DEOMI News Highlights
DEOMI News Highlights is a weekly compilation of published items and commentary with a focus on equal
opportunity, equal employment opportunity, diversity, culture, and human relations issues. DEOMI News
Highlights is also a management tool intended to serve the informational needs of equity professionals and
senior DOD officials in the continuing assessment of defense policies, programs, and actions. Further
reproduction or redistribution for private use or gain is subject to original copyright restrictions.
Another Woman to Attempt Marines’ Infantry Officer Course [Hope Hodge Seck, Military.com, 13
January 2017]
 As the first female enlisted infantry Marines take their places in operational units, another female
officer is preparing to attempt what has so far been the most challenging hurdle for women entering
the infantry: the Corps’ famously grueling Infantry Officer Course.
 One female second lieutenant is set to start the course in approximately 90 days, a spokesman for
Marine Corps Training and Education Command, Capt. Joshua Pena, told Military.com.
 During an evaluation period that extended from September 2012 to June 2015, 27 female officers
attempted the course to assist the Corps with its research on women serving in ground combat roles,
but none was able to pass. During the same timeframe, two other female officers attempted to pass the
course in an effort to qualify for the ground intelligence military occupational specialty, but they were
also unsuccessful.
Another Woman to Attempt Marines’ Infantry Officer Course
No Turning Back? First Woman Makes Army’s Elite 75th Ranger Regiment, Big Step for Women
in Combat [Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, Defense One, 19 January 2017]
 The U.S. Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment has become the first special operations unit to have a woman
meet the standards of its selection course. Last month a female officer completed Ranger Assessment
and Selection Program 2, or RASP 2, earning the right to don the prized Ranger scroll and wear the
legendary tan beret of the previously men-only elite group headquartered at Ft. Benning.
 The news also comes more than a year after the first two women graduated from Army Ranger
school, the grueling combat leadership course through mountains and swamps. Not all who survive
Ranger school are assigned into the 75th. One of the first Ranger School graduates now serves as an
officer in the infantry.
 Among the many tests of Ranger Assessment and Selection: finishing a five-mile run in under 40
minutes, a 12-mile ruck march in under three hours, and passing written and psychological
examinations. There are more soldiers than spots in RASP, and candidates must be recommended
before they can try to join the course.
No Turning Back? First Woman Makes Army’s Elite 75th Ranger Regiment, Big Step for Women in Combat
Secret Service settles long-running race discrimination suit for $24 million [Kevin Johnson, USA
TODAY, 17 January 2017]
 The federal government has agreed to pay $24 million to settle a long-running discrimination case
brought by a group of African-American Secret Service agents who alleged that they were
systematically denied promotion to the agency’s highest ranks.
 The Secret Service said the policy at the heart of the lawsuit, which alleged that promotion process
was biased against Black agents, has been “modified substantially and that continues to be further
modified and enhanced today.”
 Attorney Desmond Hogan, who represented the group, said the settlement was won for more than 100
Black agents “who risked their lives every day to protect our leaders and our financial system.”
Secret Service settles long-running race discrimination suit for $24 million
20 January 2017
Page 1
DEOMI News Highlights
Culture
Celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Still Faces Pushback
Former Klan Grand Dragon to MLK’s daughter: I’m sorry
On MLK Day, Honor the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement, Too
Syria: IS destroys part of Palmyra’s Roman Theatre
Discrimination
JPMorgan settles federal mortgage discrimination suit for $55 million
Secret Service settles long-running race discrimination suit for $24 million
Walmart sued for Manitowoc Down syndrome firing
Diversity
The 75th Ranger Regiment Is No Longer an All-Male Unit
Another Woman to Attempt Marines’ Infantry Officer Course
Chelsea Manning’s incredible journey from leaker to transgender crusader
Continuing her fight: Marine graduates with infantry contract
Fanning Steps Down as First Openly Gay Service Chief
Fanning: ‘Nothing can follow this’ as he steps down as the Army’s top civilian leader
Few Asian-Americans hold top legal jobs, new study says
No Turning Back? First Woman Makes Army’s Elite 75th Ranger Regiment, Big Step for Women in
Combat
Miscellaneous
Air Force: PTSD, other factors led airman to kill commander
Feds: Philly police progressing after deadly force concerns
In his own words: Mattis on the challenges facing the military
Justices raise doubts over law barring offensive trademarks
Naval Research seeks to tackle traumatic brain injury
Misconduct
Bullies target physical appearance, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation – UN reports
Racism
Lynch says US must hold police accountable
Racial Discrimination Still Exists With Ride-Sharing Apps
Religion
Court upholds firing over Muslim headscarf
Jewish Centers Across U.S. Face New Wave of Bomb Threats
Sexism
Job Listings That Are Too ‘Feminine’ for Men
Republican Men Say It’s a Better Time to Be a Woman Than a Man
Sexual Assault/Harassment
Marine colonel charged with sex assault sent to brig amid new allegations
Trump’s Interior Nominee Pledges to Eliminate Sexual Harassment at Department
20 January 2017
Page 2
Culture
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/16/us/martin-luther-king-jr-the-confederacy.html
Celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Still Faces Pushback
By Liam Stack
The New York Times, January 16, 2017
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Berkeley, Calif., in
1967. (Credit: Associated Press)
Today is Martin Luther King’s Birthday, the federal holiday that
honors the assassinated civil rights leader.
Well, not everywhere.
All 50 states celebrate the public holiday on the third Monday in
January, but not all states, cities and towns dedicate it solely to the
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Some package it as a broader celebration of both Dr. King and Confederate
leaders.
State-by-state naming differences are remnants of fierce opposition to a holiday that was not officially
recognized by all states until 1999. Here is a brief history of how Martin Luther King Jr. Day came to be.
How Did Martin Luther King Jr. Day Become a Holiday?
A federal holiday honoring Dr. King was first proposed four days after he was assassinated, in 1968, but it
took almost two decades of campaigning for it to be approved and designated at the national level.
In the meantime, according to the King Center, a few Northern states approved the holiday from 1973 to
1975: Illinois, Massachusetts, Connecticut and, by court order, New Jersey.
But state-level momentum slowed and Congress did not act. Advocates led by Dr. King’s widow, Coretta
Scott King, spent years lobbying for the holiday, testifying before Congress and gathering millions of
signatures on petitions.
President Jimmy Carter expressed support for the federal holiday in 1979. The singer Stevie Wonder
became a prominent supporter, too, financing a Washington lobbying office and releasing a hit 1980 song
in support, “Happy Birthday.”
The campaign finally succeeded in 1983, when Congress passed the King Holiday Bill and President
Ronald Reagan signed it into law. The third Monday in January would be celebrated as Martin Luther King
Jr. Day starting in 1986.
Who Opposed It?
Proposals to honor Dr. King met strong resistance in Congress, and when the holiday was enacted, many
states were slow to acknowledge it. New Hampshire became the last state to officially recognize the
holiday in 1999 after years of acrimonious debate.
When the proposal to create the holiday was debated in Congress in 1979, Republicans led the charge
against it. The strongest opposition came from lawmakers in the Deep South, such as Senator Jesse Helms,
Republican of North Carolina, and Senator Strom Thurmond, Republican of South Carolina, who ran for
president in 1948 on a segregationist platform.
Opponents argued that giving federal employees a new paid vacation day would be too expensive and that
it was inappropriate to bestow such an honor upon Dr. King because he had never held elected office,
according to an essay by Donald R. Wolfensberger, a congressional scholar at the Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/16/us/martin-luther-king-jr-the-confederacy.html
When the measure failed in 1979, Representative Cardiss Collins, Democrat of Illinois and leader of the
Congressional Black Caucus at the time, said she believed that racism had played a role.
But by 1983, many Republicans in Congress had changed their minds. The King Holiday Bill passed the
House and the Senate with bipartisan support and was signed by a Republican president.
But not everyone came around to the idea. Mr. Helms had filibustered the bill and denounced Dr. King on
the floor of the Senate as someone who advocated “action-oriented Marxism” and other “radical political”
views.
Where Does the Holiday Stand Today?
Although Martin Luther King Jr. Day is commemorated by the federal government and, in some form, by
all 50 states, some, like Arizona and Idaho, combine commemorations of Dr. King’s birthday with a
holiday to honor civil rights.
A release by Nueces County, Tex., referred to the day as a “County Civil Rights Holiday.”
Biloxi, Miss., drew backlash on Twitter last week after the city’s official Twitter account posted an alert to
residents about municipal closings on the holiday, calling it “Great Americans Day.” The tweet was later
deleted. The controversy prompted a special City Council meeting to consider making the city’s holiday
name match that of the federal holiday honoring Dr. King.
On Monday morning, the council voted 6-0 to do so (with one member absent), according to video
footage from a local ABC station, WLOX.
And then there are a few states in the Deep South — Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi — that combine
celebrations of the civil rights icon and that of Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general.
(Lexington, Va., even honors Lee and another Confederate general, Stonewall Jackson, with a parade and
celebration during the weekend leading up to Dr. King’s birthday.)
Critics have decried those arrangements as an unholy merger that commemorate both freedom and slavery
— a combination that is nonsensical at best and inflammatory at worst.
Arkansas lawmakers have tried in recent years to separate the two holidays, but the measures have been
opposed from constituents who call the effort an affront to Southern heritage or by lawmakers who say they
have better things to do.
“We’re looking for a solution to a problem we don’t have,” Josh Miller, a Republican state representative
in Arkansas, told The Associated Press. “I haven’t noticed any humongous Robert E. Lee parades that are
taking place in conjunction with Martin Luther King Day.”
SEE ALSO:
Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2017: MLK's most inspirational quotes and messages [Alabama Media Group,
2017-01-16]
MLK Day: Voices from King's hometown [CNN, 2016-01-16]
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/aae18b70555249438f692e19e1c82fd9
Former Klan Grand Dragon to MLK's daughter: I'm sorry
By Bill Barrow
The Associated Press, January 17, 2017
People visit the tomb of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his
wife Coretta Scott King at sunset Monday, Jan. 16, 2017, in
Atlanta. (AP Photo/Branden Camp)
ATLANTA (AP) — Scott Shepherd didn't fire the shot that killed
Martin Luther King Jr., but the former Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon
says he has always felt remorse toward the family of the slain civil
rights leader and all who honor his legacy.
He reached for atonement Monday evening, sitting on a dais next to Bernice King, who was 5 years old
when James Earl Ray assassinated her father in 1968.
"I want to extend an apology to the King family and everyone out there," Shepherd said, opening a
discussion of race relations at the Atlanta center that bears the elder King's name. "I, in my past, did a lot of
terrible things. I said a lot of terrible things about Dr. King. I didn't know what I was talking about."
Bernice King, who acknowledged "hating white people" as a young woman, accepted Shepherd's apology.
It was the pinnacle of a Martin Luther King Jr. Day that laid bare intense social tensions as President-elect
Donald Trump prepares to take office Friday, yet also offered potential avenues to achieve King's vision of
a just society.
Trump did not publicly participate in any King observances. The holiday came amid the fallout from a
public tiff between Trump and civil rights icon John Lewis, an exchange that incensed many AfricanAmericans already leery of Trump after a racially charged campaign.
In New York, King Day observers cast establishment leaders as Klan successors. "When men no better than
Klansmen dressed in suits are being sworn into office, we cannot be silent," Black Lives Matter co-founder
Opal Tometi said at a Brooklyn gathering.
Father Michael Plfeger, the man Bernice King invited to serve as keynote speaker at the Monday morning
service at her father's Ebenezer Baptist Church, sounded similar themes. He delivered a 45-minute
indictment of the nation's social and economic structure and warned it would get worse under Trump.
"Plantations still exist," Pfleger said. "And too often, white hoods have been replaced by three-piece suits in
this country."
For her part, Bernice King warned of a nation "dangerously polarized" along the lines of race and class.
"We are headed to race riots if we're not careful," she said. "We can't just keep this divisiveness going."
She expressed concerns about Trump, who had met earlier in the day with her brother, Martin Luther King
III.
After that private session at Trump Tower in New York, King III said Trump pledged to be an inclusive
president even as he stands firm in his spat with Lewis. The Georgia congressman initially called Trump
"illegitimate," prompting the president-elect to declare on Twitter that Lewis, who was beaten during the
civil rights movement, was "all talk" and "no action."
Bernice King said Trump has demonstrated "what kind of man he is" and said any transformation is up to
God. Changing the nation, she said, rests with people like Shepherd and Daryl Davis, a black musician and
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/aae18b70555249438f692e19e1c82fd9
author who has made a second career out of befriending Klansmen and leading them to renounce their
racist views.
"When two enemies are talking, they aren't fighting," Davis said. "It's when the talking ceases that the
ground becomes fertile for violence."
Minutes earlier, he had unfurled a robe and held aloft the hood of a man he said was once an Imperial
Wizard of the Klan, supervising multiple states until he met Davis and eventually abandoned his racist
views.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who ran unsuccessfully for the GOP presidential nomination that Trump won, told
the same crowd it's not productive to focus on national leaders like Trump. "The problems we have in
society today are right here in our own neighborhoods," he said.
Kasich's approach highlights some differences among those who tout King's legacy.
Pfleger, a self-described radical priest from Chicago, said the United States must dismantle systems of
oppression through collective political action. Another failed presidential candidate, Vermont Sen. Bernie
Sanders, noted that King, beyond being a racial justice advocate, was an economic radical who angered the
political establishment.
If there is a shared conclusion among activists, it is perhaps that realizing King's vision involves both
personal conversion and collective action, in neighborhoods and in the halls of power.
Kasich noted that national politicians, even with their limitations, control resources and react to grassroots
leaders like King. Activist Chris Crass, who is white, explained that he reaches out not to avowed white
supremacists, but to whites who don't see themselves as part of the problem.
The idea, he said, isn't to make them feel guilty, but to convince them that U.S. power brokers for
generations have divided working-class whites against poor blacks as a means to maintain power.
Understanding those "economic and political realities" would enable a new, powerful social and political
coalition, he said.
As to whether that can occur under Trump, Davis, the man who befriends and converts Klansman, said he's
optimistic. Trump, he said, "has brought all this out," regardless of whether he intended to do so. Davis said
many Americans assumed — or convinced themselves — that bigotry was over with Barack Obama's
election as the first black president.
"We have been in denial about racism in this country," Davis said, "and you cannot address what you
cannot see."
Follow Barrow on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BillBarrowAP
http://time.com/4633460/mlk-day-ella-baker/
On MLK Day, Honor the Mother of the Civil Rights
Movement, Too
Ella Baker's story may not be as exciting as that of Dr. King or Rosa Parks, but she was
no less essential to the civil rights movement
By Julie Scelfo
Time, January 16, 2017
Ella Baker, on Sept. 18, 1941. (Afro Newspaper/Gado/Getty
Images)
When Americans across the country pay tribute to a civil rights
leader that President Ronald Reagan described as America’s
“preeminent nonviolent commander,” most people will,
appropriately, be thinking of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in whose
honor the federal holiday was established in 1983.
But there is a lesser-known civil rights figure without whom Dr.
King’s work—and nothing less than the entire civil rights
movement of the 1960s—may not have succeeded, and whose
absence from the iconography of American history is a disservice to
all citizens: Ella J. Baker.
A granddaughter of slaves who graduated valedictorian from
Raleigh’s Shaw University in 1927, Baker spent nearly half a
century raising the political consciousness of Americans, and
played a major role in three of the 20th century’s most influential civil rights groups: the National
Association or the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC) and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, pronounced “snick”).
While those groups typically had male figureheads, it was Baker who, first as an NAACP field secretary
and later as its director of branches, spent the 1940s traveling from small town to small town, convincing
ordinary black citizens—who had been enslaved and terrorized for more than 200 years—to join together
and peaceably insist that they were deserving of basic human rights.
Born in Norfolk, Virginia, Baker grew up in rural North Carolina, where she developed a deep sense of
self-respect. Her parents shared their food with hungry neighbors; her grandmother told how she endured a
savage whipping rather than agree to marry a man chosen for her by a master.
Utilizing her iron will and a gift for listening, Baker helped local leaders carefully craft and implement
targeted campaigns against lynching, for job training and for black teachers to get equal pay. She also was
adept at recognizing talent and helped coax capable rank and file members into taking leadership roles;
among the participants at one of her workshops was an NAACP member from Montgomery, Alabama,
named Rosa Parks.
After resigning from the national organization in 1946 (she had returned to Harlem to raise a niece), Baker
stayed involved with its New York chapter, and in 1952 was elected its president, the first-ever woman in
that role. There, she built coalitions with other groups, worked on a campaign to end school segregation,
and even publicly confronted the mayor.
http://time.com/4633460/mlk-day-ella-baker/
But after the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott (touched off by Rosa Park’s refusal to yield her seat
to a white man on December 1, 1955) many black leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr., decided they
wanted to establish a formal organization to build similar boycotts throughout the south.
Dr. King, a gifted speaker, was chosen to be the organization’s figurehead. According to several historians,
including biographer Barbara Ransby, writing in her book Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A
Radical Democratic Vision, it was Baker who principally framed the issues and set the group’s agenda. In
1958, she moved to Atlanta to spearhead what had become the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
(SCLC), the group primarily associated with Dr. King.
For two and a half years, in an era before the Internet, rolodexes or social media, Baker utilized her skills,
experience and contacts to plan events, identify and establish protests and campaigns, and select and trained
various individuals to lead them.
Her relationship with Dr. King, however, was tense: Despite her level of experience and proven track
record, he had difficulty allowing a woman’s decisions to trump his own, and her idea was that the
organization should devote its resources more to promoting and enabling its overall mission rather than
celebrating a charismatic leader. Wyatt Tee Walker, an early SCLC board member, told the filmmaker
Joanne Grant that the ministers’ refusal to follow Baker’s advice was in practice with the era’s norms.
“This was before the days of women’s liberation,” he says in the 1981 film Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker.
Going to great lengths to avoid the word “chauvinists,” Mr. Walker instead explains how unless someone
was “male” and a member of the “inner circle of the church,” that it could be difficult to overcome “the
preacher ego.”
Frustrated, Baker was on the brink of resigning in 1960, when a group of college students refused to leave a
Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. Having always believed that meaningful change
happens on the streets (and not just from court rulings), she wrote a letter on SCLC letterhead calling
student leaders all over the South to join and begin working together. The days-long conference, held over
Easter weekend at Shaw University, yielded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), a
youth-lead group that helped organize the 1961 Freedom Rides, directed many of the black voter
registration drives in the South and drew national attention during the Mississippi Freedom Summer of
1964 when three SNCC workers were killed by white supremacists.
So if Baker was so important, why isn’t her name as well-known to Americans as Dr. King’s or Rosa
Parks, for that matter?
For starters, Baker was never interested in the spotlight and devoted no effort whatsoever to seeking
recognition. Instead, like all the world’s greatest teachers and editors, she enjoyed the pleasure of watching
others reach their own potential. “I found a greater sense of importance by being a part of those who were
growing,” Baker said in Grant’s film.
Secondly, despite Baker’s gifts for leadership and oratory, the SCLC pastors, intent on preserving their
patriarchal hierarchy, refused to allow her to share in their prestige. Despite protests from key advisors, Dr.
King initially granted her only the title of provisional executive director, which obscured her true
importance.
Finally, there is the nature of storytelling itself, and the inherent difficulty of conveying in a compelling
way what could be described as the nuts and bolts of emotional labor. Baker spent years of her life
performing the essential—but far from glamorous—act of listening, a crucial first step in helping
beleaguered blacks develop enough self-worth to demand being treated with dignity in an environment
where they had every reason to fear brutality and economic reprisal from their white neighbors. She also
http://time.com/4633460/mlk-day-ella-baker/
understood group dynamics and how to empower people to join forces, a delicate task that involves
responding to a wide array of human feelings.
A narrative about this kind of work is inherently less dramatic and far more complicated than, say, the tale
of a discreet act of bravery on a bus.
But great leaders have recognized for centuries that high emotional intelligence, or the ability to recognize
and respond to other people’s feelings, is central to successfully influencing them.
So I will be honoring Dr. King—and recalling the wearying 15-year struggle it took to enact the federal
holiday after Rep. John Conyers of Michigan first introduced legislation four days after Dr. King’s murder
in 1968.
But why not also pay tribute to Ella Baker, the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement? Without her,
Americans of all colors may never have received Dr. King’s messages.
Scelfo is a former staff writer for the New York Times and author of The Women Who Made New York.
TIME Ideas hosts the world's leading voices, providing commentary on events in news, society, and culture.
We welcome outside contributions. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME
editors.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-38689131
Syria: IS destroys part of Palmyra's Roman Theatre
BBC, January 20, 2017
The Roman Theatre's pillared portico is shown here intact in March
2016. (Getty Images)
Militants from the Islamic State group have destroyed part of the
Roman Theatre in the ancient city of Palmyra.
Syria's antiquities chief said the tetrapylon - a group of four pillared
structures which were mainly modern replicas - has also been
ruined.
The jihadists recaptured the UNESCO-listed archaeological site in December from government troops.
The head of the UN cultural body said the destruction was "a new war crime".
Its director general, Irina Bokova, said what she described as "cultural cleansing by violent extremists" had
resulted in "an immense loss for the Syrian people and for humanity".
IS destroyed other monuments after it first seized Palmyra in May 2015.
The group held the site and nearby city known locally as Tadmur for 10 months.
The militants were forced out by a Russian-backed government offensive in March 2016, but regained
control while pro-government forces where focused on battling for the city of Aleppo late last year.
Maamoun Abdulkarim, the head of the Syrian government's Antiquities Department, told the Associated
Press that reports of the latest destruction first trickled out of Palmyra late in December, and then satellite
images which became available late on Thursday confirmed it.
The US-based American Schools of Oriental Research posted the images on its Facebook page, saying only
two of the tetrapylon's columns remain, and the monument appeared to have been intentionally destroyed
using explosives.
Only one of the structure's columns is original, as the others were rebuilt in 1963.
Most of the pillars of the tetrapylon were reconstructed in 1963, but
one was original. (Getty Images)
On Thursday, a monitoring group said IS militants had beheaded
four people and shot eight others dead outside a museum close to
the archaeological site.
The militants have previously carried out killings in the Roman
Theatre.
When they first held the archaeological site, they blew up temples, burial towers and the Arch of Triumph,
believing shrines and statues to be idolatrous.
They also destroyed the Temple of Bel - the great sanctuary of the Palmyrene gods - which had been one of
the most important religious buildings of the 1st Century AD in the East.
SEE ALSO:
Iraqi Troops Capture Historic Mosul Mosque Destroyed by ISIS [The Associated Press, 2017-01-17]
Discrimination
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2017/01/18/justice-department-sues-jpmorgan-chasefor-mortgage-discrimination/
JPMorgan settles federal mortgage discrimination suit for
$55 million
By Renae Merle
The Washington Post, January 18, 2017
(Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images)
NEW YORK — JPMorgan Chase said Wednesday that it had
agreed to settle a federal lawsuit accusing the bank of working with
mortgage brokers who discriminated against minority borrowers for
years by charging them $1,000 more than white customers.
The case was settled for $55 million, according to a person familiar
with the settlement who spoke on the condition of anonymity
because the details are not yet public.
Between 2006 and 2009, JPMorgan charged at least 53,000 black and Hispanic borrowers more than white
borrowers with the same credit and risk profiles, according to a lawsuit filed by U.S. Attorney Preet
Bharara in Manhattan. Black borrowers were charged an average of about $1,126 more for a $191,100
mortgage loan, while Hispanic customers were charged about $968 more on an average loan of about
$236,800.
These borrowers, the lawsuit alleged, collectively suffered “tens of millions of dollars in damages” in
violation of the U.S. Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.
In a statement, JPMorgan denied the allegations, saying: “We’ve agreed to settle these legacy allegations
that relate to pricing set by independent brokers. We deny any wrongdoing and remain committed to
providing equal access to credit.”
In its response filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the bank said it had a “robust monitoring
program” and that it not responsible “for acts of independent, third party brokers.”
Bharara’s office declined to comment on the settlement, which has not been approved by a judge.
JPMorgan, the largest bank in the country by assets, is also one of the largest mortgage lenders. Through
the third quarter of 2016, JPMorgan originated about $75 billion in mortgage loans, putting it second in the
market to Wells Fargo, according to the trade publication Mortgage Daily.
For years, JPMorgan used a network of mortgage brokers throughout the country, according to the federal
lawsuit. Those brokers were given leeway on what interest rates and fees they charged customers. When
brokers secured higher interest rates, the lawsuit claims, they were rewarded with a bonus.
The bank did not require the mortgage brokers to explain why they were charging some customers more
than others, according to the lawsuit. But JPMorgan should have known that minority borrowers were
routinely being discriminated against through its “wholesale” lending program. (JPMorgan ended the
program in 2009.)
JPMorgan’s pattern “of discrimination has been intentional and willful, and has been implemented with
reckless disregard of the rights of African-American and Hispanic borrowers,” the lawsuit says.
U.S. officials have reached similar settlements with other large banks, including Wells Fargo, for mortgage
practices dating to the housing boom and the financial crisis that followed. The Obama administration has
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2017/01/18/justice-department-sues-jpmorgan-chasefor-mortgage-discrimination/
also been working to complete several unrelated cases against large companies, including Volkswagen and
the airbag manufacturer Takata, before President-elect Donald Trump takes office this week.
The settlement amount is small, especially for a bank as big as JPMorgan, said Carl Tobias, a professor at
the University of Richmond School of Law. “JP Morgan and the U.S. government may have wanted to
settle this matter before the new administration comes in because of uncertainty about what might happen,”
he said. “One question is whether the case and the settlement will [deter] other instances of alleged
mortgage discrimination.”
Also Wednesday, the Labor Department filed an administrative complaint against JPMorgan, accusing the
bank of paying some female employees less than their male counterparts. Since at least May 15, 2012,
JPMorgan discriminated against 93 female employees who held various technology-related positions, such
as “Application Developer Lead II, Application Developer Lead V, Project Manager and Technology
Directors,” according to the complaint.
The pay disparities, which were not detailed in the complaint, violate a 2012 executive order for
government contractors, according to the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance
Programs. JPMorgan was alerted to the problem in 2015, the complaint claims.
“The company continues to fall short of its obligations, compensating a group of female employees
significantly less than their male counterparts and thereby failing to eliminate sex discrimination from its
compensation process,” the complaint alleges.
In a statement, JPMorgan denied the allegations and said it was committed to corporate diversity. “We tried
to work with the [Labor Department] regarding this matter and resolve any concerns,” the statement said.
“We are disappointed that the OFCCP chose to file a complaint, but look forward to presenting our
evidence to a neutral decision maker.”
SEE ALSO:
JPMorgan agrees to $55 million settle of mortgage discrimination complaint: source [Reuters, 2017-01-18]
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/01/17/government-pays-24-million-settle-secret-servicediscrimination-case/96703854/
Secret Service settles long-running race discrimination suit
for $24 million
By Kevin Johnson
USA TODAY, January 17, 2017
WASHINGTON — The federal government has agreed to pay $24 million to settle a long-running
discrimination case brought by a group of African-American Secret Service agents who alleged that they
were systematically denied promotion to the agency’s highest ranks.
The settlement, announced late Tuesday, effectively ends a 16-year legal battle which exposed early rifts in
an agency that more recently was plagued with security breaches and agent misconduct.
“I am pleased that we are able to finally put this chapter of Secret Service history behind us,’’ Homeland
Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said. “Had the matter gone to trial, it would have required that we re-live
things long past, just at a time when the Secret Service is on the mend.’’
Johnson asserted that the agency had “turned the corner’’ under the leadership of current Secret Service
Director Joseph Clancy, who was appointed nearly two years ago by President Obama.
“This settlement is also, simply, the right thing to do,’’ Johnson said.
The Secret Service said the policy at the heart of the lawsuit, which alleged that promotion process was
biased against black agents, has been “modified substantially and that continues to be further modified and
enhanced today.’’
“While the Secret Service takes all allegations in this case seriously, the organization has, and continues to
be, committed to a fair and transparent promotion process. It is time to move forward rather than look back
to remnants of the past.’’
Reginald "Ray'' Moore, the lead plaintiff in the case, called the outcome both "welcome and sweet.''
"More than 16 years ago, a group of my black colleagues and I decided to stand up for what was right,''
Moore said in a written statement. "We had seen and experienced firsthand the racial discrimination and a
good-old-boy network that passed us over for promotions to the highest levels of the Secret Service.
"We knew that complaining about the time-honored tradition of black agents being held back from
leadership positions would not be good for our careers,'' Moore said. "But, despite the fact that we had
suffered discrimination, we also loved the Secret Service and its mission and were honored to do our job
every day. That is why we decided to bring this lawsuit, so that the agency could finally address the
terrible vestige of its past, clearing the way for future generations of agents of all stripes to be promoted
based on their competence, and nothing else.''
Attorney Desmond Hogan, who represented the group, said the settlement was won for more than 100
black agents "who risked their lives every day to protect our leaders and our financial system.''
The deal, Hogan said, "at long last means that black Secret Service Agents will not be constrained by the
glass ceiling that held back so many so many for so long when it came time to fill the leadership positions
at the Secret Service.'' Under terms of the settlement, some agents could receive up to $300,000 in relief.
SEE ALSO:
U.S. Secret Service settles race discrimination case with black agents [Reuters, 2017-01-18]
http://www.htrnews.com/story/news/2017/01/18/manitowoc-walmart-sued-down-syndrome-employeefiring/96742422/
Walmart sued for Manitowoc Down syndrome firing
By Alisa M. Schafer
Herald Times Reporter (Manitowoc, Wis.), January 18, 2017
MANITOWOC - Wal-Mart Stores East, LP faces a federal lawsuit from the U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunities Commission over termination of a 15-year employee of Walmart in Manitowoc with Down
syndrome.
According to a news release from EEOC, Manitowoc woman Marlo Spaeth was disciplined for
absenteeism after her schedule of 15 years was changed by management. Spaeth typically worked a shift
from noon to 4 p.m. most days from Monday to Friday. The new scheduling system called for Spaeth
working later and longer shifts and, because of her disability, she was unable to adapt to the changes in
routine, the news release said.
Walmart did not change Spaeth’s schedule even after she requested the changes, the news release added.
The new schedule took effect in November 2014 and Spaeth was fired for attendance issues July 10, 2015.
Amy Jo Stevenson, Spaeth’s sister and legal guardian, became involved when she received the call from
Walmart regarding the termination. Stevenson said she was told the computerized scheduling system could
not change Spaeth’s schedule back to what it was originally and was told Spaeth would not be rehired.
“The manager I talked to, she said ‘Well, we have to treat her just like everyone else,’ and I was done
talking to her at that point because that is the farthest from the truth,” Stevenson said.
She decided to bring the matter to the EEOC because they had experience dealing with similar cases, she
said.
“From the first moment I heard about it (Spaeth’s termination from Walmart), it didn’t feel right,”
Stevenson said. “I think it is wrong and I didn’t let it drop. I think they (Walmart) expected me to drop it.”
Stevenson said Spaeth’s Down syndrome makes it extremely difficult to make any changes to her routine.
“We are talking about a person who just can’t easily be taken out of their habits and rituals,” Stevenson
said. “It is something that needs to be respected.”
Stevenson said Spaeth was devastated by the termination and still misses working there.
In a statement released by Wal-Mart spokesman Randy Hargrove, he said Spaeth understood her job
requirements and understood the importance of working her full work schedule. He said even after being
spoken to about her absenteeism, she continually failed to complete her assigned shift.
“We’re sensitive to this situation and we tried to reach an amicable resolution that would support Ms.
Spaeth,” Hargrove said. “We remain open to continuing those discussions, but the EEOC has not acted in
her best interest.”
The lawsuit filed by EEOC asks the court to order Walmart to reinstate Spaeth with appropriate back pay
and compensatory and punitive damages. The lawsuit also seeks a permanent injunction enjoining Walmart
from failing to provide a reasonable accommodation for disability and discharging an employee because
of a disability.
“Even the nation’s largest private employer must comply with the law’s requirement to make a good-faith
effort to accommodate an employee with a disability,” said Julianne Bowman, EEOC district director of the
Chicago District, in the news release.
Diversity
http://taskandpurpose.com/exclusive-75th-ranger-regiment-no-longer-male-unit/
The 75th Ranger Regiment Is No Longer An All-Male Unit
The 75th Ranger Regiment has been a boys-only club since its inception. That just
changed.
By Marty Skovlund Jr.
Task & Purpose, January 18, 2017
The 75th Ranger Regiment holds its Ranger Assessment and
Selection Program class 05-15 graduation ceremony at Fort
Benning. (U.S. Army photo)
As you head south on Fort Benning, Georgia’s Sightseeing Road,
you’ll pass El Zapata’s Mexican restaurant before moving uphill,
where you’ll come across a long fence that obscures the view of
prying eyes. Although the simple chain link fence, woven with
strips of brown material, may intrigue some passersby, the men of
the 75th Ranger Regiment call it home. Now, for the first in history, a female Ranger will join them.
At the tail end of 2016, three female soldiers started a RASP 2 class — the Ranger Assessment and
Selection Program, for NCOs in the rank of staff sergeant and above as well as all officers who wish to be
leaders in the 75th Ranger Regiment — and two made it to the final board. According to the U.S. Army
Special Operations Command’s public affairs office, one of these women was officially selected and earned
the right to wear the coveted Ranger scroll and distinctive tan beret at the course’s conclusion in December.
That would make the 75th Ranger Regiment the first special operations unit to have a female soldier
graduate their selection course.
To understand the impact of a female Ranger, you must first understand the unit she worked so hard to join.
Most don’t know anything about the 75th, and for those who live the hard life under a tan beret, that’s just
fine. Even their official mission statement is vague: “to plan and conduct special missions in support of
U.S. policy and objectives.” Further muddying the waters, there is a leadership school on the same post that
has no official affiliation with the 75th. You may have heard of it before, it’s called Ranger School. So
who, or what, is the 75th Ranger Regiment?
The short answer is that it’s our country’s premier special operations raid force. They are the barrel-chested
freedom fighters who are responsible for killing or capturing more high-value targets than any other unit in
the military during the war on terror. They have worked at the highest levels of the shadowy special
operations world, where they humbly over-deliver no matter what the mission may be. They pride
themselves on the execution of three simple principles: speed, surprise, and violence of action. They’re
particularly good at that last one. And, until recently, they were an all-male unit.
The Department of Defense announced the reversal of its longstanding policy of excluding women from
serving in combat military occupational specialties and their corresponding units in 2013. Time was
allotted for SOF units to conduct their own review of unit requirements, and ask for exceptions to the new
policy if necessary. No exemption was given to any special operations units. In light of the changed policy,
it was only a matter of time before a female service member would try out for one of the various SOF units
via their specific assessment and selection courses. In September 2016, Army Times reported that the first
woman to throw her hat into the ring — a staff sergeant — unsuccessfully attempted the 75th’s Ranger
Assessment and Selection Program 2, or RASP 2, in June.
Her attempt came on the heels of the three female officers who had already made history by completing the
Army’s prestigious and notoriously difficult leadership course, the U.S. Army Ranger School, in 2015.
http://taskandpurpose.com/exclusive-75th-ranger-regiment-no-longer-male-unit/
That course is run by the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, however, and has no affiliation with
the 75th Ranger Regiment, which falls under the Army Special Operations Command. Graduating from
Ranger School, as big of a milestone as that is, will not gain you entrance to the 75th Ranger Regiment’s
elite ranks. For that, you must pass one of the two selection courses that the Regiment runs: RASP 1 or
RASP 2.
Formerly known as the Ranger Indoctrination Program, RASP 1 is for soldiers in the rank of sergeant and
below, and is eight weeks long. The vast majority of those who serve in the regiment enter through this
route. It’s known for being physically brutal, and to date, no female soldiers have attempted the course.
RASP 2, on the other hand, is only three weeks long, but is every bit as selective. Only leaders who have
extensive prior experience and glowing recommendations are even invited to attempt the course.
U.S. Army Rangers assigned to 2nd Battalion, 75th
Ranger Regiment, fire at an enemy bunker during
Task Force Training on Camp Roberts, Calif., Feb. 1,
2014. (U.S. Army photo)
Regardless of whether a candidate attends RASP 1 or
2, the same standards must be met. These include (but
are not limited to) completing a five-mile run in less
than 40 minutes, a 12-mile ruck march in under three hours, and a battery of written tests, as well as
psychological evaluation and an appearance before a board of senior Rangers. The standards may not seem
very harsh on the outside, but the candidates are competing against quite a few other very motivated
individuals for a limited number of slots. The bare minimum is almost never enough.
Due to the sensitive nature of the unit’s missions, no details were provided on the background of the 75th’s
first female Ranger. However, through unofficial channels, Task & Purpose was able to verify that it was
an officer who graduated. Although many female officers have passed the Infantry Basic Officer
Leadership Course (IBOLC — the course needed to become an infantry officer), none have had enough
time in service to apply for the 75th Ranger Regiment. That means whoever the female officer who passed
RASP is, she is likely to have been selected for service in a support role for the regiment. Support roles
include anything from a medical officer or fire support officer who directly supports the line platoons on
missions, or positions at the battalion or regiment level in areas like military intelligence or logistics.
This isn’t the first time that a female soldier will have served in a special operations unit though. Outfits
such as the Army’s 1st Special Forces Regiment, otherwise known as the Green Berets, do not require their
support soldiers to go through the same selection process as their operators and have had women assigned
to support positions within their subordinate units for quite some time. The same is true of the Army’s elite
160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, and a host of other special operations units. The 75th Ranger
Regiment is unique in that it makes everyone from the guy handing out supplies to the one kicking in doors
pass the same selection process. Up until this point, the 75th only had female soldiers attached for specific
tasks — like the cultural support teams — but never assigned to be organic to the unit.
Despite not going through the same selection process, the female service members who have served in
support roles for special operations have received mostly good reviews to date. That is especially true in the
field of military intelligence, Army Lt. Col. Chris Otero told Task & Purpose in an interview. “I found the
majority of them to be very professional and meticulous,” he said. “I actually preferred to deal with them in
the technical disciplines of intelligence because they, as a rule, seemed to be more focused and less ego
driven.”
http://taskandpurpose.com/exclusive-75th-ranger-regiment-no-longer-male-unit/
Otero, a military intelligence officer who has worked alongside female soldiers in both conventional and
special operations units, went on to say, “Females have a different perspective on the analytical side. I have
found that confirmation bias and bad calls can occur when everyone on the team is a tabbed infantry dude
with the same background — no matter how open-minded they are. Females typically come with different
experiences and perspective due to their gender, and that can be the secret sauce in an insight, which can
make the analysis.”
For Lt. Col. Charles Faint, a career Army military intelligence officer who served in the 5th Special Forces
Group, the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, and the Joint Special Operations Command,
gender was rarely a key factor. “I served in Afghanistan and Iraq seven times, each as an intel enabler in
Special Operations units. Six of those tours were with the National SOF Task Force,” Faint told Task &
Purpose, who is now an assistant professor at West Point after completing graduate school at Yale.
“One of the things I liked most about the Special Operations community was its level of pragmatism. If
something worked we used it; if it didn’t, we tried something else. The same was true with personnel. In
the Task Force, at least, what mattered was how well a person could do the job; most of the other stuff was
completely irrelevant. It was very binary: ‘Is this the best person available for this operational need that
we have?’ If the answer was yes, and that person happened to be female, I don’t think anyone really
cared.”
Not everyone has had an overall positive experience with women in SOF task forces though. One senior
Ranger, who spoke to Task & Purpose on condition of anonymity, was fairly blunt on the matter. “Not all
are proven…” he said. “Some have failed even when walking down hill.”
Even Otero admitted that there have been hiccups. “It wasn’t necessarily seamless,” he said. “If the women
were organic to the unit or there was a habitual relationship with the unit, then there seemed to be less
issues. If the females were attachments, I saw larger issues.”
Performing well in a support role, and performing “on the line” in the 75th Ranger Regiment are two
different matters though. Rangers assigned to line platoons are the meat and potatoes of the regiment, and
are generally responsible for the most dangerous aspects of a typical mission. This is also where the bulk of
injuries occur, and it could be argued that assignment to a Ranger line platoon is the most physically
demanding job in the Army. Thomas Sager, a former team leader from 2nd Ranger Battalion who has
multiple deployments under his belt, is optimistic. “I used to think women couldn’t bring the needed
amount of physicality for Regiment,” he told Task & Purpose. “Then I watched the CrossFit games and
realized I was wrong. There may not be as many women who can make it as men, but they are out there.”
U.S. Army Rangers, assigned to 2nd Battalion 75th Ranger
Regiment, bound into position during Task Force Training on Fort
Hunter Liggett, Calif., Jan. 30, 2014. (U.S. Army photo)
That said, the physical ability to do the job is only half of the
equation; integration and acceptance into a hyper-aggressive unit
stocked with alpha males is the other half. Mitchell Roote, a veteran
of 1st Ranger Battalion with multiple combat deployments to his credit, is concerned about the effect
female Rangers will have on unit culture. “The integration of women into Ranger battalion will change the
dynamics of how battalion is run on the ground level and open up a slew of potential problems like
favoritism and coworker relationships,” Roote told Task & Purpose in an interview. “We will need to study
units that have already employed women to educate ourselves on the potential problems ahead.”
http://taskandpurpose.com/exclusive-75th-ranger-regiment-no-longer-male-unit/
Now that at least one woman with a support MOS has made it through selection, it’s only a matter of time
before one with a combat MOS makes it through, and these issues become reality. The question is
not if, but when.
What lies ahead for the first woman to pass selection for the 75th Ranger Regiment? She’ll likely have
follow-on training to complete, as well as a permanent change of station move to conduct before she signs
into her new unit. Because she is an officer, she will have to attend the Army’s Ranger School if she has
not already, as is required of all officers in the 75th. Once she finally arrives at her assigned Ranger
battalion, one of the first orders of business will be to receive an initial counseling, which varies depending
on the person giving it, and the job and rank of the new Ranger being counseled.
There will be one stark truth delivered during that initial counseling though. How long she decides to stay
behind the long, brown chain link fence will largely be up to her. She will be reminded, as all Rangers are,
that you earn your beret and the right to stand in that elite formation every day. It’s easy to get here, a lot
harder to stay.
Special thanks to The Havok Journal for contributing to this reporting.
SEE ALSO:
This woman will be the first to join the Army's elite 75th Ranger Regiment [Army Times, 2017-01-18]
No Turning Back? First Woman Makes Army’s Elite 75th Ranger Regiment, Big Step For Women in
Combat [Defense One, 2017-01-19]
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/01/13/another-woman-attempt-marines-infantry-officercourse.html
Another Woman to Attempt Marines’ Infantry Officer
Course
By Hope Hodge Seck
Military.com, January 13, 2017
As the first female enlisted infantry Marines take their places in operational units, another female officer is
preparing to attempt what has so far been the most challenging hurdle for women entering the infantry: the
Corps' famously grueling Infantry Officer Course.
One female second lieutenant is set to start the course in approximately 90 days, a spokesman for Marine
Corps Training and Education Command, Capt. Joshua Pena, told Military.com.
The officer, who attempts the course after having completed the service's basic officer training courses, will
be the second woman to try to do so since the Marine Corps opened all combat jobs to women, Pena said.
During an evaluation period that extended from September 2012 to June 2015, 27 female officers attempted
the course to assist the Corps with its research on women serving in ground combat roles, but none was
able to pass. During the same timeframe, two other female officers attempted to pass the course in an effort
to qualify for the ground intelligence military occupational specialty, but they were also unsuccessful.
In that three-year stretch, 978 male officers attempted IOC and 692 graduated, Pena said.
The 30th and most recent female officer to attempt the course tried twice to complete the course, in April
and August 2016. On both tries, she was dropped for failing to complete two conditioning hikes. On both
attempts, however, she was able to pass the initial Combat Endurance Test, an obstacle that has stymied
most female officers who participated in IOC.
Speaking to reporters Jan. 11, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said the reason women have successfully passed
the Army's Ranger School but have to date been unable to get through IOC is that the two courses have
different physical demands.
"One of the things about IOC is that it involves carrying a huge amount of stuff," he said. "And if you are
in the infantry in the United States Marines, you're going to break down."
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford and Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller
are examples of that, Mabus said. Both infantry officers, they have had medical interventions to replace or
reinforce joints worn down from years of high-impact operations.
Mabus reiterated that he isn't concerned with how many women make it through IOC, or how long it takes
to get the first female graduate.
"The important thing is that it's open for anybody who qualifies," he said. "It's just that you have a chance
to make it through."
He added that he believes the standards are realistic, despite how challenging the course appears.
"Now the standards they've set have to be job-related. They have to be aligned with what a person has to do
in the field. So I'm pretty confident that they are," he said.
To date, female enlisted Marines have had much greater success at making it to the fleet as infantrymen.
The first three female Marines joined an infantry unit -- 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines -- this month. And the
first group of female Marine recruits with infantry contracts is set to graduate boot camp before February.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/17/chelsea-mannings-incredible-journey-leakertransgender-crusader/96689756/
Chelsea Manning’s incredible journey from leaker to
transgender crusader
By Tom Vanden Brook
USA TODAY, January 17, 2017
An undated file photo provided by the U.S. Army of Pfc. Chelsea
Manning. (Photo: AP)
WASHINGTON — Convicted national-security secret leaker Army
Pvt. Chelsea Manning became the most visible face of the
military’s tiny transgender population, one that came from the
shadows to the forefront when the Pentagon rescinded its ban on
their open service last summer.
Manning’s journey from low-level Army intelligence analyst to
notoriety for disclosing national security secrets to high-profile crusader for transgender rights paralleled
the growing social acceptance of the small population of Americans who don’t identify with their gender at
birth. Previously known as Bradley, Manning, 29, has more than 100,000 followers on her Twitter account.
Manning, who divulged massive amounts of information to WikiLeaks, had her sentence commuted
Tuesday by President Obama. She has been serving a 35-year sentence at the Army’s prison at Fort
Leavenworth in Kansas and had been eligible for parole in about six years.
It was nearly two years ago that the Army, in a memo obtained by USA TODAY, agreed to provide
Manning with hormone treatment to allow her to transition to a woman. The commandant of the Fort
Leavenworth Disciplinary Barracks concluded that providing the hormones was necessary for Manning’s
health. Allowing her to grow her hair out was not.
Only by virtue of being an Army prisoner was Manning, still a soldier while incarcerated, able to
acknowledge publicly her transition to a woman and to receive treatment. Any other member of the military
would have been discharged from service. In another disconnect, the Veterans Affairs Department had been
approving treatment for transgender veterans for years.
In 2013, Pvt. Chelsea Manning was still known as Bradley Manning. (Photo:
Patrick Semansky, AP)
The Pentagon changed that inconsistency in its policy last summer when
Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced repeal of the ban, and plans to
allow troops to receive treatment, including reassignment surgery.
By the end of 2016, more than 100 troops had informed their superiors that
they wanted to transition to the opposite sex, be recognized in their new
gender or were seeking counseling or treatment. A RAND Corp. study
estimated that there may be about 6,600 transgender troops among the activeduty force of 1.3 million members. Treating transgender troops could cost as
much as $8 million per year, and up to $50,000 per case.
Manning, by September, had received assurances that she was a candidate for reassignment surgery,
according to her lawyers at the American Civil Liberties Union. She had been on a hunger strike, protesting
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/17/chelsea-mannings-incredible-journey-leakertransgender-crusader/96689756/
the Army’s delay in providing the treatment, which had been prescribed by her doctors. Manning had also
attempted to commit suicide twice last year.
President-elect Donald Trump has not made known whether he agrees with the Pentagon's new policy on
transgender troops. It can be reversed.
SEE ALSO:
Pentagon chief says he opposed cutting Chelsea Manning's prison term [The Associated Press, 2017-01-18]
Chelsea Manning to lose transgender benefits with dishonorable discharge [USA TODAY, 2017-01-18]
Vets Slam Obama's Decision to Shorten Manning's Sentence [Military Times, 2017-01-19]
Chelsea Manning: a potent symbol for transgender Americans [Military Times, 2017-01-18]
Obama defends decision to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence [The Associated Press, 2017-01-18]
White House: Obama granted Manning clemency 'in the pursuit of justice' [USA TODAY, 2017-01-18]
Obama Commutes Sentence of Chelsea Manning [Military.com, 2017-01-17]
https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/articles/female-marine-shows-women-can-fight
Continuing her fight: Marine graduates with infantry
contract
By Jeff Schogol
Marine Corps Times, January 13, 2017
(Photo Credit: Staff Sgt. Greg Thomas)
Born in the hell of a Russian prison, Marine Pvt. Maria Daume has
been a fighter her whole life.
Now, she made history alongside three other women as
they graduated with infantry contracts from the Marie Corps’ East
Coast training depot at Parris Island in South Carolina on Friday.
After 10 days of leave, Daume will attend the School of Infantry. The Marine Corps is not releasing the
names of the other three women.
“It doesn’t matter if you are a male, female, whatever you want; that doesn’t mean that you can’t fight,” she
said in a video made by the 1st Infantry Division in September.
The video shows Daume boxing and doing pullups as she prepares for boot camp as a poolee in the
Delayed Entry Program.
Daume’s mother was being held in a Russian prison when Maria and her twin brother were born. The two
children lived in the prison for two years until their mother died. After spending two more years in an
orphanage, they were adopted by a family in Long Island, New York.
“Other kids would bully me consistently from when I was four to my senior year of high school,” Daume
said in a September 1st Infantry Division news story. “It would be for being Russian or being adopted.
They would say things about my mom and why she was in prison even if no one knew why. Bullying was a
big thing.”
Growing up, Daume was formed to be physically and mentally tough through playing sports and doing
mixed martial arts and jujitsu, she said in the story.
“With MMA it is all about staying calm and not getting angry,” she said. “If you get angry you can make
stupid mistakes. I know how to get hit and keep cool. With the team sports, you have to work together.
When you’re a team, you’re a family.”
Daume first became interested in becoming a Marine when she was 12 years old and met recruiters at an
anti-cancer event, according to the Marine Corps. She was a poolee when all combat jobs were opened to
women, so she applied for an infantry contract.
“I was driving when (my recruiter) called me,” Daume said in the news story. “He said, ‘Are you sure you
want this?’ I said confidently, ‘Yes.’ He then congratulated me and told me I got (the infantry contract.) I
was so excited I had to stop the car and call my best friend and tell her.”
On Jan. 6, Daume received her eagle, globe and anchor after completing the Crucible, the grueling 54-hour
capstone of recruit training. She stood at attention as the Marines' Hymn played, marking her entry into the
Corps.
https://www.armytimes.com/articles/fanning-nothing-can-follow-this-as-he-steps-down-as-the-armys-topcivilian-leader
Fanning: ‘Nothing can follow this’ as he steps down as the
Army’s top civilian leader
By Michelle Tan
Army Times, January 14, 2017
(Photo Credit: John G. Martinez/Army)
With just days to go before the end of his tenure as Army secretary,
Eric Fanning has no plans to slow down.
“This is such an incredible, rewarding job that I don’t want to think
about what’s next,” he said. “I want to spend every minute in it. My
goal is to continue to run to the tape.”
Fanning, who was sworn in May 18 after an eight-month confirmation process, will leave office at noon
Jan. 20 with the Obama administration.
In his short time on the job, Fanning has made a mark by aggressively pursuing change in how the service
conducts business, fighting bureaucracy and connecting with soldiers in new, unprecedented ways.
His experience serving in senior leadership positions in the Navy and Air Force, as well as in the Office of
the Secretary of Defense all helped him “hit the ground running,” Fanning said. It also didn’t hurt that
before he was confirmed as Army secretary, Fanning filled the role in an acting capacity and was the acting
under secretary of the Army before that.
“My strategy was to sprint this year and treat it like it was a discrete year and treat it like it was going to
end,” Fanning said.
In an interview Jan. 4 with Army Times, Fanning discussed some of his key accomplishments during his
time on the job.
First is opening up service to more Americans who meet the necessary requirements, Fanning said.
This includes opening all of the Army’s combat arms jobs, including infantry, armor and special
operations, to women. The Army – along with the other services – also moved to allow transgender troops
to serve openly.
“We’ve worked at setting actual, definitive, tested requirements against the needs of the Army,” Fanning
said. “If someone can meet those requirements, I think it’s great they’re given the opportunity to serve.”
Another one of Fanning’s top goals was to focus on emerging threats, “particularly what we were seeing
from Russia in Ukraine, where our overmatch wasn’t where we wanted it to be or where our capabilities
weren’t as strong as we thought they were,” he said.
Driven by this, the Army is developing institutions and processes, specifically through the newly
established Rapid Capabilities Office, that will allow the service to more quickly equip itself and its
soldiers to meet those new threats, he said.
Fanning also highlighted the work the Army has done to prepare for the future.
This includes acquisition reform and working to bring in voices that hadn’t before been able to contribute
to national security issues or solutions, he said.
https://www.armytimes.com/articles/fanning-nothing-can-follow-this-as-he-steps-down-as-the-armys-topcivilian-leader
As he prepares to leave, Fanning said he will “do whatever I can to help with the transition at any level,” he
said. “There’s no department in government that needs as smooth a transition as the Department of
Defense.”
Fanning said he will miss soldiers and the people he works with the most.
“Everyone asks about the trappings, but I’m not going to miss a car and driver. I’m going to miss the
people who drive it. I’m going to miss this office because of the people around it,” he said. “Being in a
military department is so much better than being at OSD, because you’re closer to the troops, you’re closer
to those in uniform.”
Army Secretary Eric Fanning used social media to connect
with soldiers in a way his predecessors never did. Photo
Credit: John Martinez/Army
Spending time with soldiers is rewarding, Fanning said.
“Being out in the field, interacting with soldiers, and doing
what they do with them where they do it, that is absolutely
hands-down what I’m going to miss most,” he said.
Fanning also will miss the job, he said.
“This job offers you an unbelievable opportunity to have an impact,” he said. “That’s a rewarding job to
have, to improve the lives of people large and small.”
There’s a reason why he will be on vacation after leaving the job, Fanning said.
“Nothing can follow this,” he said. “There needs to be a reset in the mind before I do anything else. I can’t
imagine having a full-time job that follows on the heels of this.”
What’s next for him remains to be seen, Fanning said, adding that he’s been thinking about teaching,
consulting, writing and speaking.
“I have some larger ideas in mind, and I know some things I want to continue working on, like veterans’
issues and [post-traumatic stress awareness], and I need to find the right place to do that, and the right way
and the right place to have a voice.”
One more thing Fanning will miss?
His amazing Twitter feed and other social media accounts.
“All the digital media communications we’ve built, when we walk out the door, all of that ends,” he said.
He hasn’t decided if he’ll have a personal Twitter account once he’s no longer the Army secretary, Fanning
said.
“That was a lot of fun and growing and paying dividends in ways we hadn’t anticipated, and I think we
made a big difference in how the Army communicates,” he said.
SEE ALSO:
Outgoing Army leaders: 'It has been the greatest honor of our lives' to serve [Army Times, 2017-01-19]
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/01/18/fanning-steps-down-first-openly-gay-service-chief.html
Fanning Steps Down as First Openly Gay Service Chief
By Richard Sisk
Military.com, January 18, 2017
Farewell ceremony in honor of Eric K. Fanning, Secretary of the
Army, hosted by the Chief of Staff of the Army, General Mark
Milley on Wednesday, 18 January 2017 (Screen grab from DoD
video)
Eric Fanning ended his brief but historic tour Wednesday as the
22nd secretary of the Army and the first openly gay service chief.
"It's been the honor of my lifetime to be your secretary," Fanning
told the audience of top Army and Defense Department leaders at a farewell ceremony in a packed
Pentagon auditorium.
"Day after day, you deliver" and "I come away a little more in awe of you every time," he said.
Fanning joked about two of the accomplishments of his tenure: "I have never had to testify at a budget
hearing" and "I got to see Army beat Navy," ending a 14-year football winning streak last year for
the Naval Academy.
He said he was also proud to have been at the Pentagon when the DoD "opened service to those who met
the requirements but were denied the opportunity" to serve in the past because of their gender or sexual
orientation.
Five years ago, the military ended the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that barred homosexuals from serving
openly. Last year, it opened all military occupational specialties to women.
"It's a sad day for all of us in the Army" as Fanning leaves, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said in
his remarks at the ceremony. "We were really privileged to have Eric Fanning as secretary of the Army."
Under Fanning's leadership, the Army has "increased diversity" and "access to the best talent regardless of
identity" while "setting the example of a true professional," Milley said in a speech laced with one-liners.
Before pinning Fanning with the Distinguished Public Service award, Milley noted the outgoing secretary's
affinity for social media, saying he had ordered up a data check just before the ceremony and found out that
while in the job, Fanning had tweeted "801 times and almost as much as a very famous tweeter we're all
familiar with."
Milley was referring to President-elect Donald Trump, who has named billionaire businessman Vincent
Viola, a West Point graduate and retired Army major, to succeed Fanning.
Milley told Fanning that although he served only 248 days as secretary, "You're still going to get a
photograph on the wall." He was referring to the long delay in Fanning's Senate confirmation as Sen. Pat
Roberts, a Kansas Republican, put a hold on the nomination.
Roberts relented when he got assurances from the DoD that any prisoners transferred from Guantanamo
Bay to the U.S. would not be sent to the military detention facility at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
After Fanning's confirmation, Roberts said, "My issue has never been with Mr. Fanning's character, his
courage, or his capability. He will be a tremendous leader."
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/01/18/fanning-steps-down-first-openly-gay-service-chief.html
When Fanning was sworn in last May, Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a
statement, "Eric Fanning's historic confirmation today as secretary of the U.S. Army is a demonstration of
the continued progress toward fairness and equality in our nation's armed forces."
Fanning's career at the Pentagon saw him serve in a variety of management posts in the Army, Navy
and Air Force. He was deputy under secretary of the Navy, under secretary and acting secretary of the Air
Force, and chief of staff to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.
When he was finally confirmed by the Senate last year as Army secretary, Fanning summed up why he
wanted the job: "It would be my honor to play a role in making sure that the best men and women our
country has to offer get all the support they need in undertaking the mission of defending our country, a
mission for which they freely volunteered. We ask them to do extraordinary things; we owe them no less."
There were several gifts for Fanning, but Milley saved the best for last: a black football helmet worn by an
Army player in the game that ended Navy's streak. The helmet came with a note from Lt. Gen. Robert L.
Caslen Jr., superintendent of West Point. The note said in part, "Go Army, Beat Navy."
Richard Sisk can be reached at [email protected].
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/9ecb9ea0d0654826b7c6c08d8bcefc61/few-asian-americans-hold-top-legaljobs-new-study-says
Few Asian-Americans hold top legal jobs, new study says
By Sudhin Thanawala
The Associated Press, January 15, 2017
California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu is interviewed in his
office in San Francisco, Friday, Jan. 13, 2017. A new study coauthored by Liu, a prominent Asian American judge, finds Asian
Americans are well-represented among the nation's attorneys, but
still missing from leadership positions in the legal profession. (AP
Photo/Jeff Chiu)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — When Goodwin Liu joined the sevenmember California Supreme Court in 2011, he became its fourth
sitting member of Asian descent. The number is remarkable.
The other state supreme courts in the U.S. combined have a handful of Asian-American justices. And
Asian-American representation on other state courts, the federal bench and among the country's top
prosecutors is similarly scant.
Those findings emerged from a new study by Liu and law students at Yale University that provides a
portrait of Asian-Americans in the legal profession. The conclusion: They are well-represented among the
nation's attorneys but still missing from some of the highest posts.
"They have a foot in the door in virtually every sector of the legal profession," Liu said during a recent
interview. "The question now is how wide that door's going to swing open for them."
For Liu, the study is personal. His parents were doctors who came to the U.S. in the late 1960s from
Taiwan. Nothing in his childhood was a conduit for a legal career. His parents encouraged him to study
math and science. He didn't know any attorneys growing up and almost became a doctor.
Liu said the difference for him was mentorship. He had two Asian-American leaders as role models: U.S.
Rep. Bob Matsui and former Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh.
Liu became a law professor and associate dean at the University of California, Berkeley, before President
Barack Obama nominated him in 2010 for a prestigious federal appeals court seat.
His name was even mentioned as a potential U.S. Supreme Court candidate, but Republicans derailed his
nomination to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. They called him a liberal ideologue and took
exception to his outspoken opposition to Samuel Alito's 2006 appointment to the high court.
Liu withdrew his name. Soon afterward, California Gov. Jerry Brown swore him in for a seat on the state
Supreme Court.
Liu said the Asian-American representation on the California high court does not carry through to lower
courts in the state. As of 2015, only two of 97 appellate court judges were Asian-American. The California
Supreme Court now has three Asian-American justices after one of those of Asian descent retired in 2014.
"People may have certain perceptions of what a judge should look like, and Asian-Americans being fairly
new to this field are bursting that mold," Liu said.
Asians are the nation's fastest-growing racial group and make up more than 5 percent of the population.
They make up an even larger percentage of law school students, with a significant number graduating from
top institutions.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/9ecb9ea0d0654826b7c6c08d8bcefc61/few-asian-americans-hold-top-legaljobs-new-study-says
But Liu said their ranks in leadership positions are disconcerting, seen in some of the numbers the study
compiled from research in recent years:
— Three of the 94 U.S. attorneys and four of the country's nearly 2,500 elected state prosecutors were
Asian-American.
— There were 26 active Asian-American judges among more than 850 federal judicial positions. Two
percent of almost 10,300 state trial and appellate court judges who were surveyed were Asian-American.
— Asian-Americans were the largest minority group at major law firms but had the highest attrition rates
and lowest ratio of partners to associates among all racial groups.
"Now we understand what's happening," said Charles Huang, a California prosecutor who co-founded the
National Asian Pacific Islander Prosecutors Association. "We don't know what's causing it, but we know
what the empirical results are."
The study surveyed more than 600 Asian-American lawyers, and their responses pointed to factors that
may serve as barriers.
A relatively small percentage had a parent who was a lawyer. Those who expressed a desire to change their
careers said getting a job as a judge or prosecutor was low on the list.
More than 80 percent reported experiencing implicit bias in the workplace. Many respondents said AsianAmerican attorneys were considered hard-working and responsible, but far fewer said the legal profession
associated them with empathy, creativity or assertiveness.
Liu encourages law students to develop their confidence and identity through public speaking and "break
from what came" before them, though he warns that the weight of stereotypes might not go away.
Liu said he still struggles with how people might perceive him as an Asian-American judge.
"I think for people who feel like they are going into places that are unfamiliar to them and who defy what
perhaps is conventional expectation, you always feel like you're an impostor," he said. "There's always that
feeling like, 'Oh, one day they're going to find me out.'"
http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2017/01/no-turning-back-first-woman-makes-armys-elite-75th-rangerregiment-big-step-women-combat/134691/
No Turning Back? First Woman Makes Army’s Elite 75th
Ranger Regiment, Big Step For Women in Combat
One woman just made it that much harder for anyone to argue women don't belong in
America's most elite combat positions.
By Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, Council on Foreign Relations
Defense One, January 19, 2017
U.S. Army Rangers assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 75th
Ranger Regiment prepare for extraction on a CH-47
Chinook helicopter aircraft during task force training at
Camp Roberts, Calif., Feb. 1, 2014. (DOD photo by Spc.
Steven Hitchcock)
History has been made.
The U.S. Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment has become the first special operations unit to have a woman meet
the standards of its selection course. Last month a female officer completed Ranger Assessment and
Selection Program 2, or RASP 2, earning the right to don the prized Ranger scroll and wear the legendary
tan beret of the previously men-only elite group headquartered at Ft. Benning.
The news makes it trickier, though not impossible, for President-elect Donald Trump’s administration to
close opportunities for combat and elite special operations positions now opened to servicewomen. All
combat roles opened to women in a three-year policy phase-in that began in 2013. If women can meet the
test of RASP and be admitted to the ranks of the 75th Ranger Regiment, it gets a lot harder to say they
shouldn’t be there.
The news also comes more than a year after the first two women graduated from Army Ranger school, the
grueling combat leadership course through mountains and swamps. Not all who survive Ranger school are
assigned into the 75th. One of the first Ranger School graduates now serves as an officer in the infantry.
But this marks the first time a woman has earned a spot inside any of the military’s coveted special
operations forces. Since Trump’s election, those who long advocated for the opening of all roles to women
in uniform have waited nervously to see whether the new policies would remain or be rolled back. LikelyDefense Secretary Gen. James Mattis, who previously had expressed some reticence about women in all
combat roles, said during his confirmation hearing in an exchange with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, “I
have no plan to oppose women. In 2013, I had hundreds of Marines who happened to be women serving in
my 23,000 division and this was 10 years before I retired and I put them on the front lines.” Mattis added
he believes “that if we execute policies like this we need to train our young leaders who will be dealing
with factors that their fathers did not have to deal with.”
For years women have been part of Ranger combat operations — most notably the members of the allwomen Cultural Support Teams, who joined Rangers on special operations nighttime raids beginning in
2010. (Part of this story is told in “Ashley’s War,” my book about the first Cultural Support Team
recruited from across the Army, Guard and Reserve, in Afghanistan.) Even before the creation of the
Cultural Support Teams, women soldiers, often intel and civil affairs officers, joined Rangers on night raids
targeting insurgents. The Rangers needed them to search and question Afghan women during raids and to
keep the women away from the combat operation then happening in their home.
http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2017/01/no-turning-back-first-woman-makes-armys-elite-75th-rangerregiment-big-step-women-combat/134691/
In 2013, Maj. Gen. Bennett Sacolick, then serving as director of U.S. Special Operations Command’s Force
Management and Development, cited the CSTs when asked about the decision to open all combat roles to
women, including Army Special Forces, Navy SEALs or 75th Ranger Regiment.
“Quite frankly, I was encouraged by just the physical performance of some of the young girls that aspire to
go into the Cultural Support Teams,” Sacolick said then. “They very well may provide a foundation for
ultimate integration.”
The CST program proved useful enough that it is now operating again following a months-long hiatus.
What is new is a woman soldier going through the same Ranger selection process as men and earning the
tab in her own right, and then joining the storied Ranger Regiment, the often unheralded special operations
ground pounders whose modern history dates back to World War II and some of that war’s most daring
missions. The post-9/11 wars, particularly beginning in the period of Joint Special Operations Command,
or JSOC, under Gen. Stanley McChrystal, saw the Rangers evolve from the “little brother” of the special
operations community to a leading force in their own right called upon to perform at an operational tempo
higher than anything the Rangers or other special operations forces had seen previously.
Unlike other special operations teams, Ranger Regiment includes those who fill its support roles, including
intel and logistics, in its selection program. Task and Purpose, the military news website which first
reported the story, noted, “the 75th Ranger Regiment is unique in that it makes everyone from the guy
handing out supplies to the one kicking in doors pass the same selection process. Up until this point, the
75th only had female soldiers attached for specific tasks — like the cultural support teams — but never
assigned to be organic to the unit.”
“One female soldier passed RASP 2 in December and is scheduled to report to Regiment sometime in the
spring of this year,” Lt. Col. Robert Bockhold, director of public affairs at U.S. Army Special Operations
Command told Defense One.
Among the many tests of Ranger Assessment and Selection: finishing a five-mile run in under 40 minutes,
a 12-mile ruck march in under three hours and passing written and psychological examinations. There are
more soldiers than spots in RASP, and candidates must be recommended before they can try to join
the course.
Many on the outside have been surprised to see the Rangers among the first in the special operations
community to push the integration process forward, in part because of their high operations tempo and
deployment schedule. It was Adm. William McRaven, during his time leading Joint Special Operations
Command, who in 2010 first put in the “request for forces” for women soldiers to join Rangers on
nighttime operations. While the integration had its hiccups, by and large the women soldiers worked to
prove their value to the mission and won acceptance as teammates as time went on.
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon is a regular contributor to Defense One. Lemmon is the author of Ashley's War:
The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield and a senior fellow at the
Council on Foreign Relations.
SEE ALSO:
The Army’s elite Ranger Regiment will soon have its first female soldier [The Washington Post, 2017-0119]
Miscellaneous
https://www.airforcetimes.com/articles/air-force-ptsd-other-factors-led-airman-to-kill-commander
Air Force: PTSD, other factors led airman to kill
commander
By The Associated Press
Air Force Times, January 16, 2017
(Photo Credit: Air Force)
SAN ANTONIO — U.S. Air Force investigators have determined
that post-traumatic stress disorder and the unraveling of a
distinguished military career led an airman to fatally shoot his
commander last year at a San Antonio base before killing himself,
according to Air Force documents.
The April shooting at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland prompted a lockdown and officials to abruptly end
a nearby military training parade with thousands of spectators.
Investigators determined Tech. Sgt. Steven Bellino confronted Lt. Col. William Schroeder before the two
struggled and Schroeder was shot multiple times. Both men were veterans of U.S. Special Operations
Command.
Air Force documents given to the San Antonio Express-News by Bellino's family show he participated in
an elite pararescue program with Schroeder but did not complete it.
Investigators believe Bellino, 41, resented the outcome following a remarkable military career that included
repeated tours in Afghanistan and Iraq and time as an Army Ranger and Green Beret. He also had served as
an FBI agent and was a CIA contractor before enlisting in the Air Force and attempting to join the elite
unit.
Friends say Bellino was idealistic and a man of exacting fairness, according to the newspaper. He lived up
to the letter of the law and expected it of others, even once accusing a sergeant major of lying in front of a
roomful of soldiers. But a series of perceived slights and violations of his sense of honor had accumulated
long before he arrived at Lackland.
"I do not like this world, and I do not want to be a part of it any longer," Bellino wrote in August 2015, the
month he quit the pararescue program and then went home to Ohio and was charged with being absent
without leave. "I've searched for many years to find a home consistent with my ethics and such a place does
not exist."
His comments came in a note that investigators found in a flash drive and they were written about the time
his PTSD symptoms appeared to intensify.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/982572018484487a8d22e6784b58d817/feds-issue-final-report-philadelphiapolice-reforms
Feds: Philly police progressing after deadly force concerns
By Errin Haines Whack
The Associated Press, January 13, 2017
Department of Justice's Ronald Davis, director of the Office of
Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), center, looks on as
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, left, and Philadelphia Police
Commissioner Richard Ross Jr. shake hands during a news
conference in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 13, 2017. The Justice
Department reported on the latest progress by the Philadelphia
Police Department in its reform efforts prompted by concerns over
its use of deadly force. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Police Department has made a "substantial effort" to
implement reforms in its use of deadly force and is an example for the country amid the current climate of
community and police tensions, federal officials said Friday.
The city's police department had been part of a collaborative effort with the Department of Justice's
Community Oriented Policing Services Office to make changes to its culture and policy since 2013.
The Justice Department found a troubled agency it said was motivated by fear and a use of force that
disproportionately affected black people. But by December 2015, the Justice Department praised
Philadelphia for making a remarkable turnaround on 91 recommendations for improvement.
In an interim report Friday, the federal office's director, Ronald Davis, said the Philadelphia police have
completed 61 of the recommendations — up from 21 about a year ago — and has made "demonstrable
progress" on 22.
"We will never get comfortable," said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross. "This does not
mean we're at the finish line. This is the path we need to take, and we're willing to do that. We do realize
there are issues in policing."
Officer-involved shootings have steadily declined in Philadelphia over the past decade. In 2007, there were
more than 60. In 2015, there were 23.
City officials announced this month that violent crime is at its lowest in Philadelphia in a generation. Also,
the amount of shooting incidents reported in the city in 2016 was 1,591 — the lowest total in six years. But
the number of shooting victims was 1,280 — the highest number since 2011.
Nationwide, the overall crime rate is lower now than it was 20 years ago.
The past three years have been marked by a national conversation and unrest around community policing in
minority neighborhoods, sparked by the deaths of unarmed black males in Ferguson, Missouri; Cleveland;
New York City; Charleston, South Carolina; and Chicago. The Justice Department has announced
numerous investigations into such departments around the country, uncovering a culture of bias, lack of
trust and the need for training.
The Philadelphia department volunteered to undergo federal scrutiny and its reforms are voluntary, not part
of a consent decree.
Former Attorney General Eric Holder and outgoing Attorney General Loretta Lynch were both supportive
of criminal justice reforms; it is unclear whether the next attorney general under Republican Donald
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/982572018484487a8d22e6784b58d817/feds-issue-final-report-philadelphiapolice-reforms
Trump, who will be sworn in next week, will prioritize the issue. Officials at Friday's press conference said
they remain committed to continued progress on their efforts.
"The police reforms will not be rolled back in Philadelphia," said Mayor Jim Kenney, who also announced
the establishment of a permanent police advisory committee Friday. "We don't know what's coming but we
will continue to improve the relationship between the police department and our communities because it is
vital to having a safe and productive city.
"I want every parent and every grandparent in the city, regardless of where they live, to be able to tell their
teenage child, 'Find a police officer. He'll help you,'" the Democratic mayor said.
Ross added that he will continue to talk about the benefits of police reform and believes his peers across the
country are receptive to making changes.
"I don't just associate with police officers ... That helps me to maintain perspective," Ross said. "Some
(people) don't always have the most favorable opinions about police because of their own experiences.
There are people who don't like the police and are justified in doing so. We want to try to work with as
many people as possible."
http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/mattis-confirmation-excerpts-secdef-senate
In his own words: Mattis on the challenges facing the
military
By Leo Shane III
Military Times, January 15, 2017
(Photo Credit: J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
Retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis appeared before the
Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday for his confirmation
as the next Secretary of Defense. Here are excerpts from that
testimony, and how he’ll approach some of the biggest challenges
facing the military:
** On Russia
“History is not a straitjacket, but I've never found a better guide for the way ahead than studying the
histories.
“Since Yalta, we have a long list of times we've tried to engage positively with Russia. We have a relatively
short list of successes in that regard.
“I think right now the most important thing is that we recognize the reality of what we deal with (Russian
President Vladimir) Putin and we recognize that he is trying to break (NATO) and that we take the steps -integrated steps, diplomatic, economic, military -- and working with our allies to defend ourselves where
we must …
“I would consider the principle threat (to America) to start with Russia. And it would certainly, include any
nations that are looking to intimidate nations around the periphery, regional nations nearby them, whether it
be with weapons of mass destruction or unusual, unorthodox means of intimidating them.”
** On NATO
“From my perspective, having served once as a NATO Supreme Allied Commander, (it) is the most
successful military alliance, probably in modern world history, maybe ever.
“It was put together, as you know, by the greatest generation coming home from a war to defend Europe
against Soviet incursion by their military. Yet, the first time it went to war was when this town and New
York City were attacked. It's the first time NATO went into combat.
“So, my view is that nations with allies thrive and nations without allies don't. And so I would see us
maintain the strongest possible relationship with NATO…
“If we did not have NATO today, we would need to create it. NATO is vital to our national interests, and
it’s vital to the security of the United States, it’s vital to the protection of the freedoms of the democracies
that we're allied with.”
** On the Iran nuclear deal
“(The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) is not a deal I would've signed … The first thing is I would ask
the Congress to have a joint committee from banking, armed services and intel to oversee the
implementation of the deal and should there be any abnegation of it.
“Should there be any cheating than the Congress would be kept informed on a routine basis of what's going
on so you know what's happening.
http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/mattis-confirmation-excerpts-secdef-senate
“At the same time we're going to have to make certain that our intelligence services are fully staffed to
watch over them and that involves working with our allied intelligence services that have unique
capabilities to work inside the country.
“Further we'd put together a combined missile defense -- air missile defense capability for our Gulf allies so
that they can work together with us. And every time we catch Iran up to some kind of terrorist activity we
would take that to the United Nations and display it for the world to see.”
** On ISIS
“I think we have to deliberate a very hard blow against ISIS in the Middle East, so that there is no sense of
invulnerability or invincibility there. There has got to be a military defeat of them there, but there must be a
much broader approach.
“This requires an integrated strategy so you don't squeeze them in one place and they develop in another
and we are really right back to square one. We've to have the integrated strategy on this, and it's got to be
one that goes after the recruiting and their fund-raising as well as the delivering a military blow against
them in the Middle East.
“That way you slow down this growth and start to rolling it back with and through allies.”
** On sequestration
“I understand the need for solvency and security because no nation in history has maintained its military
power if it did not maintain its physical health in good order.
“At the same time, I believe that this country has got to be prepared to defend itself. The idea of a
government of the people, by the people, for the people remains a radical thought in many people's minds
in this world and we're gonna have to be able to fight for it.
“So as a result of that, I believe that we can afford survival. I don't believe in mathematical calculus that
basically makes the Congress spectators as salami slice cuts come in and you do not have control over that.
“If I can't make the argument for you, for why we need a military program then I'm willing to lose it, but if
I can make that argument should you confirm me, I don't want the Congress in a role where sequestration is
making decisions for you and you're not able to influence this.”
** On women in combat roles
“I think you hit on the point that no standards are changed. The standards are the standards. And when
people meet the standards, then that's the end of the discussion on that.
“I would also add that what we're talking about here is somewhere north of 15 percent of our force is made
up of women. And the reason we're able to maintain an all-volunteer force with very, very high recruiting
standards is because we go to males and females ...
“I'm coming in with the understanding that I lead the Department of Defense and if someone brings me a
problem then I'll look at it, but I'm not coming in looking for problems. I'm looking for a way to get the
department so it's at the most lethal stance.
“And in that regard, it's all about military readiness.”
** On the National Guard
“I share the Chairman's view that we have shrunk our military capability. And one of the things that that
forces on us is the awareness, it's not just a strategic reserve any more in the National Guard, it's also an
operational reserve.
http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/mattis-confirmation-excerpts-secdef-senate
“That means they have to be ready to go on very short notice. That's just a reality when we've shrunk our
military to the point we have yet not reduced our strategic obligations.
“So we are going to have to keep the National Guard and the Reserves of all the armed forecast the top of
their game. We can't deploy them without having them at a high state of readiness.”
** On the warrior ethos
“The primitive and often even atavistic aspects of the battlefield test of physical and mental agility of
everyone, but most of what it tests is the courage and the spiritual side of the troops we put in harm's way.
“Oftentimes it’s only unit cohesion, leadership and the belief in themselves and their comrades that allows
them to go through what they have to go through and come home as better men and women, not as broken.
“And so the warrior ethos is not a luxury, it is essential when you have a military.”
Leo Shane III covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He can be
reached at [email protected].
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/a93cff9f30b84e89918769eda11f58a3
Justices raise doubts over law barring offensive trademarks
By Sam Hananel
The Associated Press, January 18, 2017
In this Aug. 7, 2014 file photo, the Washington Redskins logo is
seen on the field before an NFL football preseason game against
the New England Patriots in Landover, Md. The Supreme Court is
expressing doubts about a law that bars the government from
registering trademarks that are deemed offensive. (AP Photo/Alex
Brandon)
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a First Amendment clash over a law
barring offensive trademarks, the Supreme Court on Wednesday
raised doubts about a government program that favors some forms of speech but rejects others that might
disparage certain groups.
The justices heard arguments in a dispute involving an Asian-American band called the Slants that was
denied a trademark because the U.S. Patent and Trademark office said the name is offensive to Asians.
Justice Elena Kagan reflected the concerns of several justices when she said government programs are not
supposed to make a distinction based on viewpoint.
"The point is that I can say good things about something, but I can't say bad things about something," she
said. "And I would have thought that that was a fairly classic case of viewpoint discrimination."
The Oregon-based band says the 70-year-old law violates free-speech rights. A federal appeals court had
ruled that the law is unconstitutional, but the government appealed.
A victory for the band would be welcome news for the Washington Redskins, embroiled in their own legal
fight over the team's name. The trademark office canceled the football team's lucrative trademarks in 2014
after finding the word "Redskins" is disparaging to Native Americans.
But the justices also seemed concerned that imposing absolutely no limits on trademark names might go
too far.
At issue is a law that prohibits registration of marks that "may disparage ... persons, living or dead,
institutions, beliefs or national symbols." A trademark confers certain legal benefits, including the power to
sue competitors that infringe upon the trademark.
Slants founder Simon Tam says his goal was to reclaim a derisive slur and transform it into a badge of
ethnic pride. But the trademark office said a term can be disparaging even when used in a positive light. A
federal appeals court sided with the band, ruling that the law violates the First Amendment.
The Obama administration wants the high court to overturn that ruling. Justice Department lawyer Malcolm
Stewart told the justices that the law does not restrict speech because the band is still free to use the name
even without trademark protection.
Stewart said the government was concerned about allowing trademarks for racial slurs, religious insults and
the "vilest racial epithets" that distract consumers and hinder commerce.
Justice Stephen Breyer wasn't impressed, saying he could think of "perhaps 50,000 examples of instances
where the space the trademark provides is used for very distracting messages."
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/a93cff9f30b84e89918769eda11f58a3
"What business does Congress have picking out this one, but letting all the other distractions exist?" Breyer
asked.
Justice Anthony Kennedy compared the trademark program to copyrights, noting that the government can't
bar disparaging copyrights.
"We have a culture in which we have tee shirts and logos and rock bands and so forth that are expressing a
point of view," Kennedy said. "They are using the market to express views."
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the law wasn't being enforced consistently, noting that the term "Heeb"
was approved in one trademark application, but not in another. The term is considered offensive to Jews.
John Connell, attorney for the Slants' founder, said the First Amendment should allow trademark approval
of virtually any expression without limits. But some justices seemed to think his argument went too far.
The trademark law, for example, places restrictions on words that are libelous or cause confusion in the
marketplace.
"You want us to say that trademark law is just like a public park" where people can say whatever they
want, Kennedy told Connell. "Good-bye. That's it. That's your argument."
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wondered about libelous trademarks. What if someone tried to register "Trump is
a thief" before the president-elect became a public figure, she asked.
Connell said that should be allowed.
"That makes no sense," Sotomayor said.
Breyer noted that the Slants are free to use their name in all kinds of ways, just not in the trademark itself.
"This is not a general expression program," Breyer said. "It stops nobody from saying anything."
Like the Slants, the Redskins say their name is meant to honor American Indians. But the team has spent
years fighting legal challenges from Native American groups that say it's a racial slur. A federal judge
upheld the trademark office's cancellation of the name and the team is appealing. The matter is on hold
pending the outcome of the Slants case.
A ruling in that case is expected by the end of June.
SEE ALSO:
Should We Be Able to Reclaim a Racist Insult — as a Registered Trademark? [The New York Times, 201701-17]
Justices dubious about government denials of 'derogatory' trademarks [USA TODAY, 2017-01-18]
U.S. Supreme Court justices fret over offensive trademarks [Reuters, 2017-01-18]
http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/naval-research-seeks-to-tackle-traumatic-brain-injury
Naval Research seeks to tackle traumatic brain injury
By Shawn Snow
Military Times, January 13, 2017
The Office of Naval Research is spearheading the development of a technology to better analyze and
diagnose the effects of traumatic brain injury.
The device, called BLAST — Blast Load Assessment Sense and Test — is designed to be a portable
system that can measure shock pressure and analyze injury thresholds for the brain.
“A system like BLAST is vitally important because it can help recognize the signs of TBI early and tell
warfighters they might need medical attention,” said Dr. Timothy Bentley, a program manager overseeing
the research for ONR’s Warfighter Performance Department. “This reduces the likelihood of someone
enduring multiple blasts and suffering more serious brain injury. BLAST also is unique for its unique suite
of technology.”
Brain injuries have become a primary concern of Congress and defense experts over the past several years.
As a result of an increase in TBI related cases from military veterans in Iraq and Afghanistan, Congress
passed the Traumatic Brain Injury Act of 2008, which requires the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention and the National Institutes of Health to best determine information dissemination practices and
procedures to help facilitate TBI diagnosis and treatment.
That collaborative exercise produced a report to Congress in summer of 2013 that found roughly 33,149
U.S. military veterans were diagnosed with TBI in 2011, and 59, 218 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans were
potentially treated for TBI from 2001 to 2011. It is believed that more than 327,000 vets have been
diagnosed with a TBI since 2000, with the VA spending roughly $32 million a year on TBI research.
BLAST operates by utilizing tiny sensors that can be fitted onto helmets and body armor. The sensors can
survive blast environments and collect necessary data for medical personnel or even a corpsman operating
in the field, retrieved potentially by some form of barcode scanner.
The retrieved data can provide a corpsman with necessary information including an assessment vibration
test on an injured service member that can determine whether or not the injured warfighter needs to stand
down or can remain in the fight.
“BLAST sensors can provide valuable blast pressure data that can be used to assess the possibility of TBI,”
said Dr. Amit Bagchi, a scientist at the Naval Research Laboratory. “The more data we have, the better we
can predict the presence of TBI.”
The technology is designed to be deliverable to Navy and Marines within a three to five year timeline. The
sensors are currently being tested in laboratories, but over the next year and a half the sensors should
graduate to field testing with Marines undergoing breacher training.
Misconduct
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=55984#.WIEA0lMrKUl
Bullies target physical appearance, ethnicity, gender or
sexual orientation – UN reports
By Marta Santos Pais
UN News Centre, January 17, 2017
Children at a displaced camp in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (UN
Photo/Sophia Paris)
Nearly a quarter of a billion children and young people world-wide
are bullied each year, according to a report released today by the
United Nations educational and cultural agency, which found that
bullies like to pick on children because of their looks, have ethnic
or cultural differences, or due to gender or sexual orientation.
“School violence and bullying is a grave violation of the right to education,” said Irina Bokova, DirectorGeneral of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the agency that oversaw
the report and co-organized an international symposium on the subject now underway in Seoul, Republic of
Korea.
The report found that all children and adolescents are at risk of school violence and bullying, but bullies
target vulnerable factors, such as poverty or social status associated with ethnicity, linguistic or cultural
differences, migration or displacement. Children who were disabled or looked different, such as being
overweight or underweight, were also a prime target for bullying.
Young people whose sexual orientation, gender identity or expression does not conform to traditional
gender norms are also at increased risk of school violence and bullying, the UN agency reported.
An estimated 246 million children and adolescents experience school violence and bullying in some form
every year harming the physical health and emotional well-being of the child.
Among other aspects, the authors looked at where school violence and bullying occurs. For example,
physical aggression is more frequent in primary school, whereas cyberbullying takes place more in middle
through secondary school.
The report was presented at the International Symposium on School Violence and Bullying: From Evidence
to Action, co-organized by UNESCO and the Institute of School Violence Prevention at Ewha Womans
University.
Speaking to UN News, Christopher Castle, the UNESCO focal point for the Symposium, said bullying has
been “neglected or overlooked for far too long.” He credits the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for
bringing the issue to discussions. A target of Goal 4 is to “provide safe, nonviolent, inclusive and effective
learning environments for all.”
“People are now waking up to the fact that when children are in school and in order for them to learn and
get a good quality education, they need to have an environment that's conducive for them to learn which
means bullying and school violence is really incredibly unhelpful,” Mr. Castle said.
In addition to today's report, the Symposium is also an opportunity for the 250 participants from 70
countries to discuss the 2016 UN Secretary-General's report on protecting children from bullying.
Read more about the Secretary-General's report and the work of his envoy on the issue.
Racism
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/f770a40e45b04a7482eb88c09c1398f3/ap-interview-lynch-says-us-must-holdpolice-accountable
Lynch says US must hold police accountable
By Eric Tucker
The Associated Press, January 14, 2017
In this Jan. 12, 2017 photo, Attorney General Loretta Lynch poses
for a portrait during an interview with The Associated Press at the
University of Baltimore School of Law in Baltimore. (AP
Photo/Patrick Semansky)
BALTIMORE (AP) — As a younger lawyer, Loretta Lynch
prosecuted New York police officers who sodomized a Haitian
immigrant in a precinct bathroom. As attorney general, she's
broadened her focus to go after entire police departments for unconstitutional practices.
In an interview as her tenure ends, Lynch strongly defended the Justice Department's aggressive
intervention in local law enforcement during the Obama administration, including the decision to
repeatedly seek court-enforceable improvement plans with troubled police agencies. One such consent
decree came Thursday in Baltimore, and the Justice Department a day later issued a scathing report on the
Chicago Police Department.
"That is a role that the federal government absolutely has to play," Lynch told The Associated Press.
"Frankly, it is our role to defend the constitutional rights of the citizens of our cities in this great country."
That approach seems likely to change in the next administration.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican and President-elect Donald Trump's choice for attorney general,
said at his confirmation hearing this past week that while consent decrees "are not necessarily a bad thing,"
enforcement actions against entire police departments can lower an agency's morale and unfairly malign all
officers for the actions of some.
He would not commit that "there would never be any changes" in the agreements, which are overseen by a
judge and require police departments to overhaul their practices.
Lynch leaves office following a nearly two-year tenure marked by massacres carried out by violent
extremists, including the shootings at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida; persistent hacking from overseas,
including Russian government efforts to meddle in the U.S. presidential election; and an election-season
investigation into Hillary Clinton's email server that entangled the Justice Department in presidential
politics and led to criticism for her ill-timed meeting on an airport tarmac with former President Bill
Clinton.
She was sworn in as attorney general in April 2015 amid riots in Baltimore over the death of a black man in
police custody. She visited Baltimore the following month, and later launched a tour of 12 cities to repair
police-community relations, a cause she championed as attorney general.
In the interview, she said she believed that relationships between the Justice Department and local law
enforcement were less adversarial than they once were, and that her agency has given police departments
federal support and resources while also forcing troubled ones to make systemic changes.
"You've got to hold police accountable, you've got to help them hold themselves accountable, and you've
got to build in community accountability," she said.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/f770a40e45b04a7482eb88c09c1398f3/ap-interview-lynch-says-us-must-holdpolice-accountable
Lynch said her biggest disappointment is that Congress failed to pass legislation to overhaul how criminals
are sentenced despite seeming bipartisan support for it.
"It would have helped people rebuild their lives, it would have unclogged the criminal justice system and
allowed us to devote our resources to those people who truly deserve long terms of incarceration," Lynch
said.
Lynch won praise from civil liberties advocates for suing North Carolina over a bill the Justice Department
said discriminated against transgender individuals, and for an emotional speech linking the prejudice there
to bias against blacks in the Jim Crow era.
She attracted global attention early in her tenure for the corruption prosecution of high-level officials at
FIFA, international soccer's governing body. That criminal case jolted the world's most popular sport and
burst into view with early morning arrests at a hotel in Europe.
"When you have an organization that has so much power, so many resources — yes, they have to run a
sport, but they also have a responsibility to that sport. And to have them just abdicate that responsibility for
personal gain to me was, and is, particularly galling," Lynch said.
Her tenure is also shadowed by the Hillary Clinton email investigation. She has expressed regret that an
unscheduled meeting in Phoenix with Bill Clinton caused the public to doubt the independence of the
investigation.
She announced after the encounter that she would accept the recommendations of the FBI. On Thursday,
the Justice Department's inspector general announced an investigation into whether the FBI and Justice
Department had violated policies in their handling of the case.
Lynch declined to discuss internal talks between the FBI and Justice Department just before FBI Director
James Comey's much-criticized decision to send a letter to Congress days ahead of the Nov. 8 election that
said the bureau would be revisiting the email investigation.
The Justice Department opposed sending the letter, and Lynch said "the director was well aware of my
views on it."
"There will be a lot of analysis about the impact of all of these things," she said. "I'll let the pundits deal
with that."
Sessions is expected to easily win Senate confirmation and may revamp Justice Department priorities, not
only on policing but on immigration and national security policy.
Lynch, the former top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, said she had been through political transitions before
and understands how they work. But she said she expected some of the priorities she established to remain
intact through career lawyers at the Justice Department.
"You come in and you work as hard as you can, as long as you can, for the American people," she said.
"The value of that lives on."
Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP
http://time.com/4628685/ride-sharing-apps-discrimination/
Racial Discrimination Still Exists With Ride-Sharing Apps
By Yanbo Ge, Christopher R. Knittel, Don MacKenzie, and Stephen Zoepf
Time, January 15, 2017
The Uber Technologies Inc. car service application (app) is
demonstrated for a photograph on an Apple Inc. iPhone in New
York, on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. (Victor J. Blue—Bloomberg via
Getty Images)
It continues the legacy of discrimination by the cab industry
From hailing taxis that won’t stop for them to being forced to ride
at the back of buses, African-Americans have long endured
discrimination within the transportation industry.
Many have hoped the emergence of a technology-driven “new economy,” providing greater information
and transparency and buoyed by an avowed idealism, would help us break from our history of systemic
discrimination against minorities.
Unfortunately, our research shows that the new economy has brought along some old baggage, suggesting
that it takes more than just new technologies to transform attitudes and behavior.
Our new paper, “Racial and Gender Discrimination in Transportation Network Companies,” found patterns
of discrimination in how some drivers using ride-hailing platforms, such as Uber and Lyft, treat AfricanAmerican passengers and women. Our results are based on extensive field studies in Seattle and Boston,
both considered liberal-minded cities, and provide stark evidence of discrimination.
Taxis and discrimination
Discrimination by taxi drivers has long been a social problem. As a result, most cities explicitly require
drivers to pick up any passenger while on duty, something they’re reminded of, but such provisions are
difficult to enforce. Our work confirmed that traditional taxis in downtown Seattle were more likely to pass
black passengers without stopping than to drive by white passengers.
Advances in technology are drastically changing the cab-hailing experience, however, allowing those in
need of a lift to order a car with a few taps on a smartphone. The question we wanted to answer with our
research is whether this fast-growing market is treating customers of all races and genders equally.
Plainly put, is the traditional taxi driver’s decision, made in public view, not to stop for an AfricanAmerican passenger being eliminated? Or is it just being replaced by a driver’s swipe on a screen, made in
private but with the same effect?
The relationship between these services and discrimination is a complex one. A study funded by
Uber found that its UberX service provided lower fares and shorter wait times than traditional taxis in areas
of Los Angeles with below-average incomes. Similar research found that expected wait times for the
service were shorter in Seattle-area neighborhoods with lower incomes, even after adjusting for several
variables. On the other hand, ride-hailing apps are unavailable to customers without a credit card, who are
more likely to be lower-income and a member of a minority group.
But this looks at the problem only from a systemic point of view, while the actual decision to pick up a
passenger is made by individual drivers. Although drivers are required to maintain high levels of overall
performance, there is no mechanism that might detect whether they’re discriminating.
http://time.com/4628685/ride-sharing-apps-discrimination/
For our study, we used a simple but powerful method to measure this: random field tests. We dispatched
research assistants – white and black, male and female – into the field, at varying times of the day and in
varying parts of Seattle and Boston, and asked them to order, wait and ride in vehicles hailed by a platform
like Uber, which we term “transportation network companies,” or TNCs.
Such random field tests are conceptually simple, but they’re considered the “gold standard” in the research
field – and we conducted nearly 1,500 rides in the two cities.
At all times, the research assistants carefully monitored and recorded predetermined performance metrics
for every ride they took with screenshots of their smartphones: before requesting a trip (with expected wait
time), just after the trip is accepted (with a new wait time), again if a driver canceled, when the driver
arrives and when the vehicle stops at the destination. Using the data gathered, we evaluated wait times,
travel times, cancellation rates, costs and ratings awarded.
OK, what did we find?
The good news
First of all, there is some good news.
For one, black passengers in our study received the same level of “star ratings” from drivers that picked
them up as white ones, meaning that their future trip requests will not be handicapped by poor reviews.
Second, as we noted earlier, other recent research has shown that (at least in Seattle) predicted waiting
times for an Uber are actually shorter in lower-income neighborhoods than in wealthier areas, suggesting
that drivers are not avoiding low-income areas altogether.
The bad news
Unfortunately, there is some bad news, too. In short, we found significant discrimination in both cities.
In Seattle, the data showed African-American passengers had to wait consistently longer to get picked up
by an Uber – as much as 35 percent more than white passengers. The data also showed that black
passengers waiting slightly longer than white passengers to have Lyft requests accepted, although this did
not translate into a significantly longer wait to be picked up.
In Boston, a separate experiment that captured a wider variety of performance metrics found more frequent
cancellations when a passenger used stereotypically African-American-sounding names such as Jamal or
Aisha. Across all trips, the cancellation rate for black-sounding names was more than double that for
stereotypically white-sounding names such as Jerry or Allison.
The effect was even stronger in low-density (more suburban) areas, where male passengers were more than
three times as likely to have their trips canceled when they used an African-American-sounding name as
when they used a white-sounding name. We also found evidence that in at least some cases, drivers took
female passengers for longer – and potentially more expensive – rides.
We emphasize that we are not saying TNCs are better or worse than traditional taxis. In fact, our data do
not allow us to make that comparison. Anecdotally, many travelers report that they can now get a ride
whereas in the past they could not. But what our data do show is that differences in quality of service seem
to persist.
Is there a solution?
We believe that many of the problems we have identified can be mitigated simply by changing some of the
practices and policies at ride-sharing companies. Uber has already begun adopting one change – flat fares
http://time.com/4628685/ride-sharing-apps-discrimination/
based on origin and destination – that could reduce the incentive for drivers to take passengers on longer
routes.
Transportation network companies may also want to increase the direct penalties for drivers who cancel
trips, including cases where they don’t officially cancel but simply never pick up the passenger – another
behavior we observed. Implementing periodic or ongoing audits to detect potentially discriminatory
behavior may help as well.
And more data are needed. We are sure that much more could be learned from data that are locked away
inside the companies. But the companies – understandably – are reluctant to share it except when
compelled to do so by regulators.
End of discrimination?
Could these and other changes eliminate racial and gender discrimination within the emerging ride-hailing
industry?
Unfortunately, complete elimination is unlikely. And care should be taken to ensure that well-intentioned
measures don’t simply shift the locus of discrimination. For example, making it harder for drivers to cancel
might have the unintended consequence of causing drivers to give certain types of riders lower star ratings
or avoid certain neighborhoods altogether, which could actually worsen the impact of discrimination.
We are confident that Uber, Lyft and other TNCs have the technological know-how to continue
revolutionizing urban transportation. They also now have the evidence that they can and should make
changes to their policies and practices to ensure that everyone shares in the benefits of our new economy.
Yanbo Ge, Ph.D. in Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Washington; Christopher R. Knittel,
Professor of Applied Economics and Director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy
Research, MIT Sloan School of Management; Don MacKenzie, Assistant Professor of Civil and
Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, and Stephen Zoepf, Executive Director of the
Center for Automotive Research, Stanford University
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
Religion
http://www.courierpostonline.com/story/news/local/south-jersey/2017/01/18/muslim-hijab-jaillawsuit/96715720/
Court upholds firing over Muslim headscarf
By Jim Walsh
The (Cherry Hills, N.J.) Courier-Post, January 18, 2017
A state appeals court on Wednesday upheld the dismissal of a
Camden County Jail corrections officer who refused to remove a
Muslim head covering while on duty. (Photo: Courier-Post file
photo)
CAMDEN, N.J. — An appeals court Wednesday upheld the
firing of a Camden County corrections officer who said her Muslim
beliefs required her to wear a head covering on duty.
Linda Tisby, a 13-year employee at the county jail, contended her
dismissal in May 2015 violated her rights under the state's Law Against Discrimination. Tisby, who was
fired after adopting the Sunni Muslim faith, said county officials had failed to accommodate her "sincere
religious beliefs."
But a three-judge panel supported two Superior Court rulings against Tisby, saying the county had shown
Tisby's head covering — known as a khimar or hijab — would impose an undue hardship on the jail. It said
that circumstance created an exception to the state law, allowing Tisby's termination.
"We do not minimize the religious significance of the khimar for the women who wear them," the ruling
said. "We recognize a compelling sense of religious obligation in the decision to wear a khimar."
The panel agreed with a trial judge who found the jail's ban on khimars was justified "because of overriding
safety concerns, the potential for concealment of contraband and the importance of uniform neutrality."
County officials were pleased with the ruling, said spokesman Dan Keashen.
"Our No. 1 priority is to ensure the safety of the employees and the inmates in the institution," he said. "We
believe, and the court was clear in its ruling, that this case would have compromised the health and welfare
of all who work and live in the facility.”
Deborah Mains, a Mount Laurel attorney for Tisby, could not be reached for immediate comment.
A spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a group that advocates for Muslims' civil
rights, expressed concern.
"It's in our interest to make sure a negative precedent like this doesn't stand," said Ibrahim Hooper at the
group's Washington, D.C., headquarters.
"Usually we find if there's good will on all sides, some kind of accommodation can be reached," said
Hooper, who noted the New York City Police Department recently eased its dress code to allow turbans for
Sikh officers.
"We've more or less resolved the issue of religious accommodation in what we call the corporate
workplace," Hooper said. "The only remaining issues are in the police and correctional institution settings
where there's a uniform."
According to Wednesday's decision, Tisby reported to work on May 1, 2015, in a khimar — described as "a
tight-fitting head covering without a veil." When Tisby refused a supervisor's order to remove the khimar,
she was sent home and disciplinary charges were recommended.
http://www.courierpostonline.com/story/news/local/south-jersey/2017/01/18/muslim-hijab-jaillawsuit/96715720/
The ruling said Tisby similarly refused orders to remove the head covering on May 2, 3 and 6, "stating the
khimar was for religious purposes." She then received a two-day suspension.
The jail's uniform policy allows only "authorized head gear," the ruling noted.
The jail's warden, David S. Owens Jr., notified Tisby on May 11, 2015, that he considered her stance to be
a "request for accommodation under … the Civil Rights Act." but contended that would impose an undue
hardship.
Owens told Tisby she would face no disciplinary action if she returned to work without the khimar. She
refused that offer and was removed from her position that same day, the ruling said.
Tisby then filed two court cases in June and July 2015, alleging the county had violated her rights and
seeking reinstatement and back pay.
One case was dismissed on Aug. 7, 2015, after Superior Court Judge Anthony Pugliese found the county
had proved an undue hardship. The other, which argued the jail had allowed other female workers to wear
head coverings, was dismissed two weeks later by Superior Court Judge David Ragonese on the grounds
that Tisby should have presented all of her arguments in a single case.
In upholding the lower court rulings, the appellate panel cited a federal court decision in a case brought in
2005 by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of Muslim women employed at
a privately run jail in Pennsylvania. That ruling found khimars "would present safety concerns in a prison
setting because they could be used as a weapon to choke someone."
Wednesday's decision also noted a 2007 ruling against a Philadelphia police officer who sought to wear a
khimar on duty.
In that case, Philadelphia's police commissioner asserted it was "essential that the police maintain political
and religious neutrality as they carry out their duties and must be seen by the public as not favoring one
group or faith over another."
Follow Jim Walsh on Twitter: @jimwalsh_cp
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/18/us/jewish-centers-bomb-threats-civil-rights.html
Jewish Centers Across U.S. Face New Wave of Bomb
Threats
By Mitch Smith and Alan Blinder
The New York Times, January 18, 2017
On Wednesday, for the second time this month, someone called the Jewish community center outside
Wilmington, Del., and said a bomb was on the property.
For the second time this month, children were evacuated from schools, gym patrons had their workouts
interrupted and police dogs searched the campus. And for the second time this month, it turned out to be
part of a frightening nationwide hoax targeting Jewish facilities.
“It’s concerning, it’s frustrating,” said Seth J. Katzen, the chief executive of the Jewish Federation of
Delaware, whose staff trains several times a year for emergencies. “But as in any J.C.C. across the country,
safety and security is our primary concern.”
There were as many as 27 bomb threats on Wednesday at Jewish centers in 17 states, according to the
J.C.C. Association of North America. Last week, 16 Jewish facilities received bomb threats. No injuries
were reported, but nerves were rattled and routines disrupted.
As in other places, the police in Delaware said they were investigating and were in contact with the federal
authorities. An F.B.I. official said the bureau and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division were
investigating “possible civil rights violations in connection with threats” to Jewish community centers
across the country, but declined to provide further details.
Jewish leaders called the threats a sickening sign of the times, but said individual centers had trained to
address them. Both Wednesday and last week, a national alert system for leaders of Jewish centers was
activated as the menacing calls poured in. After the threats last week, Jewish leaders said they had held an
online training session with law enforcement officials that included tips on how to respond to bomb threats.
Jewish community centers “have prepared for situations like this,” said David Posner, a vice president with
the J.C.C. Association who helps local centers refine their security protocols. “It’s unfortunate, but it’s
necessary.”
In Birmingham, Ala., where a call about a bomb led to an evacuation on Wednesday, Betzy W. Lynch said
the wave of threats “reinforces the importance of the work” of the centers across the country.
“We are required to look at these things and take these threats very, very seriously, but at the same time,
our goal is to improve the world and build relationships with people,” said Ms. Lynch, the executive
director of the Levite Jewish Community Center in Birmingham.
Lt. Sean Edwards, a spokesman for the Birmingham Police Department, said that the call on Wednesday
appeared to be a robocall and that he believed federal officials were investigating. He said the Birmingham
authorities had not increased patrols around the center.
“We’re keeping our eye on it,” Lieutenant Edwards said, adding that new intelligence from the F.B.I. could
lead to changes.
The threats led to calls for heightened awareness at Jewish facilities. The Anti-Defamation League issued a
security advisory and urged Jewish institutions “to take these threats extremely seriously.” Mr. Posner, of
the J.C.C. Association, said local leaders were heartened by the law enforcement response but were still
rattled by the experience.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/18/us/jewish-centers-bomb-threats-civil-rights.html
“They can do damage without actually even having to plant a bomb, which I believe is what they are
looking to try to do,” he said.
Leslie M. Sax, the executive director of the Gordon Jewish Community Center in Nashville, which, like the
center in Delaware, has received two threats in two weeks, acknowledged that the calls had been unnerving.
“If their goal is to incite fear and disrupt our business, they’ve done that,” she said.
Ms. Sax, who declined to discuss specific security procedures in Nashville, said officials remained
uncertain of whether the threats signaled troubles that might linger.
“We’ve had two in two weeks, so we’re starting to question, ‘Is this the new norm?’ But we don’t know
that,” she said. “We haven’t had enough time to even talk about it, but I think people are disheartened and a
little frustrated.”
Sexism
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/16/upshot/job-disconnect-male-applicants-feminine-language.html
Job Listings That Are Too ‘Feminine’ for Men
By Claire Cain Miller
The New York Times, January 16, 2017
Hemant Singh, a staff nurse at the Queens Cancer Center, testing a
patient’s blood pressure. Some men resist taking health care jobs that are
predominantly occupied by women. (Credit: Joshua Bright for The New
York Times)
Job postings for home health aides say applicants need to be
“sympathetic” and “caring,” “empathetic” and focused on
“families.” It turns out that doesn’t lead very many men to apply.
One of the biggest economic riddles today is why out-of-work men
aren’t pursuing the jobs that are growing the most, which are mainly in health care. A big reason is that
these so-called pink-collar jobs are mostly done by women, and that turns off some men.
Employers have something to do with that: An analysis of listings for the 14 fastest-growing jobs from
2014 to 2024 found that they used feminine language, which has been statistically shown to attract women
and deter men. The study was done by Textio, which has analyzed 50 million job listings for language that
provokes disproportionate responses from men or women.
The qualities sought for male-dominated jobs also apply to female-dominated ones, much more than
traditionally male jobs require traditionally female qualities.
The most “feminine” job postings were those for home health aides, a job that is 89 percent female and
projected to grow 38 percent by 2024. Common key words in the job descriptions were sympathetic, care,
fosters, empathy and families — all of which Textio has found appeal more to female candidates — and are
more likely to result in a female hire. Job listings for other fast-growing and female-dominated jobs like
nurse practitioner, genetic counselor and physician assistant used similarly feminine language.
Compare that with job listings for cartographers, one of the few fast-growing jobs that is male-dominated.
It is 62 percent male and expected to grow 29 percent by 2024. Common key words were manage, forces,
exceptional, proven and superior. These words tend to appeal to men and generally result in a male hire,
Textio found. Job descriptions for the two fastest-growing jobs that men mostly do — wind turbine
technicians and commercial divers — also used masculine language.
But just as cartographers need to be “exceptional” and “proven,” so do health aides. The reverse is not
necessarily true — cartographers don’t necessarily need to be “sympathetic” or focused on “families” to
excel. That might be one reason that women have historically entered male-dominated professions, like law
or management, more than men have entered female-dominated ones, like teaching or nursing.
Societal expectations and stigmas concerning masculinity deter men from feminine jobs, social scientists
say, so some health care employers have tried to use more masculine language to appeal to men, like
talking about the “adrenaline rush” of being an operating room nurse. A better solution, according to
Textio’s data, is to use gender-neutral language in job postings.
For example, Textio said it improved the results for a job posting for a software development manager by
changing a few words from masculine to gender neutral: “premier” instead of “world-class,”
“extraordinary” instead of “rock star” and “handle a fast-paced schedule” instead of “manage” it.
There is a benefit to the employer in changing the wording. Gender-neutral language fills jobs 14 days
faster than posts with a masculine or feminine bias, Textio said, and attracts a more diverse mix of people.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/17/upshot/republican-men-say-its-a-better-time-to-be-a-woman-than-aman.html
Republican Men Say It’s a Better Time to Be a Woman
Than a Man
By Claire Cain Miller
The New York Times, January 17, 2017
Dennis Halaszynski, 81, is a retired police captain in McKeesport,
Pa., who voted for Donald J. Trump. “It’s easier being a woman
today than it is a man,” he said. (Credit: Tom M. Johnson for The
New York Times)
To be a woman in the United States is to feel unequal, despite great
strides in gender equality, according to a wide-ranging poll about
gender in postelection America released Tuesday. It’s catcalls on
the street, disrespect at work and unbalanced responsibilities at
home. For girls, it’s being taught, more than boys, to aspire to marriage, and for women, it’s watching
positions of power go to men.
Men, however, don’t necessarily see it that way.
Those are some of the findings from the poll, by PerryUndem, a nonpartisan research and polling firm
whose biggest clients are foundations. It surveyed 1,302 adults in December via the National Opinion
Research Center at the University of Chicago’s AmeriSpeak panel.
Eighty-two
percent of
women said
sexism was a
problem in
society today,
and 41 percent
of women said
they had felt
unequal
because of
their gender.
Men
underestimate
d the sexism
felt by the
women in
their lives, the
survey found.
And while
most
respondents
agreed it’s a better time to be a man than a woman in our society, only Republican men thought it was a
better time to be a woman than a man.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/17/upshot/republican-men-say-its-a-better-time-to-be-a-woman-than-aman.html
As women across the nation prepare to march in protest of an election in which gender loomed large, the
poll results reveal nearly unanimous support for gender equality and policies that would help women — but
deep partisan divides in the perception of inequality and of who’s thriving and who’s losing in society.
Many Americans seemed to think others had it better than they did, especially Republican men.
Over all, only 37 percent of respondents thought it was a good time to be a woman in the United States.
Fewer thought it was a good time to be a minority woman; 24 percent said it was a good time to be a
Latina, and 11 percent a Muslim woman.
Republican men seem to see it differently. Just over half thought it was a good time to be a woman, while
only 41 percent of them thought it was a good time to be a man.
Donald J. Trump’s rhetoric has appealed to people who feel this way. At his victory rally in Cincinnati last
month, he said about women: “I hate to tell you men, generally speaking, they’re better than you are. Now,
if I said it the other way around, I’d be in big trouble.”
Dennis Halaszynski, 81, is a retired police captain in McKeesport, Pa., and a registered Democrat who
voted for Mr. Trump. “It’s easier being a woman today than it is a man,” he said in an interview. “The
white man is a low person on the totem pole. Everybody else is above the white man.”
Women “should be highly respected,” he said, but they are no longer unequal: “Everything in general is in
favor of a woman. No matter what happens in life, it seems like the man’s always at fault.”
Democrats of both genders were much more likely to have felt unequal because of some aspect of their
identity – 68 percent, compared with 47 percent of Republicans. Gender, race and religious views were the
biggest reasons. The only reasons Republicans were more likely than Democrats to feel unequal were their
religious views and military status.
There is overwhelming support for gender equality in work, life and politics: 93 percent of respondents said
they believed in it. But 43 percent of male Trump voters said it had already been achieved. Only 20 percent
of those polled and 12 percent of women agreed.
The disparity is partly because people define equality very differently, based on their politics and gender. A
majority of respondents said the following things affected women’s rights and equality: unequal
responsibilities caring for children; violence against women; a focus on women’s beauty and sexuality; the
lack of women in political office and positions of power; sexism; racism; equal opportunities in the
workplace; and access to birth control and abortion.
Cristina Hall near her home in Imperial Beach, Calif., near San
Diego. “The typical catcalling or comments or inappropriate
gestures that men make toward you, I don’t think there’s any
women who haven’t experienced that sort of harassment,” she said.
(Credit Sandy Huffaker for The New York Times)
But in almost every instance, Republican men had a different view.
For example, 51 percent of respondents but 24 percent of
Republican men said a lack of women in political office affected women’s rights. Fifty-seven percent of
respondents over all and 36 percent of Republican men said unequal responsibilities caring for family
affected women’s rights.
Even men who said women were still treated unequally underestimated the sexism that women experience.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/17/upshot/republican-men-say-its-a-better-time-to-be-a-woman-than-aman.html
While 41 percent of women said they frequently or sometimes heard sexist language in their daily lives, 26
percent of men thought their partners did. Fifty-four percent of women said they had been touched by a
man in an inappropriate way without consent, while 31 percent of men thought their partners had.
“The typical catcalling or comments or inappropriate gestures that men make toward you, I don’t think
there’s any women who haven’t experienced that sort of harassment,” said Cristina Hall, 44, who works in
customer service in San Diego.
But she was
not surprised
that men didn’t
realize it. “I
think when
people don’t
go through
certain
experiences,
it’s hard for
them to
understand that
it even
happens,” Ms.
Hall said.
“Maybe
they’ve never
done it to a
woman. Plus
as women, we
don’t typically
say anything
because of fear
we’re not
going to be
believed or
retaliation or
shame.”
About 40
percent of
women said
acts of sexism
would be more
likely because
Mr. Trump won, including sexual assault and feelings of entitlement among men to treat women as sexual
objects.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/17/upshot/republican-men-say-its-a-better-time-to-be-a-woman-than-aman.html
About a third of respondents said they were less tolerant of sexism in their own lives as a result of Mr.
Trump’s victory, and 43 percent of parents said it made them teach their children about sexual assault and
consent.
“People seem to feel validated in their racist and sexist beliefs right now,” said Tayler Lien, 22, a mixedrace college student in Las Vegas who voted for Hillary Clinton. “It’s a little bit scary.”
There was widespread support among large majorities in both parties for policies that would help women,
like equal pay and paid leave. These have been rallying cries for feminists and progressives, and
Republicans have traditionally opposed them. Congress failed to act on those policies during the Obama
administration, but Mr. Trump has said he would push for them.
Ninety percent of the respondents and 86 percent of Republicans supported the idea that the next president
and Congress should work on equal pay laws. Eight-nine percent of respondents supported policies
improving access to high-quality, affordable child care, and 87 percent supported paid family and medical
leave.
Policies concerning reproductive rights were the exception to the bipartisan support. Forty-three percent of
Republicans and 82 percent of Democrats said they supported work toward protecting a woman’s right to
abortion from the next president and Congress, and 40 percent of Republicans and 80 percent of Democrats
opposed getting rid of the part of Obamacare that offers birth control without a co-pay.
Peg Cherry, 83, a lifelong Republican who voted for Mr. Trump, said only low-paying, low-status jobs
were available when she was young. She worked part-time in retail and elder care jobs while raising five
daughters. All five worked — “a feather in my cap,” she said — and so she supports policies like equal pay
and paid leave.
She thinks Mr. Trump will deliver. “I think he’s going to put his money where his mouth is,” said Ms.
Cherry, who lives in Lisbon Falls, Me. “I think he’s more likely to because, look, he’s had his daughter in
charge of a company and he could very well put a man in there.”
Ms. Cherry is not the only one pinning her hopes on Ivanka Trump for female-friendly policies. Sixty-five
percent of people, including the majority of Democrats, said they wanted her to help push forward on
women’s rights and equality.
Despite the widespread support for gender equality and certain feminist policies, only 19 percent of
respondents said they considered themselves feminists. There was no clear consensus on who best
represented feminism today. The largest shares of people, both women and men, named two black women:
Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey.
The Upshot provides news, analysis and graphics about politics, policy and everyday life. Follow us on
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Sexual Assault /
Harassment
https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/articles/marine-colonel-charged-with-sex-assault-sent-to-brig-amidnew-allegations
Marine colonel charged with sex assault sent to brig amid
new allegations
By Andrew Tilghman
Marine Corps Times, January 14, 2017
(Photo Credit: Cpl. James R. Smith/Marine Corps)
A Marine colonel accused of sexually assaulting a child was locked up
in the brig at Camp Lejeune after investigators uncovered new
allegations of misconduct, Marine Corps officials said.
Col. Daniel H. Wilson, 55, was not originally placed in confinement
when first charged in November with sexual abuse of a child. Instead,
he checked into an inpatient treatment facility in North Carolina,
according to his attorney.
But after new allegations of misconduct surfaced in a Naval Criminal
Investigation Service probe, the II Marine Expeditionary Force
Commanding General, Gen. Walter Lee Miller, Jr., ordered Wilson into immediate confinement at the
Marine Corps Installations East Regional Brig facility, Marine Corps officials said Friday night.
"It's unfortunate that they pulled him out of a treatment facility and put him in a confinement facility with
no treatment," Wilson's attorney, Phillip Stackhouse, told Marine Corps Times Saturday.
Wilson's attorney declined to say what kind of treatment Wilson was receiving.
The colonel was slated for transfer to another residential treatment facility in Virginia when the general
issued the confinement order Friday. "In between the transfer of the North Carolina and the Virginia
facility, they basically went in and grabbed him and took him to the Camp Lejeune brig," Stackhouse said
in a phone interview.
Wilson is scheduled to face an Article 32 hearing on Jan. 31 at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina for the
charges leveled in November that include sexual assault and sexual abuse of a child; assault consummated
by battery on a child under the age of 16; failure to obey a general order or regulation and conduct
unbecoming of an officer.
The Article 32 hearing will help determine whether the colonel faces a court martial.
The recent alleged misconduct occurred after the initial charges were preferred on Nov. 15, 2016,
according to a statement from II MEF.
Stackhouse said the new allegations are "completely dissimilar and unrelated" to the child sex assault
charges leveled against Wilson in November.
"He's become a very soft target for anyone who wants to say anything they want to," Stackhouse said.
Wilson became II MEF’s operations officer on April 30. He was reassigned to administrative duties after II
MEF and the NCIS began investigating him.
SEE ALSO:
Colonel Accused of Child Sex Abuse Behind Bars After New Allegations [Military.com, 2017-01-14]
http://www.govexec.com/management/2017/01/trumps-interior-secretary-pledges-eliminate-sexualharassment-department/134671/
Trump’s Interior Nominee Pledges to Eliminate Sexual
Harassment at Department
By Eric Katz
Government Executive, January 18, 2017
Interior Secretary-designate Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., testifies on
Capitol Hill on Tuesday. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Interior
Department pledged during his confirmation hearing on Tuesday to
eradicate harassment among his future employees, calling it a drag
on morale.
Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., the Interior secretary-designate,
promised to institute a “zero-tolerance” policy on issues of sexual assault. The National Park Service in
particular has been plagued by accusations of widespread sexual misconduct, leading to multiple
investigations and congressional hearings.
“I take issues of sexual assault harassment absolutely seriously,” Zinke said. He noted the problem at NPS,
and said it is making it harder for the agency to recruit for previously prestigious jobs such as park rangers.
Zinke had clearly done his homework in preparation for the hearing, highlighting findings from the Federal
Employee Viewpoint Survey that rangers' job satisfaction now ranks among the worst at Interior.
“Something is going on,” Zinke said. “Whether sexual harassment has an influence on it, whether they feel
they don’t have the flexibility to make the decisions, whether it’s a lot of things. But I have to get to the
bottom of it, because it is the front line.”
He added: “If morale is bad at the front line, it makes sure that mission success isn’t going to happen. And
sexual harassment is part of what is killing morale, I believe.”
Zinke promised to tour various NPS outposts to listen to concerns, and to voice from leadership “from the
top and from the bottom” that sexual harassment would not be acceptable. He called a culture that enables
harassment “flat wrong” and promised to “stamp it out” as secretary.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., attempted to put the harassment issue in context with some of Trump’s
more controversial comments, though Zinke stayed on message about his responsibilities at Interior.
The likely next Interior secretary is a strong advocate of federal land control, and promised to never sell or
transfer any public land. That position is in contrast with most Republicans, who included in their party
platform last year the backing of policies to transfer federal land to states or the private sector. The push to
de-federalize lands in the western United States has led to several high-profile conflicts between
conservative groups and federal agencies.
“I am absolutely against transfer and sale of public lands,” Zinke said. “I can’t be more clear.”
Zinke also advocated allowing energy development on federally controlled land, such as drilling and
mining.