Leid Stories - Haiti’s Heartbreak - 02/26/13

Haiti has been reeling from a cholera epidemic that, since 2010, has afflicted more than 600,000 people and claimed more than 8,000 lives. The improper disposal of human waste by U.N.-authorized personnel was cited as the original—and continuing—source of the problem, but the U.N. won’t accept responsibility, says Ezili Danto, a human rights attorney with the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network, which is seeking justice for Haitian families affected by the health disaster.

Also, Gerald Hebert, executive director of the Campaign Legal Center, explains key pieces of the Voting Rights Act, especially Section 5, which the U.S. Supreme Court reviews this week. The law was intended to safeguard the voting rights of minorities and the poor, but several state governments contend that it curtails their rights to make their own election laws.