At last night's meeting of the city council, faced with widespread public disapproval, Mayor Boughton and the Republican leadership on the city council backed away from their ill-conceived voter's suppression initiative.
From last night, here's video of Boughton announcing to the public that vote on the proposal to move the polling location in the city's sixth ward will be tabled for a later date.
After the announcement, I contacted Democratic Town Committee chairman Joe DaSilva to get his take on Boughton's retreat. The town committee as well as sixth ward councilmen Paul Rotello and Ben Chianese have been instrumental in alerting residents about Boughton's attempt to move the polling location from the well-known Park Avenue School to the Moose Lodge located in the middle of nowhere off Kenosia Ave.
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On September 26, 2007, ten plaintiffs filed suit in response to an arrest of aday laborers at a public park in Danbury, Connecticut. Plaintiffs amended their complaint on November 26, 2007.
The amended complaint states that plaintiffs sought to remedy the continued discriminatory and unauthorized enforcement of federal immigration laws against the Latino residents of the City of Danbury by Danbury's mayor and its police department.
Plaintiffs allege that the arrests violated their Fourth Amendment rights and the Connecticut Constitution because defendants conducted the arrests without valid warrants, in the absence of exigent circumstances, and without probable cause to believe that plaintiffs were engaged in unlawful activity. In addition, plaintiffs allege that defendants improperly stopped, detained, investigated, searched and arrested plaintiffs. Plaintiffs also allege that defendants violated their Fourteenth Amendment rights when they intentionally targeted plaintiffs, and arrested and detained them on the basis of their race, ethnicity and perceived national origin. Plaintiffs raise First Amendment, Due Process and tort claims.
Plaintiffs request declaratory relief, damages and attorneys fees.