News & Commentary

Photo by Erik Dorst from Flickr Commons.

For years, the story has been the same. Its plot involves unnecessary stops, disproportionate responses, and inexcusable use-of-force. People of color in Cleveland, and cities like it across the country, have become intimately familiar with this narrative. Police enforce the law in different ways depending on who they are policing. And how does this story usually end? With silence from city officials, or maybe a settlement with no admission of wrongdoing. In response to persistent attempts to discredit their experiences, activists and leaders in the black community have pushed for new tools to change how people in power hear their stories. A Similar Story Where Police Collect Data Recently, the court-appointed monitor released a first-year plan for implementing the agreement between the City of Cleveland and the U.S. Justice Department to reform police practices. Several major points in the plan deal with the use of force by officers, and how these incidents are reported. This reporting has the ability to take a disturbingly common story of police misconduct and package it in a way that skeptics cannot ignore. In places where better data collection policies have been implemented, a similar story about inequities in law enforcement emerges. In Florida, a 2005 law began requiring police departments to report the race of people who received seat belt tickets. These numbers revealed massive racial disparities—black people are ticketed for not wearing seat belts anywhere from twice to four times as often as their white counterparts.

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Cassie Chenoweth is a high school intern with the ACLU of Ohio.

Many would like to quickly move forward now that a grand jury has decided not to indict the Cleveland police officers involved in the tragic death of Tamir Rice, the 12 year old child who was shot in less than one second while playing in a park. But we cannot move past the death of Tamir. Instead, we should focus on understanding how the young boy was perceived before he was killed, how he was characterized post-mortem, and the history that allows that negative characterization to prevail today. Age of Justification Following the death of Tamir Rice, much attention was paid to his size. The Cleveland Police Patrolmen Association president said “Tamir Rice is in the wrong. He’s menacing. He’s 5-feet-7, 191 pounds. He wasn’t that little kid you’re seeing in pictures. He’s a 12-year-old in an adult body.” After the decision not to indict the officers was reached, the prosecutor commented that Tamir’s size made him appear much older for his age. The fixation on the size of black bodies dates back to America’s days of slave auctions, where size was exploited for value and profit. Adultification and attempts to justify physical attacks against black children in America is not new either. In fact, being young did not protect Black children from being lynched in America. From the late 1800s to 1950s Black boys and girls as young as 8 years of age were hanged to their deaths from trees. One such child was 14 year old Emmitt Till, killed in 1955.

November 23, 2015 marked the one-year anniversary of the death of Tamir Rice, a 12-year old boy shot and killed by Cleveland police while playing in a park near his home. His family and local activists organized several events over the weekend to celebrate his life and to draw attention to the grand jury investigation overseen by Prosecutor McGinty. Vigil Held at Site of Shooting Family members of Tamir, including his Mother and cousin, gathered with the community on Saturday, November 22, 2015 at the Cudell Recreation Center, where Tamir Rice was shot by police Officer Timothy Loehmann one year ago. Concerned members of the community met to honor Tamir’s life and to demand accountability from Officer Loehmann. A group of young children, surrounded by stuffed animals and small presents for Tamir’s memorial, faced members of the community who released 12 doves into the sky, one for each year of Tamir’s life. During this time, attendees observed a moment of silence. Everyone in attendance extended their deepest sympathies to Samaria Rice, Tamir’s mother, on the 1-year anniversary of her child’s death. The message of the vigil was clear: stop killing our children. 200,000 Signatures Delivered to McGinty On Sunday, November 23, 2015, members of the community marched to Prosecutor McGinty’s office in a peaceful demonstration to deliver 200,000 signatures, with names from all over the country, in a petition organized by Color of Change, Change.org, and Showing Up for Racial Justice. The petition calls for McGinty to step down and to be replaced by a special prosecutor.

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With early voting now underway in Ohio, the potential that marijuana may be legalized remains the hottest political topic in our state. With Colorado reporting sales of $100 million in just the last month, it’s ensured that legalization will remain on peoples’ minds here and everywhere else. Seemingly lost among the debate is a related effort by Responsible Ohio, the group behind Issue 3. It’s known as the Fresh Start Act.  The idea is this: if Ohio voters approve Issue 3 then the Fresh Start Act will allow those who ran afoul of various marijuana laws to petition to have their records expunged. A successful expungement essentially means life continues as if the offense never occurred, at least in the eyes of the court.