|
In 2009, workers at offices of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) were recorded secretly in videos by conservative activists Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe. They played a young couple who appeared to be receiving advice from these workers as to how to hide prostitution activities and avoid taxes. These videos were released on Fox News and the website BigGovernment.com from September into November 2009, generating extensive, negative publicity for ACORN. This non-profit organization had been involved for nearly 40 years in voter registration, community organizing and advocacy for low- and moderate-income people. O'Keefe said in September 2009 that he "targeted ACORN for the same reasons that the political right does: its massive voter registration drives."〔 Because of the controversy, the U.S. Census Bureau and the IRS ended contracts with ACORN, and the U.S. Congress voted to suspend its funding to the non-profit. Soon ACORN also lost most of its private funding, despite several independent investigations that by December 2009 began to reveal no criminal activity by ACORN staff had taken place. ACORN filed for Chapter 7 liquidation on November 2, 2010, effectively closing the organization.〔(ACORN filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy ); ''Los Angeles Times''; November 2, 2010〕 Independent investigations were made by state attorneys general of Massachusetts and California, and the U.S. Attorney of Brooklyn, New York; their reports were released beginning in December 2009 and extending through April 2010. The attorney general's office in Massachusetts and the U.S. Attorney for Brooklyn concluded that the ACORN workers had committed no criminal activity and that the videos were "heavily edited" to create a misleading impression of their activities.〔(An Independent Governance Assessment of ACORN ), December 7, 2009〕〔("ACORN Workers Cleared Of Illegality By Outside Probe" )〕〔("ACORN and the Ethics of Leadership" ), ''Atlantic Monthly'', December 8, 2009〕〔(ACORN Investigation Results ), ''The Nonprofit Quarterly''〕〔("Damaging Brooklyn ACORN Sting Video Ruled 'Heavily Edited' - No Charges to Be Filed", ) ''New York Magazine''; March 2, 2010〕 The California Attorney General granted immunity to O'Keefe and Giles in exchange for their raw videos shot at three California ACORN offices. Its comparison of the raw videos with the released versions found that the published videos had been heavily edited to misrepresent the workers and the situations so as to suggest criminal intent and activity.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Report of the Attorney General on the Activities of Acorn )〕〔("California AG Determines ACORN Broke No Criminal Laws" ), FOX News; April 1, 2010〕〔("Fake pimp from ACORN videos tries to 'punk' CNN correspondent" ), CNN; September 29, 2009〕 The AG's Report noted that "O’Keefe stated he was out to make a point and to damage ACORN and therefore did not act as a journalist objectively reporting a story", and because the Giles-O'Keefe criminal plans were a ruse, the ACORN workers could not be complicit in them. It found no evidence of intent by the employees to aid the couple. The report also noted "a serious and glaring deficit in management, governance and accountability within the ACORN organization" and said its conduct "suggests an organizational ethos at odds with the norms of American society. Empowering and serving low-and moderate-income families cannot be squared with counseling and encouraging illegal activities".〔 The California report was followed by one by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which reported there was no evidence that ACORN workers had misused government funds or participated in the criminal activities represented in the videos.〔("ACORN Vindicated of Wrongdoing by the Congressional Watchdog Office" ), by John Atlas, ''Huffington Post''; June 15, 2010〕 But, ACORN was effectively destroyed by then. The Congressional resolutions to eliminate funding to ACORN were nullified by a federal court ruling that the measure was an unconstitutional bill of attainder. But, on August 13, 2010, a federal appeals court reversed that ruling and upheld the act that cut off federal funding for ACORN.〔〔〔〔Hays, Tom. (Associated Press, "New York Federal Appeals Court rules against ACORN" ), carried at ''Dayton Daily News,'' August 13, 2010〕 On March 5, 2013, O'Keefe agreed to pay fired ACORN employee, Juan Carlos Vera, $100,000 and issued a public apology as part of a lawsuit settlement. Vera initially sued O'Keefe for $75,000 in damages, charging that he was taped in violation of California state law, and then portrayed untruthfully. Giles had previously settled a similar lawsuit with Vera months earlier. O'Keefe said in the settlement that at the time he published his video he was unaware that Vera had, in fact, notified the police about the incident. The settlement includes the following apology: "O'Keefe regrets any pain suffered by Mr. Vera or his family."〔(National City ACORN Worker Gets $100K Settlement From James O’Keefe ); KPBS; March 7, 2013〕〔(O’Keefe agrees to pay $100,000 to unjustly fired former ACORN employee ); ''The Raw Story;'' March 8, 2013〕 ==Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe== Hannah Giles (born March 15, 1989) is an American conservative activist. She came to national attention with James O'Keefe in the United States in September 2009 as a featured player in videos they had filmed secretly in encounters at offices of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). At the time, Giles was studying journalism at Florida International University. Following the videos' release and extensive media coverage, she dropped out of college to "pursue demands to keep up with public appearances and job offers".〔(Politico "Citizen Journalists' Path to Celebrity Paved With Ups, Downs" by Erika Lovely, 11-30-2009; retrieved 12-02-2009 )〕 Giles and O'Keefe spent $1,300 to accomplish what ''Washington Post'' reporters called a "Mission to Fell ACORN".〔(Darryl Fears and Carol D. Leonnig, "Duo in ACORN Videos Say Effort Was Independent" ), ''The Washington Post'', 18 September 2009, accessed 28 July 2011〕 (詳細はAmerican activist-filmmaker〔("No Proof of Lying" ), October 15, 2014; FactCheck - The Wire〕 who came to national attention in the United States in September 2009 with the release of his ACORN undercover videos. O'Keefe worked for about a year at the Leadership Institute, led by Morton Blackwell. O'Keefe has described his politics as "progressive radical".〔 〕 He has expressed admiration for the philosophies of British writer G.K. Chesterton and Soviet dissident writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. He has made additional secret videos since then, also found to have been heavily edited to misrepresent his subjects, or present them in the worst light. On January 26, 2010, O'Keefe was arrested with three colleagues, including Robert Flanagan, the son of the acting U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of Louisiana, and initially charged with a federal felony for attempting to maliciously interfere with the office telephone system of U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu and to tape conversations of her and her staff.〔 They later pled guilty to misdemeanor charges and were given minor sentences including community service. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「ACORN 2009 undercover videos controversy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|