AND WIN ELECTIONS is a great beacon of hope for me.

Congratulations!