Dec. 30, 2012

 

Black Press Stories of 2012 Foretell Continued Struggle for Justice
By Hazel Trice Edney

Marc Morial and other Black leaders say they will hold President Obama accountable to Black interests.

Shaken by the Sandy Hook tragedy, President Obama will tackle gun violence in his second term.

The Trayvon Martin story carries far-reaching implications for racial profiling in America.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – America prepares to commemorate 50 years since the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 2013. But, most stories that dominated the Black Press in 2012 foretold a continued quest for racial justice.

The killing of Trayvon Martin; the contempt vote against Attorney General Eric Holder; the Black jobless rate; the fight to maintain voting rights; the contentious re-election bid of President Barack Obama and the rebirth of the debate on gun violence were just a few of the headlined topics in 2012. They reminded America that Black America has yet to overcome. The following is a synopsis of some of the top stories:

The Economy: As 2012 wound down, President Obama and leading members of Congress negotiated intensely to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff” – the simultaneous occurrence of sizable tax hikes and deep spending cuts. Regardless of the outcome, African-Americans remain in double digit unemployment rates and continue as the racial group that has suffered the highest unemployment, lost most wealth and experienced more foreclosures during the economic downturn. A group of African-American organizational heads, convened by National Urban League President/CEO Marc Morial, says they will hold the President accountable for protecting the interests of African-American, his most loyal supporters.

Gun Violence: The nation united in grief over 20 first-graders and seven educators killed by mass murderer Adam Lanza, who had also killed his mother before killing himself Dec. 14. The shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary brought tears to President Barack Obama, reigniting an old debate over gun laws and mental health care. The discussions are escalating as Vice President Joe Biden will head a committee to suggest possible new legislation. Representatives of the powerful gun lobby, the National Rifle Association, have called for an armed guard in every school. The tragedy has also shed light on gun violence and deaths of children in cities across the nation, including in President Obama’s hometown of Chicago. There, at least 500 homicides occurred in 2012. Of those deaths, at least 270 were teenagers or children.

Re-election of President Obama: Concluding a nail biter of an election that practically spellbound the nation, President Barack Obama was re-elected in a decisive Electoral College vote of 332 to 206 against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on Nov. 6. As in his historic 2008 victory as the nation’s first African-American president, Obama again won with at least 95 percent of the Black vote.

Voter Suppression: As America approached the Nov. 6 election, 46 states introduced laws that would require voters to show photo identification, proof of citizenship or a birth certificate in order to vote. Legislators claimed the measures would prevent voter fraud. But civil rights leaders scoffed and decried the new laws as suppression and intimidation tactics that could have disenfranchised as many as five million Americans. Because of the diligence of key civil rights organizations such as the NAACP, the National Coalition on Black Voter Participation, and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the apparent plot was exposed and thwarted.

Rodney King Dies: The accidental drowning death of 47-year-old Rodney King on June 17, 2012 shocked the nation. King, who died in a swimming pool at a home that he shared with his fiancé, had become a symbol of civil rights 20 years after Los Angeles police viciously beat him during a videotaped traffic stop March 2, 1991. National outrage and six days of rioting broke out when the police officers where initially allowed to walk free. The publicity surrounding King’s sudden death was a stark reminder of inequities that continue against African-Americans in the criminal justice system.

Killing of Trayvon Martin: The February 26 shooting death of Trayvon Martin has become the quintessential symbol of racial profiling. A Florida judge has set a date of June 10, 2013, for the trial of George Zimmerman on charges of second-degree murder in the shooting. The unarmed 17-year-old was killed as he walked in a gated Sanford community toward his father's house. He was wearing a hoodie, carrying a bag of skittles and a can of iced tea. Zimmerman, 29, a self-appointed neighborhood watchman has pleaded not guilty on grounds of self-defense. He claims Martin attacked him after he called police reporting a suspicious youth in the neighborhood.

Death of Whitney Houston: It was undoubtedly the biggest entertainment news of 2012. On the eve of the 54^th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Feb. 11, Whitney Houston, a six-time Grammy Award winner and one of the most celebrated artists in music history, was found dead. The Los Angeles County coroner’s office determined that she died of drowning as a result of cocaine use. But, some still contend foul play and possibly murder. Compounding the shock, her death came just before the release of her final starring role in the film, “Sparkle”, which opened in August.

U. S. Supreme Court Upholds Affordable Care Act: Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts was the deciding justice in a 5-4 vote to uphold President Barack Obama’s staple legislation, nicknamed “Obamacare” on June 28. Despite arguments that U. S. citizens cannot be mandated to obtain health care, Roberts invoked that the law is constitutional as a tax. The ruling was a major relief to the Obama campaign.

Attorney General Eric Holder Found in Contempt of Congress: The first African-American to serve as attorney general, Holder was found in contempt of Congress June 28 by a largely partisan vote of 255-67. Seventeen Democrats voted in favor of the measure, and two Republicans voted against it. Holder was found in contempt in connection with an investigation into a tactic called “Fast and Furious,” in which authorities tracked weapons purchased by gun traffickers without immediately intercepting them. Holder was questioned over his refusal to turn over documents that showed how the Justice Department reacted to the investigation and the loss of more than 1,000 tracked weapons. Furious over the contempt vote, the Congressional Black Caucus and other leading Democrats walked out of the vote in protest. In all, 108 Democrats including minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Civil Rights Era icon John Lewis (D-Ga.) joined the protest.

Continued Fallout from Hazing Death of Robert Champion: Fallout continued throughout 2012 following the Nov. 19, 2011 hazing death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion. In February, a national coalition of educational, clerical and journalistic leaders started a movement to end hazing and other types of violence on historically Black college campuses. In October, FAMU President James Ammons resigned after Champion’s parents, Pam and Robert Champion Sr., filed a lawsuit against the university. Just last week, a 32-page report was released by the Florida Board of Governors Inspector General’s Office. According to the Associated Press, it concludes that FAMU “lacked internal controls to prevent or detect hazing, citing a lack of communication among top university officials, the police department and the office responsible for disciplining students.”

December 30, 2012

NRA Boss Labled 'Craziest Man on Earth'

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Richmond Free Press

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The New York Daily News labeled him the “Craziest Man on Earth” in recent front-page headline. The New York Post piled on with “Gun Nut! NRA loon in bizarre rant over Newtown.”

But Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the National Rifle Association, is unabashed about calling for the government to place armed guards in every American school in response to the massacre of 20 first-graders in Newtown, Conn.

As President Obama stepped up his call to the public to pressure lawmakers to tighten gun regulations, Mr. LaPierre was pushing back against his critics and supporters of gun control.

“If it’s crazy to call for putting police and armed security in our schools to protect our children, then call me crazy,” he said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

The NRA waited a week before issuing a statement on the Dec. 14 slaughter of the 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School by a gunman who opened fire with a semiautomatic assault rifle. Mr. LaPierre’s Dec. 21 speech in Washington drew protesters and stoked the fierce debate over U.S. gun laws in a nation with a culture of gun ownership and a history of school shootings and other gun violence.

The proposal to place armed guards in every school, an idea the NRA has long supported, drew the most criticism. Rep. Chris Murphy, the congressman from Newtown’s district, tweeted:  “Walking out of another funeral and was handed the NRA transcript, the most revolting, tone deaf statement I’ve ever seen.”

The NRA proposal also drew fire from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the nation’s largest teachers union and Mark Kelly, the husband of former U.S. Representative Gabrielle

Giffords, who was hurt last year in a mall shooting by a gunman in Tucson, Ariz.

But LaPierre is pressing ahead, calling his idea “the one thing that we can do immediately that will immediately make our children safe,” he said. He scoffed at President Obama and others who instead want to reinstate a federal ban on high-powered assault rifles to prevent more massacres. The ban expired in 2004.

LaPierre cited shootings that took place when the ban was in effect, including the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in Colorado. Meanwhile, President Obama sought to rally those appalled by the massacre to join him in the fight for stiffer gun laws. Already more than 250,000 people have sign a petition for tougher gun laws posted on the White House website.

“I need your help,” the president said in a video to the public he issued last Friday. He issued it after assigning Vice President Joe Biden to lead a cabinet group to come up with “concrete proposals” to change gun laws. That includes clamping down on the sale and ownership of the rapid-firing, military-style assault weapons that enabled the Connecticut gunman to easily mow down his victims, the president indicated.

“If we’re going to succeed” in changing the nation’s gun laws, President Obama said citizens must make their voices heard to get lawmakers to stand up to the gun lobby’s opposition.

“It’s going to take a sustained effort from mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, law enforcement and responsible gun owners organizing and speaking up,” he said.

He said it also would take people calling their “members of Congress as many times as it takes and saying, ‘Enough’ on behalf of all of our kids.”

Along with reinstating the defunct ban on sale of assault weapons, the president also wants Congress to ensure that everyone gets a background check before buying a weapon. His goal: To get Congress to close the loophole that now allows anyone to sell at gun shows without requiring buyers to undergo that kind of check.

But the President knows he faces a hard slog going up against groups like the NRA and their congressional allies. Republican U.S. Sen Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., for example, opposes reinstating the ban on assault weapons.

“The assault weapons ban didn’t work then, and it won’t work now,” Sen. Graham said in a statement he issued through Twitter. He disclosed that he owns the same type of assault rifle used by 20-year-old Adam Lanza to kill the 20 schoolchildren and six educators at the Newtown school.

“I own an AR-15. I’ve got it at my house,” Sen. Graham said. “The question is if you deny me the right to buy another one, have you made America safer? I do believe better security in schools is a better place to start.”

Other gun rights advocates in Congress, such as Virginia Sen. Mark R. Warner, have indicated a willingness to consider new gun restrictions immediately after the Newtown shooting. U.S. lawmakers have not approved a major new federal gun law since 1994.

“It’s gonna be a battle,” Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut told CNN’s “State of the Union.” He and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized the NRA for blaming gun violence on everything but guns.

Sen. Schumer declared on a Sunday talk show that an attempt to prevent shootings in schools without talking about guns “is like trying to prevent lung cancer without talking about cigarettes.”

Dec. 30, 2012

New Orleans Police Conviction Vacated 
By Edmund W. Lewis

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Louisiana Weekly

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - A federal appeals court in New Orleans has overturned the conviction of former New Orleans police officer David Warren, one of the former cops tried and convicted of an assortment of charges related to the murder of Henry Glover, who was shot by police and later burned in an abandoned car by cops just days after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans more than seven years ago. After Glover’s murder and the burning of his remains, his charred skull was removed from the vehicle.

On Dec. 17, a federal court ruled that the officer convicted of shooting Glover deserved a new trial, essentially nullifying the 25-year sentence Warren received two years ago.

“We hold that because Warren has demonstrated that he suffered specific and compelling prejudice as a consequence of the district court’s refusal to sever his trial from that of the other defendants, the district court abused its discretion in denying Warren’s repeated motions to sever under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 14 (a),” the Fifth Circuit Court said in papers filed Monday. “As a result, we VACATE Warren’s convictions and sentences and remand  for a new trial.”

The ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which comes two years after the December 2010 convictions, makes Warren the second former police officer in the racially polarizing case to be granted a new trial. Former NOPD officer Travis McCabe who was convicted of writing a false police report was granted a new trial this past May by U.S. Judge Lance Africk, the same federal judge who handed down the convictions in 2010.

A third former officer convicted in the case, Greg McRae, had a conviction overturned for denying the Glover family access to the court due to what the three-judge panel deemed insufficient evidence, but was not able to convince the court to throw out other convictions related to him setting fire to the car that held Henry Glover’s remains on a Mississippi River levee.

“We hold that the evidence is insufficient to support McRae’s conviction for denying Glover’s descendants and survivors the right of access to courts, and we therefore REVERSE and VACATE that conviction” the court said Monday. “We AFFIRM McCabe’s other convictions, reject his double jeopardy challenge and and REMAND for re-sentencing.”

In December 2010, a federal jury ruled that David Warren was guilty of shooting down Henry Glover, 31, on September 2, 2005 at a West Bank strip mall being used by the 4th Police District. An acquaintance, William Tanner, assisted the wounded Glover by giving him a ride to an Algiers Elementary School being used by New Orleans police in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, after Tanner and Glover turned to the cops for assistance, they were beaten by police and Glover ultimately was killed and left dead on the levee.

Warren testified during the trial that he thought Glover was an armed looter when he fired at him from the roof of the strip mall with a rifle and was not certain Glover had been hit by his shot. He also told jurors that he was unaware that Glover later died and that his remains were set aflame in Tanner’s car.

Two other former officers were acquitted of charges in the case two years ago.

The Louisiana Weekly asked Danatus King, president of the New Orleans Branch of the NAACP, what meaning last week’s overturned convictions have for the civil rights community and the community’s ability to trust the justice system.

“It looks like every week there’s something going on that erodes the community’s trust in the justice system,” King said. “From the problems that we’ve had with the NOPD, the problems that eventually surfaced even regarding the justice system on the federal level with regard to Mr. Letten’s office, that trust has been eroded instead of built up. This is just another blow” to the community’s trust.

“Right now in the community, we are hearing all different kinds of theories including one that says the judge ruled to refuse severance of the trials because that was part of the setup, to give the defendant an out if things didn’t go the way they wanted,” King added. “There is a lot of concern in the community, that what will happen is the officer whose conviction was thrown out will have a chance to be retried outside of New Orleans. That’s of great concern. It has hurt, it has hurt.

“That’s on top of the mental fatigue that a lot of the folks in the community are suffering from now,” King told The Louisiana Weekly. “When I say ‘mental fatigue,’ we’ve had so much to deal with as far as the killing of not only Mr. Glover but also the killings on the Danziger Bridge, all of the different trials we’ve been through and the killing of Mr. Robair. …Some folks in the community are just worn-down and thought that we were going to have a little time to catch our breath and now this has come up. I’m not a mental health expert but I know that it takes a toll. It really takes a toll.”

“The Black community will have (and continuously has had) no faith in the justice system in light of what has happened in this unfortunate case,” Ramessu Merriamen Aha, a former congressional candidate and New Orleans businessman, told The Louisiana Weekly.

“It’s unfortunate that we have to go through the same treatment, the same unfair, unconstitutional and inhumane treatment that Blacks have been subjected to for the past 400 to 500 years,” W.C. Johnson, a member of Community United for Change and host of local cable-access show “OurStory,” told The Louisiana Weekly Tuesday. “Mon­day’s ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court basically tells Black folks that they’re not considered citizens of this country and protections granted to us are minimal at best.”

Johnson, who attended Monday’s news conference with the Glover family, says it was evident even before the Henry Glover trial ended two years ago that something underhanded was going on just below the surface. “A lot was said about the mistreatment of the system as well as what the ruling is going to do to the family and Black people in New Orleans,” Johnson said. “None of that was reported by the mainstream media organizations that were represented at the press conference.

“It was mentioned loud and clear at Monday’s press conference that this could have been avoided,” Johnson continued. “In fact, defense attorneys for the cops raised this at trial and the judge (Lance Africk) refused to entertain it al all, which suggests to me that the system works in concert with each level, component and branch. If they want to find a way for police to get off, they give them escape route, a back door. That’s exactly what they have done — they have given them a back-door escape route.”

W.C. Johnson said it was painful to watch and listen as the elder members of the Glover family reflected on the setback given the toll the first trial took on the family. “Rebecca Glover, Henry Glover’s aunt, was hit so hard that we were concerned for her immediate health,” he said.

Johnson said he doesn’t think it was a coincidence that the ruling was purposely handed down in the midst of the holiday season.

While a number of public officials weighed in on the investigation of online posting in the U.S. Attorney’s Office and U.S. Attorney Jim Letten’s recent resignation, very few have spoken about the latest developments in the Glover case and how this will impact efforts to reform the NOPD or the Black community’s trust in the criminal justice system.

“Elected officials will not comment publicly on high-profile cases such as this so as not to receive any backlash from their major financial supporters who control their behavior and definitely not for the interests of those who classify themselves as Black. He who pays the piper calls the tunes,” Ramessu Merriamen Aha told The Louisiana Weekly.

“That’s why i have a problem with Black folks across the board here in New Orleans who continually allow the powers that be to treat us the way that they treat us,” Johnson told The Weekly. “We have no Black politicians, no Black clergy, we have no Black folks in prominent positions standing up for us to stop this onslaught of what is happening to us on a daily basis.”

Johnson said the Black Church as an institution today is not immune to criticism about its lackluster role in the liberation struggle in the 21st century. “The Black Church today is nowhere near what it was 100 years ago, or 130 to 140 years ago in terms of activism and standing up for folks,” he said. “It’s not even close.”

Johnson said that while a lack of courage and a sense of purpose are part of the problem, faith-based groups that are more committed to securing 501(c) (3) funding than they are to fighting for justice and democracy is also a major obstacle. “Essentially, these groups become part of the system,” Johnson explained. “Over time, they develop an addition to 501(c) (3) funding and compromise themselves and their historical mission.”

Johnson said that he is convinced that someone is going to have to stand up and at least attempt to fill the Black leadership vacuum in New Orleans by demonstrating his or her commitment to securing justice and democracy by any means necessary. “Unless individual Black folks find the courage to stand up, nothing’s ever going to change here,” he said. “Once they identify themselves, (Black grassroots leadership) is there, we’re with you. But someone has got to stand up and say, ‘That’s it — I’ve had enough.’ We have to be willing to do whatever it takes to be free. We’ve got to do that individually first before we can be successful collectively.”

Warren’s attorneys, Rick Sim­mons and Julian Murray Jr., are seeking to get him released on bond and plan to file a motion for a change of venue for his new trial.

The defense attorneys told the local daily paper that their client, who is currently serving time in South Carolina, would not pose a flight risk if he is released on bond and that all of the publicity from the 2010 trial have made it impossible to find an impartial jury in New Orleans. “The well has been poisoned,” Simmons said. “If there’s ever a case for a [change of venue], this is it,” he told the paper.

Danatus King said that while last week’s ruling was a major setback to efforts to secure justice for Henry Glover and reform the NOPD, he added that it also presented Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzarro with a chance to step up and take on David Warren.

“There’s an opportunity now for the district attorney to pursue state charges, including murder,” King said. “I know that previously the district attorney said that he was not going to pursue any charges because it was being conducted by the federal government and he didn’t want to step on any toes and they had asked him to stand down. This is an opportunity now to actually pursue those murder charges. There’s no barrier to the district attorney doing that.”

Asked about how last week’s ruling might impact the proposed NOPD consent decree, King said, “I don’t think the consent decree is worth the paper that it’s written on. This reinforces that. The persons that were in charge of looking out for citizens’ welfare that were representing the city when the consent decree was being crafted are out of office now and have left under questionable circumstances.… Now there are some questions about Mr. Letten’s integrity as well as questions about the integrity of his next in command, Ms. Mann, and questions about the leadership in that office, period.

“Not only do we have questions about the integrity of the people that were advocating on our behalf coming out of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, but while this consent decree was being crafted after the Justice Department issued an edict out of Washington about how questionable the practices of the NOPD were and how they violated the constitutional rights of citizens’ rights regarding stops and interrogations — even in the midst of all that, we had emails coming out of the NOPD encouraging officers to continue to violate citizens’ civil rights by illegal stops in spite of the fact that they had been criticized for that. If you have a consent decree that has been crafted that allegedly criticizes that practice, if you have any writing coming out of Washington saying that type of practice is wrong but you still have that continually and being upheld, then that says to me, ‘What good is the consent decree?’ If you have this consent decree saying that it’s wrong to do it but you have a police department saying ‘We’re going to continue to do it, we’re going to continue to justify doing it and we’re not going to stop it’ and there’s no mechanism in the consent decree to stop the department from doing it, what good is the consent decree? It’s not worth the paper it’s written on.”

King said it is important that local civil rights organizations and the community be allowed to offer input before the next U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana is chosen. “That is something we feel very strongly about,” he said. “That’s an opinion that’s been expressed often by members of the community.

“To this point, we have not had any contact with anyone out of Sen. Landrieu’s office or DC.”

A group of Black New Orleans residents that included activists Carl Galmon and Randolph Scott penned a letter to President Barack Obama and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder last week seeking input before Jim Letten’s successor is chosen. “We are requesting that the African-American community in New Orleans have serious input in the selection of the next U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District State of La.,” the letter states.

Five other former NOPD officers convicted in the Danziger Bridge killings of two unarmed residents and the wounding of four other people have asked a federal judge to overturn their convictions, arguing that federal prosecutors may have committed prosecutorial misconduct or engage in other illegal procedures.

Even before the Glover press conference, Rebecca Glover was inundated with phone calls from members of the media, supporters and others. As she answered questions and shared news about the case with loved ones and well-wishers, it was clear that revisiting this case will be anything but easy for the Glover family.

Henry Glover’s loved ones gathered Monday to share their thoughts about Monday’s ruling and what it means for their family and the community. “I thought Judge Africk knew what he was doing,” Edna Glover, Henry’s mother, told reporters.

“I just wish it would come to a close,” she told The Associated Press.

Rebecca Glover said that learning that she and the family would have to endure another grueling murder trial to get a conviction for her slain nephew “knocked the wind out” of her.

“I don’t know how I’m going to hold up,” Rebecca Glover said.

“We thought we could pick up our pieces and go on, but we’ve got to rehear this all over again?’’ Rebecca Glover asked. “It hurts. It really hurts.”

Two years ago, after waiting five years for the case to go to trial, Rebecca Glover vowed to show up to federal court every day until the police officers responsible for her nephew’s death were brought to justice. Now she faces the reality of having to show up again every day and listen to more disturbing stories and testimony about the murder of Henry Glover.

In speaking about the toll such trials can take on the families of murder victims, Danatus King talked about the ordeal the Glover family and others are facing as the cops convicted of killing innocent civilians get new trials,

“Family members who thought that they could halfway put this behind them — now they’re going to have to deal with this again and make a decision as to whether or not they’re going to subject themselves to going every day to trial, if it’s kept here in New Orleans,” King told The Louisiana Weekly. “They’re going to have to make a decision as to whether they’re going to subject themselves to going there, hearing testimony again, hearing folks who may be lying. They have to go through the ordeal of hearing their murdered loved one’s character assassinated and have to hear and deal with the description of the body that has been recovered but is still missing its skull. The skull still hasn’t been recovered. They’re going to have to go through all of that.

“There may be some family members and others in the community that may say they just can’t go through that anymore and want to just leave it alone.

“That decision (to overturn the convictions) is a blow to the family of Henry Glover and the community.”

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to Step Down
By Zenitha Prince

Lisa P. Jackson was the first Black woman to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Afro American Newspapers

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Lisa Jackson, the first African-American administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, is stepping down early next year, she announced Dec. 27.

Jackson, 50, a chemical engineer by training, did not give any reasons for her departure, saying only that she would leave President Obama’s cabinet after his State of the Union speech.

“I want to thank President Obama for the honor he bestowed on me and the confidence he placed in me four years ago this month when he announced my nomination as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency,” Jackson said in a statement. “I will leave the EPA confident the ship is sailing in the right direction, and ready in my own life for new challenges, time with my family and new opportunities to make a difference.”

In a statement President Obama called Jackson “an important part of my team” and wished her the best in the future.

Jackson’s four-year tenure has been one of several highs and many lows. She entered the agency with hopes of sweeping reforms to combat climate change and other environmental ills. But much of those plans were stymied by an often hostile Republican Congress and fuel industry, and even the White House itself, which abandoned its plans for large-scale environmental reform under the pressures of the economy and its re-election effort.

A cap-and-trade bill that would have limited climate-altering emissions passed the House but was abandoned after it stalled in the Senate in 2010. A proposed policy to change the standard of ozone pollution was withdrawn in 2011 as President Obama said the toll would be too onerous for companies and local governments to bear in the still tough economy.

Jackson has had some significant victories, however, most notably the finding that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases meet the criteria of pollutants under the Clean Air Act has led to new stricter emissions standards for cars and light trucks. The policy will double the fuel efficiency of those vehicles over the next decade, but it also opens the door for similar emissions policy reform for industries.

While Jackson has been criticized by environmental groups for compromising, Black environmental and public health advocates have praised her efforts to improve the health of every American.

“Administrator Lisa Jackson has been an unwavering advocate in the fight to protect all communities from an onslaught of pollution,” NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous said in a statement. “Her work finalizing the Mercury and Air Toxic rules and soot standards will help lessen the risk of heart attacks, strokes, asthma attacks, birth defects, and bronchitis for families living near coal-fired power plants. We applaud her for her dedicated leadership. We encourage President Obama to nominate a successor to Administrator Jackson that will maintain and build upon her legacy of courage, commitment, and inclusion."

“As many African Americans and other vulnerable communities continue to be disproportionately affected by air pollution and other environmental hazards, Ms. Jackson is committed to making environmental equality and justice a priority,” Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, (D-Mo.) said in a statement. “I applaud her for her efforts and know the Obama Administration will continue to build upon the foundation she’s laid through her vast accomplishments.”