http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20910081/posts/summaryWed, 26 Apr 2006 17:34:50 +0000http://www.stopoperationmethmerchant.org/blog/StopOMM@mindspring.com (Deepali Gokhale)15http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20910081/posts/summary/115582980123685082Thu, 17 Aug 2006 15:47:00 +00002006-08-17T11:51:11.156-04:00FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 9, 2006, 1:30 p.m. Atlanta, GA – Members of the Racial Justice Campaign Against “Operation Meth Merchant” (RJC) are deeply disappointed with last week’s ruling by Judge Harold Murphy, denying the selective enforcement motion filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The ruling continues a troubling trend in the US criminal justice system, which http://www.stopoperationmethmerchant.org/blog/2006/08/racial-justice-campaign-disappointed.htmlStopOMM@mindspring.com (Deepali Gokhale)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20910081/posts/summary/115440092241135051Tue, 01 Aug 2006 02:52:00 +00002006-07-31T23:32:59.686-04:00“Operation Meth Merchant” Named as an Example of Racial Profiling by Law Enforcement FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 25, 2006, 11:30 a.m. Contact: Deepali Gokhale, 404-822-5090, stopomm@mindspring.com GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Racial Justice Campaign Against “Operation Meth Merchant” (RJC) members returned home after a meeting with the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) in Geneva, where US http://www.stopoperationmethmerchant.org/blog/2006/07/racial-justice-campaign-members.htmlStopOMM@mindspring.com (Deepali Gokhale)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20910081/posts/summary/115334308748992738Wed, 19 Jul 2006 20:59:00 +00002006-07-31T23:32:34.946-04:00The ACLU Motion was heard by Judge Murphy at the Rome Federal Court on June 19, 2006. The Motion contained sworn testimony by two confidential informants (CIs) stating that they bought ingredients to create methamphetamine from various stores, not limited to ones owned by South Asians, yet law enforcement agents steered them solely towards South Asian owned stores to conduct their controlled http://www.stopoperationmethmerchant.org/blog/2006/07/aclu-selective-investigation-motion.htmlSharmilyhttp://www.blogger.com/feeds/20910081/posts/summary/114943372757439648Sun, 04 Jun 2006 15:08:00 +00002006-06-04T11:09:37.376-04:00FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 2, 2006, 12:00 p.m. One Year Later: The Anniversary of “Operation Meth Merchant” is No Cause for Celebration Media Contact: Deepali Gokhale, 404-822-5090, stopomm@mindspring.com ATLANTA, GEORGIA, June 2, 2006 -- Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of the day 49 people were arrested as part of "Operation Meth Merchant," the government’s botched sting operation http://www.stopoperationmethmerchant.org/blog/2006/06/one-year-later-anniversary-of.htmlStopOMM@mindspring.com (Deepali Gokhale)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20910081/posts/summary/114607264596329550Wed, 26 Apr 2006 17:28:00 +00002006-04-26T13:30:45.983-04:00Public Demands that U.S. Attorney David Nahmias Drop the Prosecutions FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 4th, 2006, 5:00 p.m. Media Contact: Deepali Gokhale, 404-822-5090, stopomm@mindspring.com ACLU Selective Investigation Reinforces Community Charges of Racial Bias South Asian Stores Targeted Over 90 Times More Often in Operation Meth Merchant Racial Justice Campaign Against Operation Meth Merchanthttp://www.stopoperationmethmerchant.org/blog/2006/04/aclu-motion-bolsters-community-charges.htmlStopOMM@mindspring.com (Deepali Gokhale)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20910081/posts/summary/114297483169576060Tue, 21 Mar 2006 21:00:00 +00002006-03-24T11:51:40.176-05:00by Aundra Berry On March 15th, 2006, the Racial Justice Campaign Against Operation Meth Merchant joined leaders from African American, African immigrant and Latino grassroots organizations to affirm their cooperative efforts to combat the problems in the U.S. criminal justice system that continue to have such detrimental effects on minority individuals, families and businesses. The RJCAOMM stoodhttp://www.stopoperationmethmerchant.org/blog/2006/03/solidarity-press-conference.htmlNija Dalalhttp://www.blogger.com/feeds/20910081/posts/summary/114125658498180856Wed, 01 Mar 2006 23:38:00 +00002006-03-01T18:47:56.036-05:00 Picture by William Martin, for the Rome News-Tribune Article by Aundra Berry On Tuesday, February 21, 2006 two additional defendants appeared in Federal court in Rome, Georgia to plea guilty to charges that they knew the legal products they were selling in 2004 and 2005 would be used in the manufacture of methamphetamine. The Racial Justice Campaign against Operation Meth Merchant continues http://www.stopoperationmethmerchant.org/blog/2006/03/federal-prosecutors-pressure-two-more.htmlNija Dalalhttp://www.blogger.com/feeds/20910081/posts/summary/113874603630969852Mon, 16 Jan 2006 22:00:00 +00002006-02-25T12:43:01.336-05:00 By Aundra M. Berry The Racial Justice Campaign Against Operation Meth Merchant (RJC) joined with Jobs with Justice for a march to build solidarity amongst communities of color. The march took place on King Day, Monday, January 16, 2006 and began its route at Peachtree and Baker streets in downtown Atlanta. The event marked the RJC’s renewed commitment to education, empowerment and the http://www.stopoperationmethmerchant.org/blog/2006/01/martin-luther-king-day-march.htmlNija Dalalhttp://www.blogger.com/feeds/20910081/posts/summary/113992433429007716Sun, 12 Feb 2006 20:00:00 +00002006-02-14T08:38:54.293-05:00Over 100 supporters gathered for a rally sponsored by the Coalition for a New Georgia. The rally sought to raise awareness and urge voters to oppose pending legislation aimed at limiting the rights of immigrant citizens. While keeping a watchful eye on anti-immigration counter-protestors on an opposite street corner, representatives from such varied groups as the Georgia Coalition for the Peoplehttp://www.stopoperationmethmerchant.org/blog/2006/02/proposed-legislation-yields-call-for.htmlStopOMM@mindspring.com (Deepali Gokhale)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20910081/posts/summary/113992379612630420Wed, 08 Feb 2006 21:00:00 +00002006-02-14T08:37:27.520-05:00Education Day: Friday, February 08th Action Day: Thursday, February 09th Anne Olson of Up and Out of Poverty NOW Coalition was Mistress of Ceremonies for today’s event which culminated the two-day Poor People’s Day at the Capitol 2006. With the goal of making the issues of the poor visible to Georgia legislators, People’s Day coordinators cry for working people of the nation to put an end to http://www.stopoperationmethmerchant.org/blog/2006/02/poor-peoples-day-2006.htmlStopOMM@mindspring.com (Deepali Gokhale)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20910081/posts/summary/113894059848166124Fri, 27 Jan 2006 02:00:00 +00002006-02-02T23:23:18.483-05:00As part of the Racial Justice Campaign's continuing commitment to stop Operation Meth Merchant, Campaign Organizer Deepali Gokhale and Dan Horowitz de Garcia of Communities United for Action, Power and Justice, attended the Thursday, January 26th meeting of the National Coalition Building Institute's Atlanta chapter and its Agnes Scott College affiliate. NCBI exists to assist grassroots activisthttp://www.stopoperationmethmerchant.org/blog/2006/01/building-effective-campaign-for.htmlStopOMM@mindspring.com (Deepali Gokhale)http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20910081/posts/summary/113874609432228426Thu, 26 Jan 2006 02:00:00 +00002006-02-02T23:19:35.083-05:00By Aundra M. Berry On Wednesday, January 25, 2006, the Racial Justice Campaign hosted a community forum in Calhoun, Georgia. Representatives from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Immigration Defense Project and Families for Freedom met with translators, supporters and families affected by the racially targeted arrests and prosecutions for South Asian merchants in the wake of the US Drug http://www.stopoperationmethmerchant.org/blog/2006/01/community-forum-on-criminal-justice.htmlNija Dalalhttp://www.blogger.com/feeds/20910081/posts/summary/113874592039711300Tue, 10 Jan 2006 22:00:00 +00002006-02-02T23:18:32.770-05:00 By Aundra M. Berry The Racial Justice Campaign, opposing the prosecution targeting South Asians under the DEA’s Operation Meth Merchant, led a rally on the steps of the Federal Courthouse in Rome, Georgia on Tuesday. Eighty-five South Asian immigrants, friends and supporters came to witness the sentencing of two defendants being charged as the result of a questionable sting operation claiminghttp://www.stopoperationmethmerchant.org/blog/2006/01/stop-profiling-courthouse-rally.htmlNija Dalalhttp://www.blogger.com/feeds/20910081/posts/summary/113874614485549747Fri, 27 Jan 2006 22:00:00 +00002006-02-02T23:17:59.770-05:00By Aundra M. Berry The Racial Justice Campaign Against “Operation Meth Merchant” held a press rally today following the sentencing of three South Asian merchants in the US District Court. The mood was somber after the hearing, which left two families facing financial ruin with the imminent deportation of their primary wage-earners. The three men, ranging in age from 28 to 58, were each stoic as http://www.stopoperationmethmerchant.org/blog/2006/01/air-dirty-laundry-courthouse-rally.htmlNija Dalalhttp://www.blogger.com/feeds/20910081/posts/summary/113761139658288660Mon, 09 Jan 2006 04:00:00 +00002006-01-24T19:44:16.076-05:00 On the afternoon of Sunday, January 8, over 300 community members gathered in Decatur, GA to protest the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA)’s “Operation Meth Merchant". Sunday’s press event and rally in the heart of the South Asian shopping area near Atlanta drew more than 300 community members and was an overwhelming success. The Racial Justice Campaign Against Operation Meth Merchant http://www.stopoperationmethmerchant.org/blog/2006/01/press-conference-and-rally.htmlStopOMM@mindspring.com (Deepali Gokhale)