ACLU Teleconference THURSDAY Announcing Lawsuit Charging Police With Excessive Force
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 8, 2009
CONTACT: Will Matthews, ACLU national, (212) 549-2582 or 2666; media@aclu.org
Nsombi Lambright, ACLU of Mississippi, (601) 573-3978; nlambright@aclu-ms.org
JACKSON, MS – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Mississippi will hold a teleconference for reporters on April 9th, to announce the filing of a federal civil rights lawsuit charging police officers and school officials in Mississippi with assaulting and racially discriminating against schoolchildren riding on a school bus. The lawsuit names as defendants a Mississippi police department, a school district and several of their officials.
The teleconference will include ACLU lawyers who will discuss the lawsuit and the broader issue of how police in school settings contribute to the school-to-prison-pipeline – a disturbing national trend wherein children are aggressively funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. Several parents of students involved in the school bus incident will also participate in the teleconference by answering questions about the incident.
WHAT: A teleconference to announce the filing of a federal civil rights lawsuit against members of a Mississippi police department and officials from a Mississippi school district.
WHO: Lawyers from the ACLU and the ACLU of Mississippi as well as the parents of several students who were abused by police, unlawfully arrested and subjected to intentional racial discrimination.
WHEN: Thursday, April 9th
