Officials File 1st Suit Under Hate Crimes Law

The city is pursuing its first lawsuit under a new initiative that lets prosecutors file civil charges in addition to criminal charges in hate crimes.

Oakland recently filed the suit on behalf of George Rothman, 85, who says that for 10 years he has been harassed and stalked by neighbors because he is Jewish and has black friends.

Rothman alleges that his neighbors called him racial epithets, harassment that he said has escalated over the last year. One defendant said the dispute is a neighbor-to-neighbor squabble.

The Oakland initiative was enacted shortly after Sept. 11 in an attempt to quell hate crimes--defined as violence, intimidation or threats against a person based on race, gender, sexual orientation or age.