Summary: Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer ignored criticism from President Barack Obama and signed into law a bill supporters said would take handcuffs off police in dealing with illegal immigration in Arizona, the nation’s busiest gateway for human and drug smuggling from Mexico. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 23, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that suicide bombers struck a humanitarian aid distribution point and a crowded restaurant in separate attacks in Iraq, killing at least 78 people.
Summary: The Southern Poverty Law Center released its annual hate group report, titled “The Year in Hate.” The study found the number of hate groups has grown by 54 percent since 2000. The SPLC identified 926 hate groups — defined as groups with beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people — active in 2008.