Spectrum

Courts must speak out “clearly” against systemic racism in our criminal justice system and make much needed corrections, says Judge Benes Aldana, president of the National Judicial College.

The National Judicial College has been in existence since 1963 and has educated thousands of judges from all 50 states and 150 different foreign countries. It is the premier national institution for continuing judicial education.

In July, the Judicial College, under the leadership of Judge Aldana issued a statement condemning racism. The statement said, in part:

“The National Judicial College condemns the recent killings of African-Americans George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks and many others. We call for all people of conscience to commit to the hard work of confronting bigotry at every turn and ending racial injustice.

Systemic racism has afflicted our justice system for far too long. Accountability has been lacking. The work to correct attitudes and prevent further discrimination, pain and death must begin now.

As judges and lawyers, we are called to keep the promise engraved in the West Pediment of the U.S. Supreme Court: EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW.”

The statement’s issuance prompted some push-back from judges but Judge Aldana says that courts must “recognize the truth” when justice fails.

The National Judicial College also conducted an unscientific poll showing that 65 percent of the judges polled found they believe systemic racism exists within the criminal justice apparatus, which includes police, courts, prosecutors, prisons and probation.

You may see more about the poll including some comments from judges at this link: https://www.judges.org/news-and-info/most-judges-believe-the-criminal-justice-system-suffers-from-racism/

As a result, the National Judicial College is instituting new courses for judges to address systemic racism in the courts.

State courts across the country also are making statements condemning racial inequality in the criminal justice system. Here are a few: https://www.ncsc.org/newsroom/state-court-statements-on-racial-justice

Judge Aldana joined the National Judicial College in 2017 after serving as Chief Trial Judge for the Coast Guard. He held various leadership posts and three judgeships in the Coast Guard from 1994.

It’s not easy for policy makers to determine how to open K-12 schools in the fall.

Each school district must weigh multiple variables in determining whether face-to-face instruction is worth the risks or whether some form of remote learning is better.

Each school must assess its situation and develop a comprehensive plan if re-opening face-to-face, says Dr. Kenneth Johnson, executive dean of the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine at Ohio University.

He says local school authorities have a “huge challenge” in making sure that students, staff, and teachers are medically protected during this COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Johnson outlines some factors that should be considered by school administrators, teachers, parents and students.

Not only must the school adhere to mask-wearing policies and social distancing protocols, but the school must have procedures in place for testing students, faculty, and staff members, Dr. Johnson says.

Additionally, there must be a comprehensive plan for a circumstance where a student, staff member or teacher tests positive for the COVID virus.

Who must self-isolate and how will contact tracing be done? These are basic questions that must be answered before traditional re-opening takes place.

Dr. Johnson also clarified that recent studies have disclosed that students age 9 and above can act as carriers of the COVID-19 virus and be able to infect family members and other with whom they come in contact.

He also noted that some children can become sick themselves. Children are not immune from the virus.

He also cautioned about the possibility that contact sports like football or basketball may help spread the disease.

Dr. Johnson also serves as the chief medical affairs officer at Ohio University and is the chair of the Ohio Council of Medical School Deans.

Code-switching is the ability of a person to switch between languages or dialects to meet communication needs. It also is the alteration of clothes, hairstyles and music from one environment to another to be accepted.

Code-switching is something that white culture demands of blacks. In short, to be acceptable and not “other”, the white establishment demands that African Americans shed some of their racial being to navigate a white world.

Inclusion means becoming like whites in speech and mannerism. Many whites see a person’s blackness in looks and culture to be alien and “less than.”

Therefore, African Americans are faced with code switching daily. What is an acceptable way of speaking, looking or acting among their family members and friends may not be acceptable to a predominant white culture or the “professional world” that still judges people by white criteria.

“It is difficult situation. Black people are not allowed to be black people in white spaces without adapting to white ways of speaking, dressing and acting,” says Patrice Willoughby, Managing Director and Head of Diversity and Inclusion for the Signal Group, a Washington D.C. firm that offers counselling in strategic communication, public affairs, and government relations.

Willoughby joins Judge Gayle Williams Byers of the S. Euclid Municipal Court on this week’s Spectrum Podcast to discuss the racism associated with code switching. She was the former Chief of Staff for the late House member Stephanie Tubbs Jones and the former Executive Director of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Judge Gayle Williams Byers is the first black female judge of her trial court in Northeastern Ohio.

Both say that younger blacks are less accepting of code-switching and are demanding to be included in society “as they are.” Many people assert that the only way to have “diversity” is to have people be themselves and not try to react to other’s norms.

Code switching also puts extra stress on blacks to be able to adapt equally to both white culture and their black heritage. That stress can lead to health issues and emotional problems.

Are African American female public office holders treated differently than their white counterparts by local media?

Two black female judges answer that questions with a resounding: YES.

In our continuing in-depth conversations about race and racism, WOUB’s Spectrum Podcast talks with two first-time African American female judges from Northeastern Ohio, who bring to the bench a wealth of legal experience.

Both were asked if they perceived any different treatment from local news media than is given to their white counterparts. Both provided situation upon situation where white judges were praised for activities that black judges were criticized for doing.

These stories even include situations of disparate treatment by news media between how white and black judges handle court matters during the pandemic or follow guidelines from the state Supreme Court.

The unfounded inferences often are that black female judges are lazy, dishonest, “shifty” and cannot be trusted to follow appropriate legal guidelines. None of those accusations have been made over the same period of time of white judges of equal legal stature.

In fact, it is alleged by our two judges, that white judges are not only not criticized but they are praised for the same activities for which the black judges are denigrated.

Hear the stories of Judge W. Mona’ Scott, the first black female judge elected to a full term on the Cleveland Municipal Housing Court and Judge Gayle Byers Williams, the first black female judge of the S. Euclid Municipal Court.

Judge Scott came to her court from experience in private legal practice and stints with the Cleveland City Prosecutor’s Office and the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office. She has had a diverse legal career expanding two decades with experience in family law, civil litigation, criminal prosecution and criminal defense work. She is a long-time proponent of social justice causes.

Judge Byers first became judge in the S. Euclid Municipal Court in 2012. Prior to that she served over a decade as an Assistant Prosecutor in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Judge Byers also is a Fellow at the National Judicial College located on the campus of the University of Nevada-Reno. It is the premier educational arm of the judiciary, helping to train judges from across America and around the globe.

Dr. Greg Hall is a primary care physician in Cleveland, Ohio who tailors his practice to specifically helping African Americans who have been short-changed by the traditional medical establishment.

He says that racism is a public health crisis that manifests itself in many disparities between treatment of black patients and white patients. He cites the current COVID-19 pandemic as one example.

But, Dr. Hall notes that 400 years of bad relationships between the white power structure and blacks have bred an inherent mistrust in the medical establishment by most blacks. He also notes that history is replete with medical abuses of blacks by whites, thereby heightening mistrust.

Dr. Hall notes that there are medical differences in caring for African Americans who have illnesses like high blood pressure, diabetes, and other diseases but that there also are major communication differences.

He must gain the trust of his patients before he can adequately treat them. Therefore, he gives them personal attention and listens to their stories about their life and health issues. Listening is key, he says.

Dr. Hall also notes that blacks have extremely high infant mortality rate in this country. He feels that the tension of dealing with racism on a daily basis can lower a mother’s ability to deal with the stresses of childbirth, regardless of socio-economic status.

He is attempting, in his practice, to combat racial disparities “one patient at a time,” he says.

Dr. Hall has dedicated the bulk of his career to helping African American patients. He served on the Ohio Commission on Minority Health from 2002 and served as chairman until the fall of 2018.

In 2008, Dr. Hall was appointed to the Ohio Medicaid Medical Care Advisory Committee and currently serves on the Cuyahoga County Board of Health.

Dr. Hall holds two teaching appointments at the Northeast Ohio Medical University College of Medicine and also is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

In January 2020, his new book “Patient-Centered Clinical Care for African Americans: A Concise, Evidence-Based Guide to Important Differences and Better Outcomes” was published by Springer International Publishing.

African American children are often told by the white establishment that “education” is the way to obtain equality yet, at the same time, black children are not given equal educational opportunities.

They are told to get a quality education at the same time their schools are underfunded, have old textbooks, and have overly stretched teachers, says Ray Freeman, vice-president of the Warrensville Heights School Board in Northeastern Ohio.

The “achievement gap” is evident, according to Freeman and Judge Gayle Williams Byers of the South Euclid, Ohio Municipal Court.

Black students with the same years of schooling do not perform overall as well as whites.

But, it’s not the black child’s fault.

They are told to succeed but not given the tools to succeed. Freeman adds. They are short-changed in many different ways on their educational experience.

Freeman is a midwestern regional member of the National School Board Association and travels the country visiting schools, especially in impoverished neighborhoods. He says the achievement gap is nationwide and not just regional.

Black children just are not given equal opportunities for success, Freeman and Byers note.

Often black children are given low expectations by whites for academic acumen equal to their white counterparts. There also is the expectation of the pipeline to prison for many black men instead of academic success.

Black young men and young women are not “expected” by white culture to have equal academic prowess to whites, says Freeman. But he contends that is so wrong.

Therefore, black students are not given many of the same opportunities. Freeman and Byers are firm believers that co-curricular activities in predominately black schools are lacking. Little is offered beyond sports.

Freeman suggests that there should be an array of co-curricular opportunities in black schools that would spark academic interests and a desire to succeed. He says that these activities are just as important as the rigor in the academic classrooms.

An African-American father and a black mother explain how they need to warn children about possible violence against them by police or others. This starts at a very young age and continues through young adulthood in a repetitive manner.

It’s called “The Talk” and it happens in every black family with children, says Isaiah Simmons, a father, a minister, and a court bailiff. Simmons has a son and a daughter and also has mentored his teenage nephew and niece.

“The Talk” gives practical tips to young blacks about how to behave if confronted by a police officer or another person in authority, where to put their hands and what to say or not say.

These are not just parental lectures but instead are survival tips delivered by parents so that their children stay alive.

I tell my son that when he goes out …I just want him to come home alive, says Gayle Williams-Byers judge of the South Euclid Municipal Court. Do whatever it takes to comply to protect your life, she says to him. We can work out the other details later, she adds.

However, both Judge Byers and Simmons question whether “The Talk” is even relevant anymore because the level of police violence against blacks does not seem to match any form of aberrant behavior. Blacks can do everything correctly and still be subject to police abuse.

Special instruction for black children starts way before teenage years.

Judge Byers says she started very young with her son and other young relatives to tell them that they unfortunately need to work twice as hard to reach half of the success levels of white culture.

Our culture, still in 2020, is stacked against a black child succeeding at the same level as his/her white counterparts.

The violence and other societal factors place an extra burden on black parents to rear their children safely.

Too often we, as a country, focus only on the incidents of violence perpetrated on African Americans by police officers instead of looking at the total picture of racism that perpetuates the criminal justice system from the streets to the courtrooms, says Judge Gayle Williams Byers, of the South Euclid Ohio Municipal Court.

Racism goes well beyond what happens in the streets, she says. It truly is systemic.

Judge Byers complains of over-policing in minority neighborhoods.

“Overall, the issues related to police brutality and its intersection with black folk is “ground zero.” While the media has largely focused on the overreaching and many times illegal police tactics employed while interacting with the black community, they have overlooked the role that City Councils and Courts often play in setting these confrontations in motion,” says Judge Byers.

She also claims that City’s use courts and over-policing as revenue streams.

“Often, local governments use police forces and courts as revenue generating ATMs or piggy banks. They pressure police chiefs, officers (with required ticket quotas) and court officials to increase traffic and low-level criminal enforcement fines and fees without regard to public safety or tangible outcomes. The vast majority of the people who are targeted with these often heavy-handed enforcement measures to meet these monetary targets are Black, brown and poor people,” she adds.

Under these processes, blacks are often stopped and searched with little reasonable suspicion and arrested with only the barest probable cause. They then are expected to post bonds that many times, Mark Zuckerberg couldn’t afford and the scheme, in many cases, is to make it hard for them to keep their court date, she notes.

If they are working, then often they are forced to choose between keeping their job or maintaining their court obligation. If they don’t come to court, their bond is forfeited to the city/county government and a warrant can be issued for their arrest. Reasonable or tangible access to justice is not even considered, according to Judge Byers.

While in court, blacks are confronted by an often-times confusing system that is dominated by whites and stacked against the defendants.

Judge Byers says that to effectuate true reform that the whole criminal justice system must be scrutinized and not just the activities of the police in the streets.

“The problem is that the system itself is inherently broken,” Judge Byers says “and we haven’t even tipped the iceberg about the Racism that masquerades as disrespect but is far more insidious.

Judge Byers has initiated a “night court’ in her jurisdiction to make it easier for people to come to court, because true access to justice should be more than a mere modern day slogan.

In 2012, Gayle Williams Byers was elected to become the first black judge for the South Euclid Municipal Court in Northeastern Ohio. She came to the job with a wealth of experience after being a Congressional staffer on Capitol Hill and after spending nearly a decade as an Assistant Prosecutor in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland-area).

However, despite her election win, her experience and the honor of being the first female black judge in her court, she confronted forms of overt and covert racism from the start.

Over the past eight years, it has been one racial insult or slight after another being generated by the white power establishment in her community. Repeated efforts have been made to intimidate her, question her character, and to minimize her powerful position.

“If I, as judge, get treated in a racist manner, I can only imagine what happens to the average black person in the streets,” Judge Byers says. “We need to have a real and meaningful conversation about race as it permeates all aspects of society.”

South Euclid is a racially diverse community with about 50 percent of the population being African American and other people of color. However, the Mayor, police chief, city law director and five of the seven council positions are filled by whites.

The first racial incident happened to Judge Byers about six months after taking office when the police chief, law director and some members of council met with the judge to discuss one of her rulings with which the police chief disagreed.

The chief started his presentation by saying to the white group: I’m not here to “lynch” the judge, according to Judge Byers.

Judge Byers took great umbrage at the lynching reference. She said she had an immediate and intense reaction that the white chief of police would utter those words to a black female judge to minimize her and her elected position as head of the local judicial system.

She remembers digging her fingers in the arms of her chair.

This was only the beginning of one incident after another. Despite being chosen by the electorate for a second term, she has been falsely accused of not knowing her place, dishonesty, laziness and other racial tropes by white office holders.

They even installed ceiling cameras in her jury room without any consultation with her about the sanctity of jury privacy.

Even though she receives national honors and accolades for excellence, she still must fight racial battles with her own city administration. For example, Judge Byers has been selected as the only Judicial Fellow to the National Judicial College, a prestigious judicial position. Yet, that honor has been besmirched and marginalized by whites in power.

Judge Byers calls on white allies to become anti-racists. She says it is not enough to say you are not racist. Instead, you have to fight racism by being ANTI-RACIST.

Hear Judge Byers tell her story on this week’s Spectrum Podcast. This will start a series of serious conversations about racism in American.

Since the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police, demonstrations against police violence have traversed the nation.

Yet, during these demonstrations, there have been 383 press freedom incidents including some 173 assaults on journalists 78 physical attacks (50 by police) —49 tear gassings —27 pepper sprayings —89 rubber bullet / projectiles injuries and 48 equipment/newsroom damage cases, according to U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.

There also have been 56 arrests of credentialed reporters by police. One CNN reporter was arrested on live television to be released shortly thereafter as the Governor of Minnesota apologized for the police action.

Dr. Michael Bugeja, Distinguished Professor of Journalism at Iowa State University, says that this much targeting of journalists is “unprecedented.”

He tells WOUB’s Spectrum Podcast that he feels some police are reacting to a new level of accountability brought on by the use of cellphones and technology. Cellphone videos captured by reporters and citizen journalists have documented police abuses against African-Americans and other people of color.

Since everyone can be a broadcaster through social media, police are subject to a new, higher level of accountability, Dr. Bugeja says. As a result, journalists have been targeted during disturbances for just exercising their First Amendment rights.

The police abuses against reporters have been so bad that the ACLU in Minnesota has filed a federal class action lawsuit under the federal Civil Rights Act claiming that the police were depriving journalists of their First Amendment freedoms, that journalists and their property were being seized without warrants in violation of the Fourth Amendment and that journalists were being denied their constitutional rights and freedoms without due process of law under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Dr. Bugeja believes that reporters covering any large demonstration should hand a copy of the federal Civil Rights Act to police at the scene as a “paper trail” of notice not to abridge constitutional freedoms.

He is extremely concerned about the safety of journalists and the escalating denial of their rights. He notes that journalists are trained to report and report accurately where too often the general public relies on news from social media which often is not accurate and can easily be manipulated to distort reality.

Therefore, he says, mainstream journalists need protection, especially against the police.

Dr. Bugeja has a specialty in media ethics and technology. He is author of 24 books across genres. His latest is Media Ethics: Across Platforms, published by Routhledge, Taylor and Francis in 2019.