Tensions Mount in Shenendoah, PA: When Will There Be Justice?

Luis Ramirez was killed in July 2008 in Shenendoah, PA and two teens were acquitted of the most serious charges a few weeks ago.   The N.Y. Times reports that tensions continue to boil in the small coal town, “where Mexicans and other Latinos have been settling in search of affordable housing and work in the mines or apple and peach farms.” Closure in the matter is not likely to come soon. A federal investigation is under way. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) has begun petition drive calling for the Justice Department to bring federal hate crime charges against the assailants and has called for the Senate to pass legislation strengthening the federal hate crime law.

KJ