U.S. Attorney’s Office to Investigate Racial Allegations at Boston Latin School

U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz has agreed to investigate allegations of racism at Boston Latin School at the request of several community groups, including the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights.

“We really need an independent third party like the U.S. attorney to make sure that what happened did or didn’t violate the students’ rights,” said Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights to the Boston Globe.  Ortiz’s decision to investigate “speaks to how disturbing the incidents have been,” Espinoza-Madrigal added.

The following organizations and leaders requested the federal investigation:

Boston Branch NAACP

Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts

American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Massachusetts

Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice

Massachusetts Advocates for Children

Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers

Kevin Peterson, Founder, New Democracy Coalition

Reverend Reginald Smalls, Pastor Bethel Pentecostal Church

The announcement of the federal investigation was featured across local and national media outlets, including the Boston Globe, the Boston Herald, WBUR, CBS, NBC, the Boston Business Journal, Lawyer Herald, Boston.com, New York Daily News, Yahoo! News and Non-Profit Quarterly.