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I have been reading the Department of Justice report on Ferguson, MO and I am appalled that this type of systematic racial discrimination on the part of police, municipal court and the city government could exist today. It is as if Jim Crow of the Deep South has raised its ugly head again.
The report is so scathing that a judge, police chief and town manager have resigned. That it took a police shooting of an unarmed young black man and citizen protests before any action was taken says much about the lack of leadership and/or corruption in the Ferguson government and police department. The officer involved in the shooting, Darren Wilson has been cleared of charges but resigned in the wake of the furor caused by the shooting of Michael Brown.
A few of the facts brought out in the report included: Ferguson’s law enforcement practices are shaped by the city’s focus on revenue rather than public safety needs. Police officers frequently detained people without reasonable suspicion and arrested people without probable cause. Ferguson has a population of 21,000; 16,000 of those people had outstanding warrants. Of those 16,000 warrants, 92 percent of them were issued to African Americans. Black residents were 68 percent less likely than others to have their court cases dismissed. While this went on Ferguson officials routinely dismissed parking tickets for their friends, colleagues and acquaintances. In 2013, the Ferguson Municipal Court issued 9,000 criminal warrants. During the same period the city of Boston, 30 times larger than Ferguson issued 2,300 criminal warrants.
Although it is easy to understand the frustration of the black community which comprises 67 percent of Ferguson’s population, nothing justifies the recent shooting of two police officers nor the looting and property damage that took place during earlier protests.
The shooting was a cowardly and despicable act which could have caused the deaths of others at the scene. The police showed professionalism and restraint in not firing into the crowd of protesters.
Ferguson is just one small town and I would be naïve to think that this type of government oppression and discrimination is not going on in other parts of the country. We all know that Arizona is not free of discrimination and corruption. Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office are known to racially profile Hispanics. Senate Bill 1070, the law according to the ACLU, “inspired by the bigotry and intolerance of Arizona’s elected officials,” was used to oppress Hispanics especially undocumented immigrants. The law was also created to build a human commodity for the private prison industry and county jails. The legislature and governors in bed with private prisons, corruption at its worst!
Even in Pinal County our Sheriff has done his share of fear mongering against undocumented immigrants and has even appeared on a white supremacist radio talk show. On the Political Cesspool radio show, he called one of the hosts a “great American”. The Political Cesspool has been criticized for its promotion of anti-Semitic, white nationalist and white supremacist views. The Southern Poverty Law Center says of Political Cesspool’s creator James Edwards: “Edwards has done more than any one in America to promote neo-Nazis, Holocaust deniers and other extremists.”
In December, Sheriff Paul Babeu, two of his deputies and Pinal County lost a judgment in the first federal legal challenge of SB1070. The suit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of Maria Cortes. The ACLU contended that Pinal County Deputies initiated and prolonged Cortes’s detention with immigration authorities based solely on the suspicion that she was an undocumented immigrant, a violation of her fourth amendment right. Maria Cortes was granted a $25,001 settlement plus attorney fees.
The Ferguson report should be a wake up call for America. Changes are needed in our criminal justice system. City, county and state government officials need to take a close look at finding ways to prevent this from happening again. The news media and civil liberties groups need to keep a watchful eye on government agencies and make sure they are following the law and being transparent. The American people need to stand up and speak out against injustices and corruption if there really is to be “Liberty and Justice for All” in our country.
Author’s Note:
I have been given the opportunity to express my opinion and viewpoints on politics, national, state, and local issues as well as life in general. I hope to inform you as well as entertain you, make you smile or make you mad. I will use humor, sarcasm and occasionally anger to express my views. My intention is to hold politicians accountable sometimes bringing some heat on them and if my views make you angry or hot, remember that like my humor, it is a dry heat. These opinions are entirely my own and do not reflect the views of Copper Area News Publishers.
John Hernandez lives in Oracle. He is retired and enjoys writing and traveling. He is active in the Oracle Historical Society. He covers numerous public events, researches historical features and writes business/artist profiles.
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