9.07.2007

Cincinnati Justice

Examining recent court rulings in Cincinnati might lead one to believe that letting a dog die in your back yard is infinitely worse than leaving your kid to die strapped in the back seat of your car. I have already talked about the Clermont County vice principal whose daughter was found in the back seat of her Mercedes in the school parking lot. The prosecutor refused to bring charges alleging the death was an accident. He claimed he followed the letter of the law in not seeking a grand jury indictment.

Now comes word about the woman who left the dog in her backyard. It was a pit bull. She didn’t own the dog. It belonged to her brother, and he admitted putting the dog back there. She was jailed because it was her house and was sentenced to two weeks in jail for cruelty to animals. She actually was let go for time already served. The judge claimed she followed the letter of the law in making her decision.

Follow up on both stories shows that Ms Clermont County had been warned about leaving her daughter in the car on at least two other occasions prior to the child’s death, the last happening just a couple of days before the fatal incident. Yet, there was no crime committed.

The pit bull lady apparently got charged more than ten years ago with child endangering..she apparently left her kid alone while she went out drinking. Nothing recent had happened in the pit bull lady’s life...she was a hardworking homeowner these days and her kids are okay. Crime committed.

Similarities....both female, both working women, both with children, both apparently expert multi-taskers at juggling life

Differences....one white, one black....., one upper middle class, school teacher, one, urban, fast food worker......, one with husband who fixes Mercedes, one, no husband talked about..one kid dead, the other, brother’s dog dead.....one jailed and convicted....one not even charged...hmmmmm!

Cincinnati keeps saying it is working hard to erase it’s racist image, but snapshots like these make it damn near impossible. In Cincinnati and Ohio in general, it really is Justice for them and Just us for us.

If both court officers followed the letter of the law, then the laws of Ohio need to be changed. Not only that but enforcement needs to be changed.

When blacks are arrested they are first and foremost drug tested and locked up, until stuff is sorted out. The same goes for poor white people. When non poor whites are arrested they are asked down the station, interviewed and maybe arrested a couple of days, weeks or months later.

No justice....still

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