US immigration agency sued for alleged harassment of Hispanic citizens in raid News
US immigration agency sued for alleged harassment of Hispanic citizens in raid

[JURIST] The Southern Poverty Law Center [advocacy website] filed a federal lawsuit [text, PDF; press release] Wednesday against the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) [official website] for its alleged harassment of five US citizens of Mexican descent during an illegal immigration [JURIST news archive] shakedown in Georgia over Labor Day weekend. The civil rights group claims ICE violated the citizens' Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights [text] when it illegally detained, harassed and searched the Mexican-Americans' persons solely because of their appearance in a raid on a chicken processing plant. An ICE spokesman told AP the accusations were "patently false" but declined to comment on specific claims in the suit.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has indicated that it hopes to certify the lawsuit as a class action which would include all local individuals of Hispanic descent or appearance as plaintiffs. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia [official website] and seeking damages and an injunction against future raids, currently names the ICE, its officials and the 30 agents who conducted the raid as defendants. The illegal immigrant population in Georgia is growing faster than anywhere else in the US, having more than doubled since 2000. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.