USA TODAY, June 12, 2012

By Yamiche Alcindor

LONGWOOD, Fla. – The parents of Trayvon Martin say people who initiate confrontations should not be allowed to invoke stand-your-ground laws, which permit using deadly force against those who pose a risk of killing or seriously injuring someone.

Testifying Tuesday before the Florida Citizen Safety and Protection task force that Gov. Rick Scott established to review the state’s stand-your-ground law, Trayvon’s parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, said the law should be amended. They and a coalition group presented the task force with 340,000 signatures asking that the law be changed to exclude those who initiate confrontations.

“This law gives you the right to basically be a vigilante,” Tracy Martin said. “Too many innocent lives are being taken. All we ask is that you review these laws and fix these laws and let them apply to someone who is literally in danger.” (more…)

USA TODAY, June 11, 2012

By Yamiche Alcindor

A growing number of cities across the United States are making it harder to be homeless.

Philadelphia recently banned outdoor feeding of people in city parks. Denver has begun enforcing a ban on eating and sleeping on property without permission. And this month, lawmakers in Ashland, Ore., will consider strengthening the town’s ban on camping and making noise in public.

And the list goes on: Atlanta, Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles, Miami, Oklahoma City and more than 50 other cities have previously adopted some kind of anti-camping or anti-food-sharing laws, according to the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty. (more…)

USA TODAY, June 8, 2012

By Yamiche Alcindor

Haiti, known mainly for its natural disasters, starving citizens and government corruption scandals, is hoping to leave its tumultuous past behind and re-invent itself as an investment and tourism destination.

At least eight hotels — including Comfort Inn, Best Western, and Marriott — plan to build or expand properties on the island-nation, according to Paul Altidor, Haiti’s ambassador to the United States. Haiti’s government is also revamping economic institutions and recruiting people with investment experience in an effort to streamline business endeavors and provide transparency to potential business partners. However, challenges such as homelessness, lack of infrastructure, and Haiti’s image as an international charity case threaten it’s ability to move forward, experts say.

“We’re trying to move away from survival mode to investment mode,” Altidor said. “We’re not convinced that sending humanitarian aid to Haiti is going to push us out of this poverty hole. We’re looking for capital and knowledge.”

(more…)

USA TODAY, April 14, 2012

By Yamiche Alcindor

Years before the killing of Trayvon Martin grabbed the nation’s attention, the teen’s father warned him that his race could make him a target of violence.

The advice Tracy Martin gave his black son, that people veiled by racism and prejudices might see him as suspicious or violent, is a common and continuous warning in many black families, parents and experts say. In the aftermath of Trayvon’s death, more families are having “the talk,” teaching sons to be aware of their race, avoid confrontations with authority figures, and to remain calm in situations even if their rights are violated.

“I’ve always let him know we as African Americans get stereotyped,” Tracy Martin, Trayvon’s father told USA TODAY three weeks after his son’s death. “I told him that society is cruel.”

(more…)

USA TODAY, April 12, 2012

By Yamiche Alcindor

SANFORD, Fla. – Many in the public see George Zimmerman as an aggressive neighborhood watch volunteer who profiled Trayvon Martin, chased the teen and murdered him. That’s also how Florida special prosecutor Angela Corey regards him, according to court records.

The prosecutor’s first public filings shed light on the investigation as media trucks filled the parking lot of the jail where Zimmerman, who appeared in court for the first time Thursday is behind bars.

Trayvon was “profiled” by Zimmerman, who “falsely assumed (Trayvon) was going to commit a crime” as the teen was trying to get back to the home of his father’s girlfriend, according to records. The documents portray Zimmerman as the aggressor throughout the Feb. 26 incident, remarking to police at one point that people like Trayvon were “punks” causing trouble in his neighborhood.

(more…)

USA TODAY, April 11, 2012

By Yamiche Alcindor, Marisol Bello and William M. Welch

SANFORD, Fla. – The killing of Trayvon Martin has for weeks fed a national debate about police profiling, self-defense laws, racism and even gun control.

Wednesday, the death of the unarmed black teenager in a “hoodie” became something else: A murder case.

Florida State Attorney Angela Corey said in Jacksonville that George Zimmerman, 28, had been taken into custody and was awaiting arraignment within 24 hours on a charge of second-degree murder in the death of the 17-year-old. He could face life in prison if convicted.

(more…)

USA TODAY, April 5, 2012

By Yamiche Alcindor

Blacks and whites across the country view the Trayvon Martin case and its potential racial implications in largely different ways, according to a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll.

In one of the starkest differences, 73% of blacks said they think George Zimmerman would have been arrested if Trayvon was white, while only 33% of whites agreed. The majority of whites polled — 52% — said race made no difference in the way the case was handled.

Trayvon, 17, was shot and killed on Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla., as he was returning to a gated community after buying candy at a convenience store. Trayvon’s family says the young man was followed and then killed in cold blood because the gunman, Zimmerman, deemed him “suspicious” because the teen was black and wearing a hoodie.

(more…)

USA TODAY, March 29, 2012

By Yamiche Alcindor

WASHINGTON – The family of slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin said Wednesday that a police video showing the shooter, George Zimmerman, arriving at the station for questioning discredits claims he acted in self-defense.

“It just shows that everything that Zimmerman has been saying, that the police have been reporting, is false,” the teen’s father, Tracy Martin, told USA TODAY as he watched the video on television in a Washington hotel Wednesday night.

ABC News said it obtained the police surveillance video, and it was replayed on other networks. Sanford police Sgt. David Morgenstern told the Associated Press that the video is of Zimmerman.

“From what I saw, Zimmerman had no blood on his face, had no grass on the back of his clothes, no cuts on the back of his head,” Martin said.

(more…)

USA TODAY, March 19, 2012

By Yamiche Alcindor

Lawmakers in at least five states aim to stiffen or enact cyberbullying laws as national concern grows over electronic harassment and its deadly consequences.

The states — Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine and New York— want to put penalties on the books for the types of digital bullying that led students in several states to commit suicide. Among the victims was Tyler Clementi, an 18-year-old Rutgers University freshman who jumped to his death in 2010 after his roommate used a webcam to spy on his gay encounter. The roommate, Dharun Ravi, was convicted Friday on 15 counts in a case that drew national attention.

(more…)

USA TODAY, March 19, 2012

By Yamiche Alcindor

The conviction of ex-Rutgers student Dharun Ravi sends a message to social media users that actions and words played out across the Web could lead to a prison sentence, legal and digital experts say.

Ravi, convicted of invasion of privacy and other charges for electronically spying on his freshman roommate during a gay encounter, could face up to 10 years in prison in a case likely to have lasting implications on how people use the Internet. Some caution that free speech rights on the Web could also be affected.

“It demonstrates that there are consequences for somebody’s use of technology,” said Eric Nemecek, co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Cybercrime Committee. “This should be a cautionary tale for a lot of people. … You often don’t think what you’re doing could lead to criminal prosecution.”

(more…)

USA TODAY, March 14, 2012

By Yamiche Alcindor

The frantic rush to get a license at 16 — once a staple in American adolescence — is disappearing as Internet access and stiffening driving rules have led teens to wait longer to beg for the keys.

Hannah Hart, 17, a high school junior in Atlanta, has had a learner’s permit for almost two years but says digital access to friends, games and other activities has kept her and her peers from getting their full licenses.

“Kids can entertain themselves completely at home,” Hart said. “People aren’t going to the movies as much. People haven’t been going to arcades. If I didn’t have a computer or have a cellphone, I would definitely push myself more to get a license to go out and do things.”

(more…)