Are Their Encounters with Law Enforcement Part of a Vicious Cycle
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Volume 96 Number 35 | APRIL 17-23, 2019 | MiamiTimesOnline.com | Ninety-Three Cents Andrew Gillum Patrick Tallahassee Cannon Charlotte Kwame Kilpatrick Detroit Ray Nagin New Orleans Richard Catherine Thompson Pugh Baltimore Mount Vernon Are their encounters with law enforcement part of a vicious cycle or by design? This is but a shortlist of Black pow- PENNY DICKERSON mounting probe that some say was a er symbols, either toppled or shaken Miami Times Contributor direct cause. during their meteoric rise, white they In January, Florida Commission tried to transform underserved com- ndrew Gillum, Patrick Cannon, Ray Nagin, Kwame Kil- on Ethics found probable cause to munities. patrick, Marion Barry, Richard Thomas and Catherine investigate Gillum, who allegedly In the book, “African-American received gifts valued over $100 while Pugh all share a common title: Black American mayors. Mayors: Race, Politics, and the Afri- in office in the form of a stay at a They share a common fate, too. They have either been can-American City,” political histori- Costa Rica Villa, a Broadway ticket accused of criminal behavior; been previously or is ans David R. Colburn and Jeffrey S. and a boat ride. Ethics commission currently being investigated; or worse, been imprisoned in connection Adler aptly illustrate their plight: A advocate Elizabeth Miller recently “Black mayors assumed office with the job of leading a municipality. At a minimum, when the govern- requested that Administrative Law during economic downturns and ment comes sniffing, it leaves reputations in tatters. Judge E. Gary Early delay a decision confronted the intractable problems in Gillum’s hearing for five months of decaying inner cities, white flight, a power structures dominated by local Black mayors demonstrate how to accommodate the mayor’s former dwindling tax base, violent crime, and business owners or politicians. Still the same circumstances that set the comrade-turned-Judas, lobbyist Adam diminishing federal support for social others, while trying to respond to stage for the victories can exagger- Corey, who insists his ill attorney’s programs. Many encountered hostili- multiple demands from a diverse ate the obstacles and accusations. presence is essential for him to ty from their own parties, city coun- constituency, were viewed as traitors For Florida, bitter is the memory of testify. cils, and police departments; others by Blacks expecting special attention not only the defeat of former Talla- Two weeks ago, Early received yet worked against long-established from a leader of their own race.” hassee mayor, Gillum, but also a SEE MAYORS 4A Today BUSINESS ................................................. 8B YOU & YOURS ............................................ 7D 9B 81° CLASSIFIED ............................................. 11B FAITH CALENDAR ................................... 8D IN GOOD TASTE ......................................... 1C HEALTH & WELLNESS ............................. 9D Wow — What a LIFESTYLE HAPPENINGS ....................... 5C OBITUARIES ............................................. 12D 8 90158 00100 0 INSIDE ‘Wade’ to retire Editorials Cartoons Opinions Letters VIEWPOINT BLACKS MUST CONTROL THEIR OWN DESTINY | APRIL 17-23, 2019 | MiamiTimesOnline.com MEMBER: National Newspaper Periodicals Postage EDITORIAL Credo Of The Black Press Publisher Association paid at Miami, Florida (ISSN 0739-0319) The Black Press believes that America MEMBER: The Newspaper POSTMASTER: Published Weekly at 900 NW 54th Street, can best lead the world from racial and Association of America Send address changes to Miami, Florida 33127-1818 national antagonism when it accords Subscription Rates: One Year THE MIAMI TIMES, The good and bad in Post Office Box 270200 to every person, regardless of race, $65.00 – Two Year $120.00 P.O. Box 270200 Buena Vista Station, Miami, Florida 33127 creed or color, his or her human and Foreign $75.00 Buena Vista Station, Miami, FL Phone 305-694-6210 legal rights. Hating no person, fearing 7 percent sales tax for Florida residents 33127-0200 • 305-694-6210 Florida’s criminal justice no person, the Black Press strives to H.E. SIGISMUND REEVES Founder, 1923-1968 help every person in the firm belief that GARTH C. REEVES JR. Editor, 1972-1982 GARTH C. REEVES SR. Publisher Emeritus all persons are hurt as long as anyone reform effort RACHEL J. REEVES Publisher and Chairman is held back. lorida could put fewer people in prison without harming public safety. F With two weeks left in the legislative session, crim- Trump lies about separating migrants inal justice reform suddenly has emerged as a big issue in Tallahassee. House and Senate bills would start to reform the STEPHEN A. CROCKETT JR., The Root system in ways similar to the First Step Act, which Congress According to President by the Court, and HHS has passed last year to modernize the federal system. Trump, former President faced challenges in identify- True reform, however, won’t come until Florida gives judg- Barack Obama is a Kenyan ing separated children.” es more flexibility in sentencing. The Senate bill would do operative who used a fake Also from The Post: that. The House bill wouldn’t. birth certificate to run for So, parents were funneled The House legislation does include important changes. It office. Once elected, he took into the criminal justice sys- would strengthen the inmate re-entry program. Successful babies from migrant families tem and eventual deporta- re-entry reduces the chance that an offender will commit attempting to cross the bor- tion proceedings. Their kids another crime. Such changes have been waiting since 2006, der into the United States were placed in shelters, rela- when a task force created under former Gov. Jeb Bush recom- and Trump is the one who tives’ homes or in foster care mended similar reforms and more. stopped it. while their cases worked In addition, the House bill would raise from $300 to $1,000 The latter is a claim that their way through immigra- the threshold for which a theft charge goes from a misde- Trump has made sever- tion courts. meanor to a felony. And since having a job lowers the risk al times when pushed on The Trump administration Evan Vucci/AP Photo of recidivism, the legislation would make it easier for ex-in- the child-separation policy implemented this policy by Trump continues to push this claim that Obama took mates to obtain professional licenses. Roughly one-third of that was enacted under the choice, exercising its dis- inmates released in Florida return to prison within five years. Trump administration. children at the border, which was a lie the first time it cretion to prosecute some The core problem remains that too many people enter pris- Trump continues to push came out of Trump’s mouth. crimes over others. But no on needlessly. That practice wastes money by raising the in- this claim that Obama took law or court ruling mandates children at the border, which one that changed it, OK?” comes with it. family separations. In fact, mate population and providing no public benefit. State Sen. was a lie the first time it came The Washington Post Fact “The total number of chil- during its first 15 months, the Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, said Florida “can’t support out of Trump’s mouth. Checker has run out of Pin- dren separated from a parent Trump administration re- 96,000 prison inmates.” That’s the current count. But this hasn’t stopped occhios to give this blatant or guardian by immigration leased nearly 100,000 immi- To fix that, Brandes’ bill would allow judges to depart from Trump from pushing it. On falsehood. authorities is unknown,” ac- grants who were apprehend- mandatory minimum sentences in drug trafficking cases, Tuesday, after Trump’s in- From The Post: cording to a report released ed at the U.S.-Mexico border, under certain conditions. Research supports making this sistence on getting tougher The Obama administration in January by the inspector a total that includes more change. at the border, he leaned back rejected a plan for family sep- general of the Department of than 37,500 unaccompanied A January report by the legislature’s policy-analysis of- into his old lie about Obama arations, according to Cecilia Health and Human Services. minors and more than 61,000 fice said most prison admissions in Florida are for drug and stealing children. Muñoz, Obama’s top adviser “Pursuant to a June 2018 family-unit members. property crimes. These offenders pose the least risk to public “President Obama had for immigration. The Trump Federal District Court order, The Obama- and Bush-era safety compared with other inmates. child separation. Take a administration operated a HHS has thus far identified policy of separating children Roughly five percent of Florida inmates — nearly 5,000 — look. The press knows it, pilot program for family sep- 2,737 children in its care at from adults at the border are serving mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes. you know it, we all know it. I arations in the El Paso area that time who were separat- were only in extreme cases State economists calculate that emptying just 1,500 beds didn’t have—I’m the one that beginning in mid-2017. ed from their parents. How- in which officials suspected would be equivalent to closing a prison and saving the state stopped it. President Obama Trump enacted the human ever, thousands of children that the child was in danger $30 million a year. The report recommended a “safety valve” had child separation. …Pres- rights violation of separating may have been separated or a part of human traffick- option for such offenders. ident Obama separated chil- children at the border and during an influx that began ing, which is worlds away Under Senate Bill 642, people convicted of drug offenses dren. They had child separa- he needs to own all of the in 2017 [in El Paso], before from Trump’s “zero-toler- — from possession to selling — could be eligible for adminis- tion, Trump said.