Judge issues gag order in Perez’s conflict case; MALDEF asks AG to investigate DA

Kern’s days of being controlled by racist white elites may be numbered.

Racist Kern County just can’t seem to stay out of the news.

Attorneys for the civil rights organization known as MALDEF asked California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to request a probe of D.A. Lisa Green’s office to determine if her decision to file charges against Supervisor Leticia Perez, who represents the Latino-majority 5th District, may have been “motivated by pressure from other County officials who seek to retaliate against Supervisor Perez as a result of her trial testimony” in a recent federal Voting Rights Act lawsuit filed against Kern County officials.

MALDEF won a court order in March requiring the county to redraw its supervisorial district lines — a change that creates a second Latino-majority district in the county’s northwest corner.

“Intimidation through prosecution is one of the oldest means of maintaining and reinforcing power structures that exclude minority group members,” MALDEF president Thomas A. Saenz said in a statement. “The timing of the inquiry and the unusual nature of these misdemeanor charges warrant an investigation to ensure that Kern County is not engaging in retaliation; such retaliation is unlawful and a grave threat to civil rights.”

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