Cincinnati City Officials Could Be Found in Contempt Of Court Over Federal Agreement
Thursday, January 6, 2005 at 10:56AM
TheSpook
Racist Police Force Doing Little to Improve Relations
City officials face possible contempt of court charges if a judge
accepts a federal monitors's report that said that police aren't
cooperating with an agreement to improve community relations after
riots in 2001, a lawyer for a group that sued the city said Tuesday.
The monitor's report Monday supports the American Civil Liberties Union
of Ohio's (ACLU) complaint to the federal court last month that the
city isn't providing information to other parties under the 2002
agreement, said ACLU lawyer Scott Greenwood. Greenwood also accused the
city of failing to cooperate with the Justice Department, which has a
separate agreement to oversee Cincinnati police reforms, including
tighter policies governing the use of force. "The city is taking an
extreme, adversarial position that it does not have to comply with the
community representatives, the Justice Department and the monitoring
team," Greenwood said. "It's not just unhelpful. It's a direct
violation of the agreement." US Magistrate Michael Merz has summoned
the parties involved in the agreement -- the city, Cincinnati police
union, the ACLU and other community representatives -- to appear before
him on January 6 to discuss their progress or problems. Merz and the
court-appointed monitor, former federal prosecutor Saul Green, of
Detroit, report ot US District Judge Susan Dlott, who is supervising
the five-year agreement. Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken said "If the plaintiffs want to hold us in contempt -- or try to
-- go ahead," Luken said. "Let's don't worry about contempt. Let's
worry about the issues of crime and community relations. Let's don't
worry about who said what to whom and who took offense at it." [more] Only visit this city if you have to.