National
In Wake of Sterling Scandal, NAACP Leader is Under Scrutiny
[Los Angeles Times]
Leon Jenkins, right, president of the Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP, announces that Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling will not be receiving his lifetime achievement award, at a news conference in Culver City, Calif., Monday, April 28, 2014. The Clippers owner allegedly made racially charged comments in a recorded conversation. Sterling had been slated to receive the honor on May 15 as part of the 100th anniversary celebration of the group’s Los Angeles chapter. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
The head of the Los Angeles Chapter of the NAACP is coming under scrutiny in the wake of the organization’s decision to give awards to Donald Sterling.
The group granted Sterling an award in 2009, the same year the real estate magnate and L.A. Clippers owner paid $2.73 million to settle U.S. government claims that he refused to rent his apartments to Latinos and blacks in Koreatown. The chapter was set to give Sterling a second award when a recording emerged in which a man said to be Sterling asked a female friend not to publicly associate with African Americans.
Leon Jenkins, president of the NAACP branch, has been a focus of attention in recent days.
While a Detroit judge, Jenkins in 1988 was indicted on federal bribery, conspiracy, mail fraud and racketeering charges, according records from the State Bar Court of California.
Authorities at the time alleged that Jenkins received gifts from those who appeared in his court and committed perjury, the records show. He was acquitted of criminal charges. But in 1994 the Michigan Supreme Court disbarred him, finding “overwhelming evidence” that Jenkins “sold his office and his public trust,” according to the bar records.
