Human Rights Violations In The United States

1 Human Rights Violations In The United States A report on compliance with The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights American Civil Liberties Union Human Rights Watch Copyright 8 December 1993 by Human Rights Watch, American Civil Liberties Union All Rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 93-81081 ISBN: 1-56432-122-3 Human Rights WATCH Human Rights Watch conducts regular, systematic investigations of Human Rights abuses in some seventy countries around the world. It addresses the Human Rights practices of governments of all political stripes, of all geopolitical alignments, and of all ethnic and religious persuasions. In internal wars it documents Violations by both governments and rebel groups.

2 Human Rights Watch defends freedom of thought and expression, due process and equal protection of the law; it documents and denounces murders, disappearances, torture, arbitrary imprisonment, exile, censorship and other abuses of internationally recognized Human Rights . Human Rights Watch began in 1978 with the founding of Helsinki Watch. Today, it includes Africa Watch, Americas Watch, Asia Watch, Helsinki Watch, Middle East Watch, and four collaborative projects, the Arms Project, Prison Project, Womens Rights ' Project, and the Fund for Free Expression. It now maintains offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, London, Moscow, Belgrade, Zagreb and Hong Kong. Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization, supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations.

3 It accepts no government funds, directly or indirectly. The executive committee includes Robert L. Bernstein, chair; Adrian W. DeWind, vice chair; Roland Algrant, Lisa Anderson, Peter D. Bell, Alice L. Brown, William Carmichael, Dorothy Cullman, Irene Diamond, Jonathan Fanton, Alan Finberg, Jack Greenberg, Alice H. Henkin, Stephen L. Kass, Marina Pinto Kaufman, Alexander MacGregor, Peter Osnos, Kathleen Peratis, Bruce Rabb, Orville Schell, Gary G. Sick, and Malcolm Smith. The staff includes Kenneth Roth, executive director; Holly J. Burkhalter, Washington director; Gara LaMarche, associate director; Susan Osnos, press director; Ellen Lutz, California director; Jemera Rone, counsel; Stephanie Steele, operations director; Michal Longfelder, development director; Rachel Weintraub, special events director; Allyson Collins, research associate; Joanna Weschler, Prison Project director; Kenneth Anderson, Arms Project director; Dorothy Q.

4 Thomas, Women's Rights Project director; and Gara LaMarche, the Fund for Free Expression director. The executive directors of the divisions of Human Rights Watch are Abdullahi An-Na'im, Africa Watch; Juan E. M ndez, Americas Watch; Sidney Jones, Asia Watch; Jeri Laber, Helsinki Watch; and Andrew Whitley, Middle East Watch. Addresses for Human Rights Watch 485 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10017-6104 1522 K Street, , #910 Washington, DC 20005 Tel: (212) 972-8400 Fax: (212) 972-0905 email: 10951 West Pico Blvd., #203 Los Angeles, CA 90064 Tel: (310) 475-3070 Fax: (310) 475-5613 email: Tel: (202) 371-6592 Fax: (202) 371-0124 email: 90 Borough High Street London, UK SE1 1LL Tel: (071) 378-8008 Fax: (071) 378-8029 email: AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION The American Civil Liberties Union is a nationwide, nonpartisan organization of nearly 300,000 members dedicated to preserving and defending the principles set forth in the Bill of Rights .

5 Since its founding in 1920, the ACLU has championed civil liberties for all people in the United States : freedom of expression, equality, due process of law, the right to privacy, and liberty and justice for all. Today the ACLU has staffed affiliate offices in most major cities and more than 300 chapters in smaller towns and cities. The organization supports more than a dozen national projects, each dedicated to a particular area of need: children's Rights , prisoners' Rights , lesbian and gay Rights , women's Rights , reproductive freedom, immigrants' Rights , voting Rights , AIDS, capital punishment, arts censorship, workplace Rights , education reform, national security and privacy and technology. The ACLU advances its work through litigation, legislative lobbying and public education.

6 ACLU Executive Staff: Ira Glasser, Executive Director; Laura Murphy Lee, Director, Washington Office; Alma Montclair, Director, Administration and Finance; Sandra Sedacca, Director, Development; Steven Shapiro, Legal Director; Loren Siegel, Director, Public Education; Barry Steinhardt, Associate Director. ACLU Executive Committee: Nadine Strossen, President; Alice Bendheim, Gwen Thomas, Richard Zacks, Frank Askin, Vivian O. Berger, James E. Ferguson, Judith Bendich, Mary Ellen Gale, Susan N. Herman, Gara LaMarche, Micki Levin, Robert B. Remar and Philippa Strum. Addresses for the ACLU: 132 West 43rd Street 122 Maryland Avenue, NE New York, New York 10036 Washington, DC 20002 (212) 944-9800 (202) 544-1681 i Acknowledgments This report reflects the work of many individuals.

7 It was conceived and edited by a joint American Civil Liberties Union/ Human Rights Watch team comprised of Steven R. Shapiro, ACLU National Legal Director; Paul Hoffman, Legal Director of the ACLU of Southern California; Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch; Gara LaMarche, Associate Director of Human Rights Watch and Executive Director of its Fund for Free Expression; and Lee Tucker, the W. Bradford Wiley Fellow at Human Rights Watch, who played a vital coordinating and editing role in the final stages of the process without which the report would not have been possible. The authors of the individual chapters include: o Death Penalty: Diann Y. Rust-Tierney, Chief Legislative Counsel of the ACLU, with assistance from Julio Martinez for initial research and drafting and Travia Cole, Administrator of the ACLU Capital Punishment Project; o Immigrants' Rights : Lucas Guttentag, Director of the Immigrants' Rights Project of the ACLU, with assistance from Ann Parrent, volunteer staff attorney and Jinsoo Kim, Harvard Law School intern; o Race Discrimination: Alice Brown, counsel with the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, was the principal author, assisted by LDF staff members Elgin Clemmons, Charles Ralston, Gailon McGowen, Dennis Parker, Nina Pillard, Maya Wiley, Catherine Hinton, Olatunda Johnson, and Kim Field.

8 O Sex Discrimination: Isabelle Katz Pinzler, Director of the ACLU Women's Rights Project, and Deborah Blatt, NYU Law Fellow with the Human Rights Watch Women's Rights Project; o Prison Conditions: Edward Koren, staff counsel with the ACLU National Prison Project, and Joanna Weschler, director of the Human Rights Watch Prisoners' Rights Project; o Police Brutality: Paul Hoffman; ii o Language Rights : Edward M. Chen, staff counsel with the ACLU of Northern California, and Antonio Califa, formerly Chief Legislative Counsel of the ACLU and now Director of the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Transportation; o Freedom of Expression: Jeanne M. Woods, formerly legislative counsel with the ACLU and now Professor of Law at Loyola University School of Law; and Gara LaMarche; o Religious Liberty: Robert S.

9 Peck, Legislative Counsel with the ACLU. Scott Turner, Christina Derry, Robert Kimzey and Barbara Baker of the Human Rights Watch staff provided invaluable production assistance. Table of Contents i 1 The scope of this report .. 3 Major findings .. 5 Race 9 9 Education .. 12 Segregation and resegregation in public schools .. 12 The Court's retreat from 15 17 21 Public housing .. 22 Employment discrimination .. 24 Voting .. 30 Recommendations .. 36 Sex 37 40 Title 40 Occupational segregation and pay 42 Discrimination on the basis of pregnancy .. 44 Damages for intentional discrimination .. 46 Education .. 47 50 Recommendations .. 52 Language 54 54 Language Rights in the United States .. 56 A historical perspective .. 56 American jurisprudence and language 59 Federal legislation and language Rights .

10 63 The importance of the 70 Recommendations .. 72 Immigrants' 74 Haitian refugee policy and treatment of unadmitted or excludable 75 The Guantanamo detention camp .. 77 Interdiction and summary repatriation: the "Kennebunkport Order" .. 80 INS detention .. 88 Indefinite detention of Cuban "Marielitos" .. 89 Detention of juvenile aliens .. 90 Immigration law enforcement .. 91 Alienage discrimination and employer sanctions .. 93 Recommendations .. 95 Prison 98 98 Conditions of confinement in 101 Violence and personal safety .. 103 Human Rights abuses in "supermax" facilities .. 108 Women 112 Recommendations .. 113 Police 115 The nature of the problem .. 117 Excessive force .. 118 Race and police 121 The Covenant's requirements and existing law .. 122 Recommendations .. 126 Death 128 128 Background and status of the death penalty in the United States .