Chesapeake may face another Justice Department probe

A dispute between a predominantly African American church in Chesapeake and its neighbors has moved Del. Lionell Spruill Sr. to ask the U.S. Justice Department to investigate. Apparently, since the church moved to its present location two years ago, church vehicles have been vandalized and a church sign has been vandalized. Church leaders have reported motorists for yelling racial epithets. On several occasions, the church has been reported for loud music coming from the church during services, and the church elder was issued a citation and convicted in Chesapeake General District Court for "loud music." The circuit court appeal for that conviction has been continued several times and is now scheduled for April 19, 2007. Chesapeake already has a pending lawsuit filed against it by the Department of Justice for utilizing "hiring practices for its entry-level police officer position that had an unlawful disparate impact on African-American and Hispanic applicants in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964."