Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Jan. 7, 1999, edition 1 / Page 4
Part of Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
* Senate prepares for battle over removal of president By DAVID ESPO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON ? Impeach ment trial proceedings against President Clinton will begin Thursday in the Senate, Majority Leader Trent Lott announced'' today, saying he hopes for a con clusion that is "fair and <hopefully quick." Lott, R-Miss., said he had met earlier in the day with Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle and Chief Justice William Rehn-' quist, who will preside over the first presidential impeachment trial in 130 years. Lott offered no other details of the trial, in which the Senate will rule on two articles of impeach ment the House approved Dec. 19 and decide whether Clinton will be removed from office. The articles allege that Clinton committed perjury and obstructed justice in an attempt to cover up his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. "We have a constitutional duty here. It is a very serious one. It is one we must carry forward," said -Lott. "We will do our very best to. do this in a proper way." He added: "At the end of the day, I'm going to do my best to make sure we complete our consti- . tutional duties under the rules of the Senate and come to a conclu sion that is fair and hopefully quick also." Lott spoke for only a few moments, and took no questions from reporters, leaving unclear pre cisely what events will occur Thursday and what the timetable will be for Clinton's trial. A proposal authored by one Republican and one Democratic senator for a truncated procedure drew criticism from several GOP lawmakers, many of them conserv atives. Several sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Sen ate leaders are discussing a plan under which Rehnquist on Thurs day will administer a constitution-, ally prescribed oath to the sena tors, who will sit as jurors. Mem befs of the House who are desig nated to present the evidence wdulSrfaanally outline the articles }of impeachment later that day, assuming they are authorized to do so in a House vote scheduled Wednesday. After that, a pause in the pro-' ceedings is possible, while both sides draft legal papers, sources added. "We anticipate that that would start Thursday the 7th and then beyond that will be determined by the discussions" with the rank and file, Lott said. The new 106th Congress con vened Wednesday, and the impeachment trial - the first of a president since Andrew Johnson in 1868 - towers over the agenda. Lott has been struggling to find a formula for a trialybut has been buffeted with criticism from some Republicans who opposed a pro ceeding that waslikely to end after only a few days. "I simply believe we must accept our responsibility to con? duct the impeachment trial, fol lowed by a vote to remove or retain the president," GOP freshman Sen. Rod Grams of Minnesota told Lott in a letter Monday. He cau tioned against a proposal to "shortcut the procedure" envi sioned in the Constitution. On the other hand, Daschle, D S.D., said today a majority of sen ators want to expedite the proceed ing against Clinton. "The longer this drags out, the more acrimonious, the, more politi cal and the less helpful it'll be," he said on NBC's "Today." "We ought to be looking for solutions." ^ Much of the criticism of- a quick solution has come from con-' servatives, but Sen. Arlen Specter, a moderate Republican recently elected to his fourtlwerm, also expressed strong misghnngs. "I think it is very difficult to "conduct a trial if you don't have File photo DospitB riding high in pubbc opinion pale, Proudont CBnton, shown abovm during o rocont visit to on African Amer ican church, focas a imngthy trial by It to Sonata. Tho trial is oxpoctod to bogh today. witnesses," he told reporters. , Many if not all Senate Democ rats back the proposal for a test vote after a brief presentation of the evidence against the president, and the White House served notice during the day that it was prepar ing a hard-nosed defense in the event of a full-blown trial. Advisers familiar with the developing defense strategy said lawyers are working on trial motions cbncerning evidence and an opening presentation that would sharply attack the House conclusions and the evidence from Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. The opening presentation "would be far more extensive and sharper in tone and content" thai> the one Clinton's lawyers made before the House Judiciary Com mittee in arguing the evidence did n't warrant impeachment, said one lawyer who spoke on condition of anonymity. " , The House approved two arti cles of impeachment on Dec. 19, accusing Clinton of peijury and obstruction of justice in connec tion with an attempt to conceal Ijis sexual relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. That set the stage for a Senate trial, and the rank and file of both parties will caucus separately on Wednesday before the new Con gress is sworn in in an effort to agree on a procedure. The bipartisan plan was advanced last week by Sens. Slade Gorton, ft-Wash.; and Joseph' Lieberman, D-Conn. It proposes that after House Judiciary Chairman Henry Hyde presented evidence for one day, the White House would have a day for rebuttal followed by another day of speeches by lawmakers. Then the Senate would take a quick vote to determine whether a full-blown trial should proceed. Unless two thirds of the Senate voted in favor of such proceedings, the lawmak ers then would be free to turn to censuring Clinton. In a news conference in his home state of Washington on Monday, Gorton said the plan he and Lieberman developed would proceed only if a majority of each party suppprted it. Democrats apparently are in favor, and his "best guess" is that a majority of the Senate agrees, but "Senator Lott will propose the plan, I believe, only if a majority of Republicans favor it," Gorton said. While last month's House vote largely wrapped up the House's role in the first presidential impeachment since 1868, officials said Monday that lawmakers must vote again on Wednesday - shortly after Congress convenes ? to authorize key lawmakers to for mally lay out the case against Clin ton at any Senate trial.. Charter school attendance racially skewed THE ASSOCIATED PRESS . ?? : - RALEIGH - Racial balance in * the state's charter schools is no closer to reality two years after the experiment with a new form of public schools began. According to new enrollment figures, about half of the state's charter schools - 27 of 57 - are now made up primarily of students of a particular race. In 18 schools, black students make up more than 85 percent of the student body. In nine schools, enrollment is more than 85 percent white. I^jst year the inaugural year of charter schools in the state- 16 of 33 schools reported enrollments with more than 85 percent of the children of a particular race. State lavy calls for the schools -r which are set\ip by private boards -?-aa a but run with state tax dollars - to "reasonably reflect the racial and ethnic composition" of the school districts in which they, operate. - But in each of their first two years, the schools have had a diffi cult time meeting that criteria. School officials say they aren't excluding students of different races but that it is difficult to attract students who would be in the minority. Some state lawmakers had feared the schools would become havens for middle-class and wealfhy white families. Instead, many of the organizers are black, and those schools have attracted large numbers, of black families dissatisfied with traditional public schools. In response to the large number ? -? of predominantly black charter schools, the State Board of Educa tion has allowed charter schools leeway. While state law says a school must reflect the diversity of its district, the board has interpret ed that to mean charter schools must fall only within the range of racial diversity found in a school system. So in Durham, where the least diverse school is made up entirely of minority students, 100 percent of the students in a charter school can be minorities. In Wake County, where tfie least integrated school is 90 percent white, up to 90 perdent of the students in a charter school can be white. State officials said they aren't likely to close the schools on the basis of race alone. Instead, they want to focus on the academic . .. -? A . m progress of charter school stu dents. "This is one of the most diffi cult issues for me personally that we have to deal with," said Phil Kirk, chairman of the State Board of Education. "But I'm not going to lead any moves to close these schools down after parents have specifically gone and selected them for their children." - Of the 8,555 students in charter schools, about 50 percent are black, compared to *31 percent in public schools. ' "*r * The schools are supposed to encourage, innovation and are freed from many of the bureau cratic rules which govern the pub lic schools. Black tarmers close to settlement with government BY JANELLE C ARTER The associated press 1_ WASHINGTON - Black farmers are close to an agree ment with the Agriculture Department that could pay them $.300 million or more to settle discrimination claims, a spokesman" for farmers in the lawsuit said Monday. The lawsuit - claiming years of discrimination through denial of farm loans, crop subsidies and other benefits; w.as filed in 1997, shortly after the Agricul ture Department admitted its own process of resolving dis crimination complaints had been in disarray and tiad caused a huge backlog. . \ "There's a sincere willingness to get this done," Sam Taylor told The Associated Press. He said the deal was expected to be announced Tuesday. Under the agreement, farm ers taking part in the lawsuit would get $50,000 tax-free pay ments from the government and any debts to the government would he erased. Taylor said. The average farmer's debt is between $75,000 and $100,000. Depending upon how many farmers qualify, the settlement could cost the government as much as $375 million. The plain-_ tiffs say they already have >1,000" names in the lawsuit and esti mate that as many as 2,000 more farmers could join the settle ment. The government has used lower estimates. While not confirming an _ agreement, Tom Amontree, spokesman for Agriculture Sec retary Dan Glickman, said. "The president and secretary put a'lot of time on this issue and it looks like all that hard work is paying off. We hope to have a settlement soon." Attorneys on both sides are pushing to finalize the deal before U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman, who oversees the case, goes on a two-week vaca-. tion Wednesday, Taylor said. The case is scheduled to go to trial Feb. 1. It covers claims from 1997 back to 1983, the year the Reagan administration dis banded the department's office of civil rights. The office was restored in 1996. The settlement being final ized has three options for farm ers. i The majority Of farmers are expected to take the first option which includes the $50,000 pay ment, Taylor said. ? ""We surmise at least 85 to 95 ?percent of all claimants" will take the first option because it has a lower standard of proof, Taylor-said. V The second category -is for farmers who have a bettpr-docu mented case of discrimination and much higher damages, Tay lor said. Those farmers would agree to have their cases settled by an independent arbitrator to be appointed by "the judge. The final category would be an "opt out" category for a small group of farmers who are party to the lawsuit but may be near independent settlements with the Agriculture Department. Officials have been unable to set tie those cases while the lawsuit was pending. The pending deal is signifi cantly higher than the $15,000 per-farmer offer the agency made this summer, plaintiffs . said. But it still is less than the $3 billion the farmers initially sought. Friedman gave the plaintiffs a significant victory in.October when he agreed to certify them as a class. That same month, the department's inspector general complained that the agency's civil rights office remained in disarray with a significant back log. During a hearing in Novem ber, Friedman chastised attor neys over their inability to reach a settlement and questioned why the government, which had admitted- discrimination, was unable to reach a settlement. "If the secretory of agricul ture is saying these things in good faith ... then why can't it get done? It has bothered me throughout,"Friedman said at that time. Death Row ^ from pagr 42 case. "The quality of your lawyer is the most important factor." Mosteller said. "If you're in a posi tion to afford a good lawyer, you're less likely to receive a death penal ^""^Thc'Tega! "5sT510!a?TRnge<ru since the 1980s when an all-white jury took just 81 minutes to sen tence Muhammad Back then. prosecutors could exclude blacks from juries for any reason, virtual ly assuring an all-white panel. The Supreme Court has since struck down race-based challenges to seating jurors. "Juries, especially in the segre: gated South, viewed white people as more valuable and more likely JOkrflntMlflQ,, _ Hood said. "But it s hard to get at the racial bias. Murders just aren't cookie-cutter cases. Every murder case is so unique." The Chronicle Our e-mail address is: wschron@netunlimited.net The Chronicle's e-mail address is: wschron@net unlimited.net The Chronicle's e-mail address is: wschron@net unlimited.net beware!!! ? * ? ? Termite Season . is ^1 Coming... Call ? Triad Pest Control 1535 S. |Martin Luther King Drive Winston-Salem, NC | , 788-3020 ; HywSwwiimwa 1 IN THESE AUDITORIUMS 1 I PATCH AMSIR-Ui .iBJ474Mi J wcnaniuiiKi . jjuum J I MROATSHOWCl i!5U74M5 | i tvonornsnitt immm i I SHAUSPSAKISUITCiII 24U7-JMI I ' icmunwiw-iJi n...ma>am 1 i 1 PATCH AMMSiPG-IJi .l*tl57JIHI YOniGOTMAJUPGl I4A474M warn joe yoihgipgi marata fH!*I0fECm?. I1I5UIM574MJ nwaofEcmffC) iMSJNiisY-jwi igcim joeyowgipgi ijsnmmi M40 REYNOLD* DO. warn jos rowcifC! vammn STAR TREk: INSl UUXTKA iFGi i?WI7JIMI HATSUOY iPtDl I4J4S474M YOOl GOT MAIL 1PG1 MSN 74 Ml vniTiik retusiwri; 144474*4 ARC'S UFlICi 14)45474*11 pint os egypt ici .1115244474*11 SRMMIK-Ui MSN 74 Ml PATCH ADAMS (ICl 1:153474*4 MCllTYll 14447:15*4 20M PETWS CHEEK PKWY. Yoni got mail ipci..:. 144474MI HWCEOSEGYFTlPG)...: ?15144474*11 JACT HOST 1PG1 I-.... J4J45474MI isiuiNMWAnanusTsuiiiiiii *44474*4 PACLUYIll ..,..14441:15*4 PATCH ADAMS IPG-Ul .J:I5 3474*4 PUBLIC NOTICE An important message to consumers who allegedly have had their tax refund checks misappropriated or otherwise used in an unauthorized manner by TAX UNLIMITED, INC. or TAX EXPRESS, INC. We are looking for persons who may have knowledge of such event* occurring at TAX UNLIMITED, INC., and/or TAX EXPRESS^ INC. to assist us in our ongoing investigation. Your call will be kept strictly confidential!!!!! YOUR NEIGHBORS NEED YOUR HELP. The Law Offices of Travis H. Simpson Attorney and Counselor at Law f , 202 West Third Street P.O. Drawer 20874 Winston-Salem, NC 27120 ,,, 336-725-3962 ' 1 ?? I ^^MppRMHHH^H EVENING & EXECUTIVE MBA PROGRAMS ~ WINSTON-SALEM 1 STARTING here '? - I . > ' ? $\ nothing is POSSIBLE I Attend An MBA Information Session . Tuesday, January 12 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. ? (Formal remarks begin at 6 p.m.) Wake Forest University Worrell Professional Center _ v Qj?ith our nationally recognized MBA programs, how far you go is up to you. 1 "?T www.mba.wfu.edu B B
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Jan. 7, 1999, edition 1
4
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75