Disparities in Cuyahoga County are Focus of Meeting
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Leila Atassi
11/20/2008
Key figures in Cleveland’s and Cuyahoga’s criminal justice system met Wednesday to seek solutions to disturbingly large racial inequalities.
All at the table agreed it is a systemic problem with severe consequences for a community. And all agreed that finding a solution to racial disparities in Cuyahoga County’s criminal justice system is a bigger undertaking than any one of their offices could handle alone.
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The discussion, which took place during a City Council Public Safety Committee meeting, focused on the statistical findings of a Plain Dealer analysis that drew upon hundreds of low-level felony drug cases from 2004 to 2007. The review found that white defendants were 55 percent more likely to get a misdemeanor than black defendants charged with the same crime. And white defendants were 35 percent more likely to receive treatment as an alternative to conviction.
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Stanley Miller, executive director of the NAACP, said the entire system shares the blame for the disparity and likewise should share the responsibility for finding a solution.
“The justice system is broken, and everyone’s trying to point the finger at someone else,” Miller said.
“These types of issues have a very short shelf life. If we don’t address it today, it will pass away from our consciousness.”
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Common Pleas Judge Timothy McGinty said he and other judges have petitioned the Supreme Court for years for a method by which to keep demographic records of criminal cases on the county docket.
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“But we’re not collecting the critical data that could level the playing field – length of sentences, age, gender, color and socioeconomic aspects. Transparency creates accountability.”
Cleveland Eases Charges for Some Crack-Pipe Cases
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Mark Puente
11/10/2008
Frank Jackson takes a big step toward balancing Cleveland’s drug laws with those of surrounding communities. People found with drug paraphernalia with traces of crack or heroin will get addiction treatment rather than a felony.
The goal is to get addicts treatment without saddling them with a felony that could impair their ability to turn their lives around, Jackson said.
He warned that the new protocol will not provide a free pass to criminals, and police will still aggressively pursue drug arrests. The new policy gives them a chance to treat their addiction, Jackson said.
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Presently, drug abusers face felony possession charges if caught with trace amounts of drugs in a crack pipe or heroin syringe. Community activists have said for years that similar cases from the suburbs are charged as misdemeanors, leading to inequity in how justice is delivered.
Cleveland is the only large city in Ohio that charges drug-paraphernalia cases as felonies, Jackson said. About 6,000 people face felony-drug charges every year in the city.
Jackson expects 1,200 to 1,500 of those cases to fall under the new policy. Robberies, thefts and burglaries should drop because people in treatment aren’t stealing to fuel their addictions, he said.
“This is about helping people and stopping the behavior that is destroying our neighborhoods,” Jackson added.
The city will adopt a progressive system, similar to a three-strike law and drunken-driving laws.
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[Jackson] stressed that for years community activists have argued that low-level drug offenders — regardless of race — need treatment, not felony records.
Drug and alcohol addicts come from all races and communities, Jackson said. He stressed the new policy is not only directed at Clevelanders but also the suburban addicts who scour the city for dope.