In a long-awaited decision, a federal Judge ruled today that the Arizona Legislature’s ban on Tucson Unified School District’s Mexican-American Studies program violated the students’ First & Fourteenth Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution, because it was enacted and enforced with racial discrimination towards Mexican Americans.
The detailed 42-page Memorandum Decision from Senior U.S. Circuit Court Judge A. Wallace Tashima, sitting by designation, followed a two week trial held in June and July of 2017. The Judge heard extensive testimony from many witnesses, including experts, and received numerous exhibits.
The Court found that former Schools Superintendent John Huppenthal’s anonymous blog comments (published under a pseudonym) with racially disparaging language and conveying racial animus, provided the most important “direct” evidence that racial animus infected the decision to enact the law, as Huppenthal was a key player in voting for it and efforts to get it passed. The judge noted that even former Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne described the blog statements as “shocking” and hate speech. [Read more…] about Judge finds racism behind the Arizona Legislature’s ban on Mexican American Studies Program in Tucson
