U.S. District Judge Stephen C. Robinson this morning allowed Port Chester to go ahead with its chosen remedy, a system called cumulative voting. Speaking from the bench in White Plains, he told attorneys from the village and the Justice Department that he was obligated to favor Port Chester’s plan so long as it fixed the voting rights violation in accordance with the law.

This makes for a very interesting situation in Port Chester. The village board elections will look unlike any other in New York state. Cumulative voting will give voters six votes apiece, for six open seats. In a twist, voters will be able to “plump” their votes by putting all six toward the same candidate. This, Port Chester attorneys successfully argued, will allow Latinos to finally see the candidate of their choice make it onto the village board.

Let’s address one common misconception of the bat: This doesn’t technically mean that Hispanics should be able to elect a Hispanic trustee. It means that whichever candidate they rally behind will have a chance of being elected. Under the old system, the judge found, Latinos tended to band together for a certain candidate only to see that person defeated in the villagewide vote.

It will take a lot of work to teach voters the new system — and how to teach minority groups how to strategize under it. For this reason the judge declined to allow a March election, the usual time frame, offering June instead. This will be the first village trustee election in four years.

Lucero’s family is collecting money for a memorial scholarship for students at Patchogue-Medford High School, according to a press release, and for the transport of a peace mural to Lucero’s home town of Gualaceo, Ecuador.

The Rockland Immigration Coalition, which marked its 10 anniversary last month, began an anti-hate crime task force in response to a string of incidents. Most recently, three teen-agerswere charged with hate crimes in the robbery of a Hispanic man in Spring Valley. Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe met with the coalition recently to explain what constitutes a hate crime in New York.

Gail Golden, co-chair of the coalition, says the task force wants to work with the education and law enforcement systems to promote awareness.

You can see a video of the discussion here by clicking the “on demand” button at the bottom of the Editorial Spotlight video screen.

Before they got onto this issue, Republican Sheriff Don Smith was asked what his department had done to overcome language barriers in Putnam, particularly on the topic of DWI. He responded that the department has worked with a county liaison — Community Affairs Director Patricia Perez — to communicate with Spanish speakers. But that position was eliminated in the recent budget passed by the county legislature. (Unless the position is restored, she will be out by the end of the calendar year.) Smith went on to talk about immigration enforcement.

Democratic challenger Kevin McConville faulted the department for not doing  further outreach to the immigrant population. He said there was not even a single sign in the immigrant enclave of Brewster/Southeast that addressed DWI or other issues, and promised to reach out through church and civic organizations to develop trust between the sheriff’s office and the community.

Neither candidate mentioned, as we reported in July, that the Putnam Sheriff’s Office, an agency with 141 officers, has only two Spanish-speaking deputies. Four Spanish-speakers serve as correction officers.

On the immigration-enforcement question, McConville said he would provide ICE with an office in the Sheriff’s department, so that an ICE agent would be available to work with any law enforcement agency in the county.

Smith said he’d welcome an ICE agent working in the Putnam jail, as in Westchester and Suffolk, but said the volume of work in Putnam wouldn’t justify it.

Smith had been blasted by Republican opponents who favored the 287(g) program. By contrast, McConville noted that the program was faulted by the GAO and others for its lack of standard procedures. The program, now being revamped, is still opposed by advocates out of concern over racial profiling and damaged community relations.

Smith seemed  pleased to agree with McConville on something, saying, “You’re probably my first opponent to recognize that 287(g) was not an effective program.”

(Photos: Sheriff Donald Smith, top, and challenger Kevin McConville. By Robert F. Rodriguez/The Journal News)

Reminds me of the scandal two years ago after a Halloween party at ICE, where an employee showed up in dreadlocks, prison stripes and dark makeup and said he was a Jamaican detainee who had escaped. The costume won a prize for most original.

America’s Voice and Media Matters plan to run an ad on CNN next week  as part of the Drop Dobbs campaign. It runs through the show’s coverage of conspiracy theories about Obama’s birth, an imaginary North American Union, and a supposed plan for Mexicans to reclaim the American southwest as Aztlan. Media Matters has compiled a fact-check about the show, and its claims about illegal immigrants, here.

The Basta Dobbs campaign is circulating this video by Arturo Perez, which mentions the common claim, echoed locally by New York Assemblyman Greg Ball, that about a third of prisoners are illegal aliens. We fact-checked that claim on the state level here and at the national level here. (The actual percentage is 6 percent if you include all noncitizens, whether legally or illegally present in the United States.)

The peaceful Carmel gathering, sponsored  by the Hudson Valley Community Coalition and the lower Hudson Valley chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union, was meant to spark the attention of local representatives to take action. The vigil was held outside the office of Rep. John Hall.

For more on the story, check it out here.

Meanwhile, here are some photos I took of the vigil.

Locally, pro-reform advocates are holding a vigil at 5 p.m. in Carmel, Putnam County. It’s sponsored by the Hudson Valley Community Coalition, joined by the New York Civil
Liberties Union, and will be held at the Old County Courthouse, 40 Gleneida Ave.

Part of the message is intended for Democratic Rep. John Hall, whose office is at that site. Families will demonstrate “to show the President and our leaders in Congress such as John Hall that they need to listen and respect our communities, and show us progress on immigration reform,” according the press release from the coalition.

The timing is considered key. Advocates want Congress to take action before the mid-term election cycle. Sarah Thomas Maldonado, an immigration attorney in Scarsdale, NYC and Stamford, Conn., writes, “It is time to stand up for the values of our nation and demand a humane workable immigration system from Congress and the President.”

More from the coalition’s announcement:

Our families and communities are suffering because of the inaction of politicians. Our communities are being demonized and victimized by politicians and talk-show hosts.  The need and moral imperative is urgent. The President and Congressional leaders repeatedly stated that America should not be tearing families apart but should be solving problems. They need to be reminded of their promises.

Click here for the story.

(Photo: Joe Larese/The Journal News)

• Having ICE headquarters handle contracts with detention centers, rather than handling them through various field offices.

• Giving detainees some kind of risk assessment that determines where they should be held. “ICE will pursue detention strategies based on assessed risk and reduce costs by exploring the use of converted hotels, nursing homes and other residential facilities,” says the press release.

I don’t see any specific mention of alternatives like the use of electronic bracelets. But DHS reportedly will send a plan to Congress about the use of such alternatives.

Amnesty International is among the organizations that have criticized the U.S. treatment of detainees. The organization issued a statement calling for concrete changes:

Amnesty International is encouraged by Secretary Napolitano’s decision to find new environments for immigrants that will not require prison jumpsuits and jail cells.  However, without a change in law, thousands of immigrants will continue to be arbitrarily deprived of their liberty…

The immigration detention system is a crutch that sustains a shattered, inept and inhumane enforcement policy.   It is a pitiable substitution for smart immigration policies. A significant reform of the entire system is desperately needed now – not tomorrow.

Here’s Skirianos talking about what impact the incident has had on his diner: http://www.lohud.com/article/2009910050328