Expert Report of Dr. Allan J. Lichtman
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA // Miami Division CITY SOUTH MIAMI, ET AL., PLAINTIFFS, V. RON DESANTIS, ET AL., DEFENDANTS. CASE NO: 19-CV-22927 SB 168 EXPERT REPORT OF DR. ALLAN J. LICHTMAN westminster presbyterian church gainesville TABLE OF CONTENTS I. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE .................................................................................................. 4 II. EVIDENCE AND METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................... 4 III. SUMMARY OF OPINIONS AND FINDINGS ..................................................................... 4 IV. QUALIFICATIONS .............................................................................................................. 8 V. SUMMARY OF SB 168, SIGNED INTO LAW JUNE 14, 2019, FLA. STAT. § 908.101.......... 9 VI. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN FLORIDA.......................... 10 A. Racial Discrimination in Voting .............................................................................................. 10 B. Racial Discrimination in Education ......................................................................................... 15 C. Racial Discrimination in Housing ............................................................................................ 16 D. Law Enforcement ........................................................................................................................ 19 VII. DISCRIMINATORY EFFECT OF SB 168 ON MINORITIES IN FLORIDA............................ 24 A. SB 168 is a Proactive Police Measure That is Likely to Trigger the Racial Profiling of Non-whites in Florida ..................................................................................................................... 24 B. The Pattern of Florida and Nationwide Arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) Demonstrates SB 168 Will Disparately Impact Suspected Removable Immigrants From Latin America and the Caribbean .......................................... 26 C. The Pattern of Arrests in Florida and Nationwide under Cooperative Immigration Enforcement Agreements with ICE Demonstrates that SB 168 Will Primarily Ensnare Suspected Removable Immigrants with Clean Criminal Records or Convictions Only for Minor Crimes ............................................................................................................................. 28 D. Data from ICE Referrals After the Implementation of SB 168 Confirms the Targeting of Suspected Removable Immigrants Arrested for Minor and Non-Violent Offenses, Especially Traffic Offenses ............................................................................................................ 30 E. SB 168 Will Ensnare U.S. Citizens, Based on Their Race or Ethnicity, Not Just Removable Undocumented Immigrants...................................................................................... 31 F. The Immigrant “Threat Narrative” Advanced in Support of SB 168 Made Its Discriminatory Impact Foreseeable ............................................................................................ 36 G. SB 168 Will Likely Have a Chilling Effect on Immigrant Communities on Reporting Crime and Interacting with Police and Other Public Officials ............................................... 39 EXPERT REPORT OF DR. ALLAN J. LICHTMAN 1 H. Proactive Policing Measures on Immigration Like SB 168 Elsewhere Have Had Disparate Negative Effects on Minorities .................................................................................. 42 I. SB 168 Arrests, Detentions and Removals Will Negatively Impact Family Members, Including U.S. Citizens ................................................................................................................... 45 VIII. SEQUENCE OF EVENTS..................................................................................................... 48 A. Crime Was Falling in Florida in Tandem with Increases in Undocumented Immigration and Most Steeply in Alleged Sanctuary Jurisdictions ...................................... 49 B. Shifts in Florida’s Demography and Voting Patterns Gave Republicans Motivation to Adopt SB 168 ................................................................................................................................ 51 C. The Election of Joe Gruters to the Florida Senate and Ron DeSantis to the Governorship, Facilitated the Enactment of SB 168................................................................... 54 D. The anti-Immigrant hate Groups FAIR and FLIMEN became Intimately Involved in the Crafting, Strategy, and Promotion of SB 168 ........................................................................ 55 IX. SUBSTANTIVE DEVIATIONS .............................................................................................. 68 X. CONTEMPORARY STATEMENTS ........................................................................................ 74 A. Decision-makers and Advocates Falsely Claimed that SB 168 Would Improve Public Safety by Protecting Floridians from Criminals ..............................................................75 1. Senator Joe Gruters ................................................................................................................ 75 2. Representative Cord Byrd...................................................................................................... 75 3. Governor Ron DeSantis ......................................................................................................... 76 4. Republican Representative Bob Rommel, Chair Subcommittee on Civil Justice ...... 76 5. FLIMEN...................................................................................................................................... 76 6. Amapola Hansberger, Head of LIFA, appeared at an event with Gruters and Byrd promoting SB 168 and testified for it ............................................................................. 76 7. The Public Safety Rationale Behind Legislators’ Support for SB 168 is Demonstrably False and Pretextual ................................................................................................................... 76 B. Alleged Sanctuary Jurisdictions are Likely Safer and no Less Safe Than Other Jurisdictions....................................................................................................................................... 76 C. Adoption of 287(g) Agreements Do Not Make Jurisdictions Safer.................................. 79 D. Undocumented immigrants commit crime at lower rates than native-born Americans.................................................................................................................... 81 2 CITY SOUTH MIAMI, ET AL. PLAINTIFFS, V. RON DESANTIS, ET AL., DEFENDANTS. E. Proponents’ of SB 168 Falsely Claimed the Law Would Impact Only Dangerous, Violent Criminals, Not Minor Offenders .............................................................. 84 1. Senator Joe Gruters ............................................................................................................... 84 2. Senator Joe Gruters .............................................................................................................. 85 3. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, the chief law enforcement advocate for SB 168...................................................................................................................................... 85 XI. CONCLUSIONS................................................................................................................... 87 APPENDIX A: FLIMEN MODEL BILL DECEMBER 2016 ........................................................... 90 APPENDIX B: SENATOR JOE GRUTERS FILED BILL, SB 168, 21 FEBRUARY 2019 ................ 93 APPENDIX C: HOUSE ENACTED BILL HB 9, 2018 .................................................................. 97 APPENDIX D: CURRICULUM VITAE ........................................................................................ 118 APPENDIX E: CASES SINCE 2015, DEPOSITION, AFFIDAVIT, OR ORAL TESTIMONY ........ 132 EXPERT REPORT OF DR. ALLAN J. LICHTMAN 3 I. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE I have been asked by Plaintiffs’ counsel in this case to consider and offer my opinions on whether Florida Senate Bill 168 (“SB 168”), enacted as Chapter 908 of Florida Statutes, was adopted with the intent of discriminating against minorities, or individuals perceived to belong to a minority population, on the basis of their perceived or actual national origin, race, and alienage, regardless of their possession of documentation. I have also been asked to respond to any material presented by plaintiffs, including reports submitted by plaintiffs’ experts. I have enclosed an updated CV (Appendix D) which fairly and accurately describes my training, education and experience. In addition, I have enclosed a table of cases (Appendix E) in which I have been involved as an expert witness since 2015. My fee in this matter is $500 per hour. My analyses and developed opinions in this matter are based on historical, political, and statistical information gathered and reviewed in my capacity as an expert in political history, social science, and historical and statistical methodology. My analyses and opinions are provided from that perspective and are not intended to provide a legal conclusion but, rather, to provide the Court with facts and context for the ultimate legal determination on intent that it must