Allegations of Race Bias to Be Heard : Civil rights: Members of a Latino rights group--whose complaint prompted today’s meeting of a federal panel in Costa Mesa--hope to show how minorities have been ‘ignored’ in some areas. No county officials were invited to the event.

In the first public session of its kind in Orange County in a quarter-century, a panel of the U. S. Civil Rights Commission will meet here today to explore charges of institutional racism in the county’s halls of power, but the targets of many of the allegations will have to wait to get their say.

The meeting grows out of a formal complaint brought last summer by a Latino rights group, which complained of discrimination and a lack of minority representation on the grand jury, in local courts, government, and other areas that affect the daily lives of Orange County citizens.

Several members of the group that brought the complaint--the League of United Latin American Citizens--are expected to speak before the civil rights panel today, along with other minority representatives. Group members say the meeting offers a key chance to show how minorities in Orange County have been systematically “ignored” in some areas.

No county officials were invited to attend the fact-finding session.

“This isn’t where we hear all sides,” said said Philip Montez, the director for the U.S. Civil Rights Commission’s western region, which includes 10 states. “All we’re hearing right now is allegations. We don’t want anyone to get defensive, because the allegation may not hold true.”

If the committee decides there is enough evidence to warrant a full-scale investigation and a formal hearing, the county would then get its turn to defend its practices. Any hearings, which could last one or two days, would likely come in February, Montez said.

Montez said he expects 15 of the 17 members of the commission’s California State Advisory Committee to attend the session, including its one Orange County representative. The meeting is open to the public and will be held at the Westin South Coast Plaza hotel at 686 Anton Blvd. in Costa Mesa, beginning at 9 a.m. It is expected to run through early afternoon.

The last time a civil rights commission panel held a session of this kind in Orange County was in 1968, Montez said. The panel heard testimony about allegations that minority children, hampered by language problems, were being assigned excessively to classes for mentally retarded children. Evidence highlighted at the hearings in Orange County and in San Diego led to statewide reforms aimed at safeguarding the rights of minority children, Montez said.

Minority activists are hoping that today’s meeting may lead to similar reform.

Zeke Hernandez, a former state director for LULAC who will address the panel, said in an interview: “We want the commission to know that Latinos have been ignored in terms of (receiving government) contracts, having the opportunity to be selected to boards and commissions and other areas.

“We hope to impress upon them that what’s happening in Orange County can’t continue. If it continues, there’s going to be a collision down the road. If (government leaders) don’t open the door, somebody’s going to knock on it, and if they still don’t open it, somebody’s going to knock it down. . . . We’re trying to avert more problems.”

LULAC filed its complaint with the civil rights commission in July, alleging that local government and judicial leaders had demonstrated a pattern of neglect and discrimination toward minorities. If violations are found, that could lead to loss of federal money for local agencies or legal action against them.

A key complaint centers on allegations that the membership of the Orange County Grand Jury--which angered many minorities by calling for a three-year ban on immigration--does not reflect the area’s ethnic diversity. The grand jury is responsible for both issuing reports to the Board of Supervisors on issues of county policy and deciding whether criminal indictments are warranted in some cases.

Today’s session will explore the grand jury issue. But Pat Hill, assistant executive officer for the Orange County Superior Court, who works closely with the grand jury, said she “didn’t even know about” the session when contacted by a reporter this week.

“Had we known, perhaps a decision could have been made whether we should be in a position to prepare a defense, but for now, we have nothing to say,” Hill said.

As for allegations of racial bias in the composition of the grand jury, Hill said: “I don’t agree with that. I’ve been involved in assisting in the promulgation of the grand jury for the last six years and we’ve implemented several procedures in an effort to raise the awareness of all groups as to the opportunities to serve on the grand jury.

“We’ve increased our mailing lists--it’s probably doubled in the last two years. The judges’ selection committee has increased to a record number, and they themselves have gone out to civic organizations to recruit for the grand jury.”

Montez said the civil rights panel is also interested in a controversy in Orange County Municipal Court over whether some defendants have systematically been denied their rights to due process. The public defender’s office--which first raised the issue in a complaint before the state that is now under investigation--was invited to attend today’s session, Montez said.

But Public Defender Ronald Butler said Friday he still wasn’t certain whether any representatives from his department would attend because of ethical considerations.

“We’ll certainly provide them with any documents that are open to the public at this point,” he said. “But I don’t think we can say anything (at the meeting), because we’d be treading on areas that are under investigation.”