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7A NEWS/ The Charlotte Post Thursday, May 15, 1997 Gadhafi visit slammed by archbishop Continued from page 6A Libya. The U.N. Security Council imposed the ban to force the surrender of two Libyans wanted in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. over Lockerbie, Scotland, v;hich killed 270 people. Eager to flout American attempts to isolated Gadhafi, Abacha refused a U.S. request to detain the aircraft on which Gadhafi flew. He also awarded America, the Libyan leader Nigeria’s highest honor, calling him a true African leader. Gadhafi told a crowd of 50,000 Nigerians that he wanted to show off Islam’s strength against Europe and Voting district changes blocked by court By Richard Carelli THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court made it hard er Monday for federal officials to block proposed changes in state and local election sys tems that might hurt the political clout of blacks and other minority voters. Lawyers disagreed, however, about the practical impact of the court’s 7-2 decision in a case from Bossier Parish, La., where until recently no black ever had served on a 12-mem- ber school board. The court said Justice Department lawyers have used too stringent a legal standard in deciding whether to give initial approval of elec tion-system changes in states and communities, mostly in the South, required to obtain such permission. The Louisiana case focused on two parts of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965. The law’s Section 5 requires state or local governments to show that any proposed elec tion change does not leave minority voters worse off than they were. The act’s Section 2, which applies nationwide, is more stringent. It prohibits any vot ing practice that would dilute minority voting strength. At issue was whether Justice Department lawyers can reject a practice under Section 5 just because it violates Section 2. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, writing for the court, said they cannot. Michael Garvin, a lav?yer for Bossier Parish, said the ruling “puts an end to the Justice Department’s power to force state and local governments to racially gerrymander in favor of minorities.” He said administration lawyers have been applying the more stringent legal stan dard “to engage in affirmative action in behalf of minority voters” by withholding approval of any proposed change that does not maxi mize minority voting power. For example, he said, an electoral system featuring one majority-black district might fail to get federal approval just because a redistricting plan could have been drawn featuring two such districts. But Laughlin McDonald of the American Civil Liberties Union said the court’s rejec tion of merging the voting law's two sections “is not much of a setback.” He noted the justices ruled that evidence that a proposed change would dilute minori ties’ voting power still can be a factor in deciding whether there exists a discriminatory purpose — a violation of Section 5. The justices set aside the decision of a three-judge court in Louisiana and told the lower court to restudy a Bossier Parish school board voting plan that included no majority-black districts. S.C. parents sue sehools over painted face THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CHARLESTON, S.C. - Nina Campbell’s family has filed a civil rights lawsuit, saying the child was branded and humili ated when a kindergarten teacher scrawled “Where are my glasses?” on her face. The suit, filed Thursday, alleges Nina was “branded and forced to serve against her will and in a condition of involuntary servitude as a messenger carrying a humili ating message.” It said the girl was “embar rassed and humiliated, was forcibly touched and branded and as a result was caused to seek medical treatment and care as well as psychological treatment.” The suit doesn’t specify dam ages, but seeks an amount “to equal or exceed” the minimum in federal court for actual damages, which is $50,000. Nina’s teacher, Phyllis Adelsflugel, wrote the mes sage on the child’s face last November in an incident that attracted nationwide atten tion. She is named as a defendant in the suit, along with Charleston County and the county school district and Mitchell Cohen, the principal of Pepperhill Elementary School. Nina has since trans ferred to another school. After the incident, Mrs. Adelsflugel was suspended for 20 days without pay and required to take sensitivity training, provide a written apology and refrain from marking on any student’s face. Spokeswoman Toby Smith said the district would have no comment. Mrs. Adelsflugel’s attorney, Denna McRackin, said she had not seen the suit, Cohen said he was not aware of the suit and had no comment. The suit also alleges inva sion of privacy, reckless use of force, negligence and malprac tice, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, unlawful civil battery and a violation of the state tort claims act. It also alleged the-defen dants later defended Adelsflugel’s actions “in fur therance of the school policy to embarrass and humiliate a black child.” Nina is black, and Mrs. Adelsflugel is white. The school board last month refused to settle a claim at the district's insurance policy lim.it, which board officials later said was $1 million. The family’s attorney, Gary Ling, said he did not realize the limit was that much and said the Campbells were not seeking that kind of money. Paratrooper spared death in 2 murders THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WILMINGTON, N.C. - A former Army paratrooper was spared the death penalty and sentenced to life in prison Monday in the slaying of a black couple gunned down in what prosecutors say was a skinhead initiation rite. The jury took 1 1/2 hours to decide on the penalty for 23- year-old Malcolm Wright, one of three white soldiers from Fort Bragg charged in the case. The 1995 slayings prompted an Army investigation of racism in the ranks. Wright was found guilty May 2 of murder in the deaths of Jackie Burden and Michael James, who were shot at ran dom on a Fayetteville street. A fellow Fort Bragg skin head, James Burmeister, 21, was convicted as the trigger- man in March and also got life in prison instead of the death penalty. Prosecutors said Burmeister killed to earn a spider web tattoo like the one Wright has on his left elbow. The tattoo was a sign among neo-Nazi skinheads at Fort Bragg that the wearer had killed a black or a homosexual. Anita Stroud radiothon IN BRIEF The ninth annual Anita Stroud Radithon will be broadcast May 31. The radiothon, which raises money for the Anita Stroud Foundation’s educational pro grams, will be held at the Excelsior Club from 10 a.m-4 p.m. • The NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund will spon sor a four-person captain’s choice golf tournament at Charles T. Myers Golf Course, 7817 Harrisburg Road.. For more information, call Isaac Applewhite at 547-7547. • Fran Farrer was named alumnus of the year by the Charlotte Chapter of Johnson C. Smith University’s Alumni Association. Farrer, advertising manager at The Post, has been an active member of the Charlotte chapter since 1974 and currently serves as recording secretary, co-chair of Group III Membership Committee and the Scholarship Committee. Other awardees were: Calvine Shadd Battle (Richmond chap ter); Willie DuBose (New York chapter); Annette Graham (Washington chapter); Gregg Hankins (New Jersey chapter); Frances Hansome (Raleigh-Durham chap ter); Gloria Martin (Charlotte chapter); Gail McFadden-Roberts (Philadelphia chapter); Marcellus Penn (Winston-Salem chapter); Charles Stephenson III (Metropolitan Columbia chapter) and Judith Washington (Durham area chapter). Correction A photo caption detailing author Ivan Van Sertima’s visit to the Afro-American Cultural Center in last week’s Post omit ted Bertha Maxw'ell Roddey, who was also photographed. Roddey, past president of Delta Sigma Theta and a co founder of the Afro Center, helped welcome Van Sertima, author of “They Came Before Columbus,” to Charlotte. Get into the swing PHOTO/CALVIN FERGUSON Senior PGA golfer Bobby Stroble gives Omar Carter a few tips on his game during a clinic at Sunset Hills Golf Course In Charlotte. The seniors were in town for the Home Depot Invitational tournament. “We want to show Islam’s power and its ability to chal lenge and return the insults to those who voice them,” he said. The lower court had approved the plan, but the justices said they were unsure whether it refused to consider evidence that would be rele vant in a search for a discrimi natory purpose. O’Connor was joined by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy and Clarence Thomas. Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg con curred separately, and Justices John Paul Stevens and David H. Souter dissent ed. Stevens said the ruling wrongly allows initial approval of “a state action that is in clear violation of fed eral law.” Nearly 20 percent of Bossier Parish's voting-age population is black but as of 1990 no black had ever been elected to the school board. Two blacks were elected to the board in 1995, however. We’re Overstocked...So You save BIG! Super Selection off Remnants CARPET & RUG 4600 N. Tryon Charlotte (704) 699-6101 612 W. Main St. Gastonia (704) 864-0369 . Mon -Fn t’-7pm,''SAt y-^pm ^■i . I 1111 Cheriy Rd. Rock Hfll (803) 329-4417 Planning Your Family Reunion? Let us screen print your T-shirts Specializing In •Athletic Teams •Civic Groups •Church Groups • Social groups •Fraternities and Sororities I •Single color prints as low as $63.00 per dozen Only $5.25 per shlrtll (XXL and XXXL slightly higher) W© PirliEit It All Call Today!! 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May 15, 1997, edition 1
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