TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - A former employee at the Jefferson County State Attorney’s Office has come forward with allegations about a discriminatory policy and culture that she says ultimately led to her resignation.
Mackenzie Hayes, a former assistant state attorney, said she found a policy printed in the Jefferson County office directing employees to dole out harsher punishments to Hispanic people for driving without a valid driver’s license. State Attorney Jack Campbell confirmed the document’s authenticity Thursday.
Our Tallahassee first spoke with and obtained the document from Hayes.
Hayes claims other employees in the office also spoke negatively about people of Hispanic and Latinx descent, recalling that colleagues spoke in a “joking tone, dismissive tone, about all the Mexicans in Jefferson County.”
It’s standard practice for defendants with no serious criminal history who are caught driving without a license to get a diversion, Hayes said. A diversion is a process in which prosecutors and the accused usually work out a deal to avoid charges. The document in the Jefferson County office, however, instructed staff to jump to charging Hispanic people and adjudicating guilt.
After confirming the document’s...
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (WSMV) - A Tennessee doctor has pleaded guilty to committing millions of dollars’ worth of Medicare fraud through her Brentwood optometry practice. Helen Boerman, 48, pleaded guilt...