6 March 26 - april 1, 2026 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents and constructing the First Amendment, is the power of citizen dissent.” Jeffrey Addicott, a right-leaning Saint Mary’s School of Law professor and former head of its terrorism law center, said he was “gratified” by the convictions and said it was an issue of political violence, not free speech. “This is a domestic terrorist organization. They have roots throughout the nation, and they’re very elusive,” Addicott said. “This will send a signal to other individuals that think they want to get involved in antifa. Hopefully, it’ll be a chilling message to them, that protest is obviously part of America, but using violence, engaging in violence, con- spiring to engage in violence, will land you in jail where you belong.” Addicott said while he thinks antifa fits the still-hypothetical definition of a domes- tic terrorist organization, the term remains ambiguous and could lead to First Amend- ment violations without formal action from lawmakers. “If they designate that organization as a domestic terrorist organization, then the is- sue is, where does free speech stop and be- coming involved in a quote-unquote terrorist organization begin? We convicted these individuals with criminal offenses that have been around for a very long time,” Add- icott said. “And I think we should probably separate that victory from the issue of desig- nating domestic terrorist organizations, be- cause Congress needs to do that. They need to set the guardrails on them.” ▼ MENTAL HEALTH WORKING WITH THE HEADS IN THE BEDS COULD MENTAL HEALTH, SUBSTANCE ABUSE HELP DALLAS COUNTY JAIL’S OVERCROWDING? BY EMMA RUBY O n any given night, the Dallas County Jail holds thousands of people ar- rested for all levels of crime. Some of those individuals could use mental health or substance abuse services, and those needs are assessed during time-consuming evalua- tions on intake. Oftentimes, though, treat- ment through the jail system isn’t as robust as a person in crisis may need. In Miami-Dade County, officials have shown that a new approach to detainment may be possible. According to a Dallas city memo, a task force charged with finding solutions to re- duce the number of people held at the Dallas County Jail on any given day is exploring the Miami-Dade model of directing low-level offenders to treatment facilities rather than jails. As of now, Dallas County operates one deflection center, which serves as an alter- native to incarceration for people accused of non-violent, low-level misdemeanors such as trespassing or loitering. While that center can bypass jail intake and connect individuals “to treatment through partner agencies,” it is currently “not equipped to address substance use dis- orders,” the memo states. Identifying how that sort of treatment could be better inte- grated into the deflection center’s services is a priority for the task force, which has begun pitching the idea of expanding the model across Dallas to city and county officials. According to the memo, Dallas County is reviewing costs associated with expanding the deflection program across town. Austin Street Center, a homeless shelter located in South Dallas, is named in the memo as one of the potential partners for the initiative. Providing an alternative to incarceration is something the center has already achieved after launching a transition center in part- nership with Dallas Area Rapid Transit last fall. According to Valerie Palmer, director of housing and coordination, the eight-bed program differs slightly from diversion cen- ter programs, but serves a similar goal. Transition centers serve individuals ex- periencing homelessness who have encoun- tered law enforcement, likely because of a mental health crisis or trespassing call, but have not necessarily committed a crime. “It’s about impact. So that could be going to treatment, that could be going into a shelter, that could be reconnecting with family, that could be many different things,” said Palmer. “But the point is that an individual doesn’t end up in jail, and they don’t end up on the street.” Palmer said the shelter is working with city partners to expand the facility to 16 beds, which would be open to officers from departments outside DART, in addition to transit enforcement officers. Law enforce- ment officers encounter individuals going through mental health crises frequently, Palmer said, and in many cases, that crisis has led to homelessness. For those people, “moving towards jail or towards emergency services” has long been considered inevitable, but it’s also costly and doesn’t actually address the root problem. Unlike jail, the transition and deflection cen- ters offer non-violent offenders the oppor- tunity to decompress and get connected with resources such as housing-first shel- ters, benefits or treatment for illnesses. According to the Dallas city memo, a city- wide deflection center program is still a ways off, and could face setbacks. Identify- ing a sustainable funding source and estab- lishing agreements with providers like Austin Street are identified as “key chal- lenges.” But the impact these types of facilities have is well worth it, Palmer said. One success story since the program launched last October came after a man was found at a DART train station by officials and brought to the center rather than being run off or charged with trespassing. Origi- nally from Africa, he’d moved to North Texas for a flight attendant job but “fell on hard times” that ultimately led to homeless- ness and untreated mental illness. DART was able to find a number for the man’s mother, Palmer said, and officials were surprised to find she’d recently trav- eled to the U.S. after receiving a call from the Dallas Police Department that her son’s identification had been found. “She thought he was deceased,” Palmer said. “She was here looking for him, thinking that she was going to be taking his body home. And actually, we were able to connect them that day. She had his passport, and he went home.” ▼ CITY HALL FALLEN IDOL DALLAS ONE OF MANY US CITIES ROCKED BY REPORT OF CESAR CHAVEZ SEXUAL ABUSE. BY KELLY DEARMORE T he fallout from the bombshell report into the alleged sexual abuse carried out by Latino civil rights icon Cesar Chavez continues to rage across the U.S., in- cluding Dallas. On March 18, The New York Times pub- lished a lengthy article detailing accusations against Chavez, who died in 1993 at the age of 66, that included rape of both women and minors. The most well–known name com- ing forward in the report, Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association with Chavez in 1962, said that Chavez sexually assaulted her on at least two occasions in the 1960s, both of which resulted in pregnancies. There aren’t many more prominent figures in American civil rights history than Chavez, the labor leader who favored a non-violent ap- proach to activism. He, along with Huerta, led campaigns that improved pay and working conditions for farmworkers, bringing interna- tional attention to labor injustices and inspir- ing broader movements for civil rights and social justice in the United States. People interviewed in the report ex- plained that they kept their stories a secret, with some exceptions, out of a concern the accusations would harm the cause for which they all worked so hard to bring at- tention to. Although Chavez has been a common presence in history books and on city street signs for decades, his name and the cause he championed are getting fresh attention, including in Texas. “The State of Texas will not observe the Cesar Chavez Day holiday. I am directing all Texas state agency heads to comply. In the upcoming legislative session, I will work with Texas lawmakers to remove Cesar Chavez Day from state law altogether,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement. “Reports of the horrific and widely ac- knowledged sexual assault allegations against Cesar Chavez rightfully dismantle the myth of this progressive hero and under- mine the narrative that elevated Chavez as a figure worthy of official state celebration.” Arizona’s governor and the leaders of many cities in California, the states most connected to Chavez’s impact and legacy have also de- nounced the crimes detailed in the new report and have called off official recognition of their respective annual Cesar Chavez Day festivi- ties. In Dallas, City Council member Adam Ba- zaldua released a statement calling for greater accountability in the wake of the report. “In recent weeks, we’ve seen serious con- versations around the politicization of sex- ual abuse allegations, particularly tied to the Epstein files,” he wrote. “The news of Dolo- res Huerta coming forward about abuse she experienced at the hands of Cesar Chavez must be viewed through the same lens: one of accountability, not politics.” Along with other forms of official recogni- tion, Dallas is one of at least seven major American cities with a street named after Chavez. After his statement, Bazaldua was one of six city council members involved in a city memo requesting that all official city recogni- tion of Chavez be reconsidered immediately. Instead of Cesar Chavez Day on March 31, the memo suggests that from now on April 10 be designated as Dolores Huerta Day while also recommending the council discuss renaming Cesar Chavez Boulevard. As for a new name for the road that runs along the eastern edge of downtown? Soraya Santos, the moderator of the Reform Dallas Facebook group had an idea. “I intend to rally support in the commu- nity and Council to rename the street to honor Dolores Huerta, Chavez’ co-leader in the labor movement and still a staunch femi- nist and activist to this day, at 95 years old… ” Santos wrote. “Would love to see Sra. Huerta receive this much-deserved honor while she is still alive to see it and celebrate with us.” ▼ IMMIGRATION ‘OTHERWISE HEALTHY’ FURTHER INVESTIGATION INTO DEATH OF RICHARDSON ICE DETAINEE DEMANDED. BY AUSTIN WOOD A dvocacy groups are calling for an in- vestigation into the death of a 41-year-old Afghan asylum seeker Mike Brooks Dallas County Jail has not been a comfortable place due to overcrowding. Unfair Park from p4
