Niggerizing You for Safety: Discrimination Charged After Grand Rapids Cops Unlawfully Searched, Detained Black Kids @ Gun Point. MDCR Claims Cops Never Treat Similarly Situated White Kids the Same Way

From [HERE] The state’s civil rights watchdog is filing additional charges of racial discrimination against the Grand Rapids Police Department.

The Michigan Department of Civil Rights (MDCR) announced Wednesday four new charges against GRPD stemming from the gunpoint handcuffing and detainment of two Black 11-year-olds in August 2018.

The agency is alleging unequal treatment in public service on the basis of race and sex.

“The Grand Rapids Police Department was unable to show evidence of any white children who were similarly held at gunpoint, handcuffed, searched, placed in a squad car and questioned in response to a 911 call and no allegation of a crime,” said John Johnson, director of the MDCR.

“The Grand Rapids Police Department provided no evidence that they treat individuals of another race the same in similar circumstances.”

Grand Rapids officials said they have not yet been served with the latest charges.

The new charges join two other racial discrimination charges filed by the MDCR this summer stemming from the gunpoint handcuffing of Honestie Hodges and the detainment of a compliant Black motorist.

Those cases are still working through pre-hearing motions. They’re among two dozen other discrimination complaints the agency is investigating.

The incident that prompted the latest charges happened on Aug. 26, 2018, and it involved Grand Rapids police detaining and handcuffing two Black children, 11-year-old brothers Martrell and Martrez Coston, and a Black teen, age 17, at gunpoint.

Police previously released bodycam footage of the incident, which can be seen below.

The discrimination charges are related to the treatment of the two younger children, as the boys’ mother, Juanita Ligon, filed a complaint with the MDCR on their behalf. No one filed a complaint for the 17-year-old.

The MDCR is alleging GRPD discriminated against each of the 11-year-olds on the basis of both race and sex, prompting four charges in total.

The evening of Aug. 26, 2018 police were responding to a report of two or more Black youths walking around with a gun on the city’s Southeast Side in the area of Alto Avenue SE and Griggs Street SE.

Johnson said the 911 caller “repeatedly” identified the weapon as a toy gun, but police officials at the time said it was identified to them as a handgun. huh?

The 911 caller told dispatchers she was “sure it’s not a gun,” according to the MDCR’s court filing. That filing also states that two officers were dispatched with information that one of the youths was “carrying possibly a toy gun, not sure.”

“It is important to note that, No. 1, there was no initial crime reported; there’s nothing illegal about two children walking near train tracks with what the 911 caller identified repeatedly as a toy gun,” Johnson said.

The boys were stopped shortly after the dispatch call about half a mile away, with two of the boys matching the partial description received by officers of one wearing a red shirt and another wearing a black shirt, then-police chief David Rahinsky previously said.

Despite their compliance, Johnson said, the boys were held at gunpoint by officers. And after officers found no gun or illegal items, they continued to detain and question the youths, he said.

Johnson said officers detained and questioned the boys for around 20 minutes before contacting a parent or guardian. He said the younger boys had identified their age and provided contact information for a parent.

At the time of the incident, the former police chief defended his officers’ actions, saying they worked to quickly de-escalate the situation and used the “most reasonable and least restrictive measures consistent with public safety.”

“When the allegation is someone has a firearm, the response has to be appropriate,” Rahinsky said at the time. “Once officers learned that’s not the case, the youths are un-handcuffed within a minute, their grandfather is contacted, and I think the conversation that ensures shows the officer’s compassion in explaining what happened and why.”

Elite racists worship "procedural due process" and other superficialities within the lex-icon of their lawless legal system. When the only product of the criminal justice system is the appearance of justice, how things look and sound is really important to those in charge of fooling others. In light of the fact that the moms have gone public to denounce the cops actions, it appears that police & media have blurred out the faces of the chldren in the videos not to protect them - but to mitigate damage from these fucked up images.  FUNKTIONARY explains:  

lex-icon [law as image- the appearance of justice (the form) over the substance of justice via truth and law over humanity.

Lawless Society - a socio-juristic human relation confliguration where law is upheld, codified, and deified over humanity. If you fear or worry about its advent, you'll certainly never recognize its presence. 2) a Police State of the Overruling Class."  Dr. Blynd states, "the difference between an outlaw and a lawman is mainly on paper - not on principle." 

Niggerized - "unsafe, unprotected, subjected and subjugated to random violence, hated for who you are to the point you become so scared that you defer to the powers that be while willing to consent to your own domination." - quoting Dr. Cornell West 

An MDCR spokesperson previously told MLive/The Grand Rapids Press that the “charges” issued aren’t criminal charges, but start an administrative process. There’s first an opportunity for mediation between Grand Rapids police and the complaint-maker, but with no resolution it could go to an administrative law judge.

That judge would then make a recommendation to the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, which would make a final determination. The determination could include monetary penalties and procedure changes to prevent discrimination.

Hearing dates for the latest charges against GRPD have not yet been set.

The MDCR in May 2019 announced it had opened an investigation into the GRPD pertaining to individual discrimination complaints against the department as well as whether police has engaged in a pattern of racial discrimination.

It wasn’t until July 2022 that the MDCR announced its first charges of individual discrimination against the police department.

Only 1 Indictment for the "Negligent Homicide" [like killing someone while texting and driving] of Ronald Greene After 5 White Cops Tortured and Brutally Murdered Restrained Black Man Begging for Life

RONALD GREENE WAS A BLACK MAN WHO WAS TORTURED AND MURDERED BY WHITE TROOPERS IN LA. ON MAY 10, 2019, GREENE, WHO WAS UNARMED, DIED AFTER BEING ARRESTED BY LOUISIANA STATE POLICE FOLLOWING A HIGH-SPEED CHASE OUTSIDE MONROE, LOUISIANA. DURING THE ARREST, HE WAS STUNNED, PUNCHED, AND PLACED IN A CHOKEHOLD. HE WAS ALSO DRAGGED FACE DOWN WHILE HANDCUFFED AND SHACKLED, AND HE WAS LEFT FACE DOWN FOR AT LEAST NINE MINUTES. AT LEAST SIX WHITE TROOPERS WERE INVOLVED IN THE ARREST.

WHEN GREENE'S CORPSE WAS BROUGHT TO THE HOSPITAL, POLICE TOLD DOCTORS THAT HIS CAR HAD RUN INTO A TREE, A STORY A DOCTOR SAID "DOES NOT ADD UP", GIVEN THE NATURE OF GREENE'S INJURIES AND THE FACT THAT THERE WERE TWO STUN-GUN PROBES LODGED IN HIS BODY; POLICE LATER ACKNOWLEDGED THAT GREENE HAD DIED DURING A STRUGGLE, THOUGH WITHOUT MENTIONING ANY USE OF FORCE BY OFFICERS. ALTHOUGH AUTHORITIES REFUSED TO RELEASE BODY CAMERA FOOTAGE FOR TWO YEARS, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS OBTAINED AND PUBLISHED A PORTION OF IT IN MAY 2021. [MORE]

IN PHOTO LAMAR DAVIS, A BLACK STRAW BOSS WHO CARRIES OUT VARIOUS FUNCTIONS FOR HIS WHITE AUTHORITARIAN MASTERS SUCH AS FIRING BLACKS (LIKE CARL CAVALIER) WHO SPEAK OUT OF TURN. ANOTHER FUNCTION IS ASSIST IN THE COVER-UP POLICE MURDERS OF BLACK PEOPLE (LIKE RONALD GREENE), WHO CAN BE MURDERED ANYTIME, ANY PLACE IN THE SYSTEM OF RWS IF AN AUTHORITARIAN SAYS SO. [MORE]

Always Only the Appearance of Justice in the Lex-icon. From [HERE] and [HERE] A Union Parish, Louisiana, grand jury Thursday indicted five Louisiana State Police (LSP) officers relating to the 2019 death of Black driver Ronald Greene in police custody. Greene died on a roadside in northeast Louisiana, and authorities initially ruled that his death was the result of a car crash. However, suppressed body camera footage soon emerged showing the officers in question beating, stunning and dragging Greene.

In the video, which led to a US Department of Justice review of the agency and the incident, Greene screamed, “I’m scared.” The review will also examine whether Governor John Bel Edwards (a white democrat) knew about the circumstances of Greene’s death and whether he was involved with efforts to bury the video evidence.

It took 474 days for state police to launch an internal inquiry and officials from Gov. John Bel Edwards on down refused to release body camera video for more than two years. That was until the AP obtained and published it in May, showing white troopers beating Greene and dragging him by his ankle shackles, even as he pleaded for mercy and wailed, “I’m your brother! I’m scared! I’m scared!”

According to KNOE’s Alyssa Azzara, who was present in the courtroom when the grand jury decision was announced, the officers were charged as follows:

• LSP Trooper Kory York faces one count of negligent homicide and 10 counts of malfeasance in office;

• LSP Trooper John Cleary faces one count of obstruction of justice;

• Former LSP Trooper Dakota Demoss faces one count of obstruction of justice;

• Former LSP Troop F Captain John Peters faces one count of obstruction of justice; and

• Union Parish Deputy Chris Harpin face three counts of malfeasance in office.

Another trooper involved in the arrest, Chris Hollingsworth, was killed in a single-vehicle highway crash in 2020. The Associated Press reported at the time that he had been notified hours earlier that he would be fired for his part in Mr. Greene’s fatal arrest.

The case reached the grand jury in November, brought by John Belton, the district attorney for Union Parish. Mr. Belton had said that federal prosecutors did not object to him moving forward with the case.

AFTER WHITE COPS TORTURED/BRUTALLY MURDERED RONALD GREEN UNCIVILIZED LA AUTHORITIES HID VIDEO/REPORTS, BEGGED DA NOT TO CHARGE, LIED ABOUT CAUSE OF DEATH AND PREVENTED PROPER AUTOPSY.

According to the civil complaint filed on behalf of Mr. Greene:

On or about 12 a.m. on May 10, 2019, Greene was driving a silver Toyota CH-R on U.S. 80 in Monroe, Louisiana. Trooper Demoss contends that he attempted to initiate a traffic stop of Greene’s car. Trooper Demoss does not define any violation of the motor vehicle code that would justify a stop. Instead, he contends that he observed a “traffic violation”. Greene did not stop his car and a vehicle pursuit ensued.

Greene traveled along US 80 to LA 143 and into Union Parish where his car swerved, spun, and crashed into a wooded area.

The front of Greene’s car did not make impact with a tree and his airbag did not deploy. The highest level of impact sustained by the car occurred in the rear driver side and said impact was moderate.

Greene was able to exit the vehicle without assistance. Green was not injured and could walk, speak and otherwise function in a healthy manner after the crash.

Almost immediately thereafter, Trooper Demoss and Master Trooper Hollingsworth arrived on the scene. Shortly thereafter, Captain Peters, Lieutenant Clary, Sergeant McElroy, Master Trooper York, and Deputy Sherriff Harpin arrived at the scene.

Greene exited his car and began to apologize to the officers, telling them he knew he should have stopped the vehicle earlier. Officers pinned Greene down on the ground while he screamed ‘Oh my God.’”

Greene was moaning, begging the officers to stop, and repeatedly saying “I’m sorry.” Despite Greene’s contrition and surrender, Trooper Demoss, Master Trooper Hollingsworth, Master Trooper York, Captain Peters, Lieutenant Clary, Sergeant McElroy, and Deputy Sherriff Harpin individually and in concert used lethal force against Greene.

Trooper Demoss beat, smothered, and choked Greene despite the fact that he had surrendered, was not resisting, was in custody, and posed no threat. Master Trooper Hollingsworth beat, smothered, and choked Greene despite the fact that he had surrendered, was not resisting, was in custody, and posed no threat.

Master Trooper York beat, smothered, and choked Greene despite the fact that he had surrendered, was not resisting, was in custody, and posed no threat.

Lieutenant Clary beat, smothered, and choked Greene despite the fact that he had surrendered, was not resisting, was in custody, and posed no threat. Sergeant McElroy beat, smothered and choked Greene despite the fact that he had surrendered, was not resisting, was in custody, and posed no threat. Captain Peters beat, smothered, and choked Greene despite the fact that he had surrendered, was not resisting, was in custody, and posed no threat. Deputy Sherriff Harpin beat, smothered, and choked Greene despite the fact that he had surrendered, was not resisting, was in custody, and posed no threat.

Despite Greene’s contrition and surrender Defendant officers used an electronic control weapon against Greene at least three times thus attacking his heart with massive amounts of electricity. It is currently unknown which officer or officers used electronic control weapon(s) because the Louisiana State Police refused to produce or release bodycam footage, dashboard cam footage, discharge logs, use of force reports or any number of investigative materials that would identify who used lethal force.

Trooper Demoss watched other officers beat, smother, choke, and use an electronic control weapon on Greene despite the fact that he had surrendered, was not resisting, was in custody, and posed no threat.

The force used against Greene was unjustified, unreasonable, excessive, and in violation of Greene’s Fourth Amendment rights.

The force used against Greene left him beaten, bloodied, and in cardiac arrest. An officer called for an ambulance at 12:29 a.m.

When the Emergency Medical Technicians arrived at 12:51 a.m. they found Greene unresponsive. He was propped up against an officer’s leg, covered in blood with multiple “TASER” Barbs penetrating his body.

Emergency Medical Technicians determined that Greene was in cardiac and respiratory arrest.

Greene was placed on a gurney and transported to Glenwood Medical Center. He remained unresponsive when he arrived at 1:25 a.m. Greene was pronounced dead at 1:27 a.m.

An initial report from Glenwood Medical Center listed the principle cause of Greene’s death as cardiac arrest. He was also diagnosed with an “unspecified injury of head.”

Master Trooper Hollingsworth confirmed the vicious and unconstitutional nature of the Officers’ conduct by confessing that he choked and “beat the ever-loving fuck” out of Greene until he was spitting blood and went limp.

Master Trooper Hollingsworth confirmed that this vicious and unconstitutional beating was inflicted by multiple officers and in the presence of multiple officers.

All Defendants immediately began efforts to obfuscate the true nature of the conduct that caused Greene’s death. The following are examples of the Officers’ deceptions:

Greene’s family was told that he had been killed in an auto accident.

Greene’s mother was told that he had been killed immediately after hitting a tree.

The call for Emergency Medical Services omitted any mention that force had been used. The sole police report produced to date does not indicate that force was used.

Inconsistent versions of the Officers’ involvement with Greene were provided to medical treatment providers at Glenwood Hospital.

The sole police report produced to date asserted that Greene was intoxicated prior to any toxicology examinations being conducted.

Greene’s body was sent out of the State of Louisiana to conduct an autopsy, denying the right of the family to have a representative observe same. Green’s family has been denied access to video footage of the use of lethal force. Doctor Omokhuale, an emergency room physician at Glenwood confirms the Officers’ deception and stated as follows: “obtaining more history from different law enforcement personal, the account of what happened was disjointed and does not add up. Different versions are present and family did not come to the emergency room. Family states they were told by law enforcement that patient died on impact with tree immediately after motor vehicle accident, but law enforcement state to me that patient out of the car and was running and involved in a fight and struggle where them where he was tased 3 times.”

After officials refused for more than two years to release the troopers’ body camera video, the AP obtained and published it this spring, showing white troopers converging on Greene before he can even get out of his car, repeatedly stunning and punching him as he appears to surrender and repeatedly wails, “I’m your brother! I’m scared! I’m scared!” A trooper can later be seen dragging the heavyset Greene by his ankle shackles and he is left prone and face down in the dirt for more than nine minutes before he eventually goes limp.

Yet even after AP published video of Greene’s violent arrest, state officials and advocates for the troopers repeated the crash theory, with Gov. John Bel Edwards floating it as recently as September.

“The issue would be did he die from injuries sustained in the accident?” Edwards, a Democrat, said on a radio program. “Obviously, he didn’t die in the accident itself because he was still alive when the troopers were engaging with him. But what was the cause of death? I don’t know that that was falsely portrayed.”

Edwards went on to say troopers' actions were “criminal” but that whether they caused Greene’s death was the subject of an investigation and “I’m not going to get in front of that.”

A lawyer for the troopers involved in Greene’s arrest told a court in July that the crash killed him. [MORE]

Judge Sentences White Cop Only 12 yrs in Prison for Murdering Atatiana Jefferson. After Unlawful Entry Into Home Officer Shot Her as She Played Video Games w/Her 8 yr Old Nephew, Gave No First Aid

From [HERE] A former Texas police officer who fatally shot Atatiana Jeffersonthrough a rear window of her home in 2019 was sentenced Tuesday to 11 years and 10 months in prison for his manslaughter conviction.

Aaron Dean, 38, had faced up to 20 years in prison, but jurors also had the option of sentencing him to probation. The same jury that convicted him of manslaughter last Thursday also determined the sentence.

The white Fort Worth officer shot the 28-year-old Black woman while responding to a call about an open front door. His guilty verdict was a rare conviction of an officer for killing someone who was also armed with a gun.

During the trial, the primary dispute was whether Mr. Dean knew Ms. Jefferson was armed. Mr. Dean testified that he saw her weapon; prosecutors claimed the evidence showed otherwise.

The jurors obviously did not find the white officer to be credible.

Mr. Dean shot Ms. Jefferson on Oct. 12, 2019, after a neighbor called a nonemergency police line to report that the front door to Ms. Jefferson’s home was open. She had been playing video games that night with her 8-year-old nephew and it emerged at trial that they left the doors open to vent smoke from hamburgers the boy burned.

The case was unusual for the relative speed with which, amid public outrage, the Fort Worth Police Department released video of the shooting and arrested Mr. Dean. He had completed the police academy the year before and quit the force without speaking to investigators. 

Since then, the case had been repeatedly postponed amid lawyerly wrangling, the terminal illness of Mr. Dean’s lead attorney and the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Police body camera footage showed that Mr. Dean and a second officer who responded to the call didn’t identify themselves as police at the house. Mr. Dean and Officer Carol Darchtestified that they thought the house might have been burglarized and quietly moved into the fenced-off backyard looking for signs of forced entry. 

There, Mr. Dean, whose gun was drawn, fired a single shot through the window a split-second after shouting at Ms. Jefferson, who was inside, to show her hands. 

Mr. Dean testified that he had no choice but to shoot when he saw Ms. Jefferson pointing the barrel of a gun directly at him. But under questioning from prosecutors he acknowledged numerous errors, repeatedly conceding that actions he took before and after the shooting were “more bad police work.” 

Ms. Darch’s back was to the window when Mr. Dean shot, but she testified that he never mentioned seeing a gun before he pulled the trigger and didn’t say anything about the weapon as they rushed in to search the house. 

Mr. Dean acknowledged on the witness stand that he only said something about the gun after seeing it on the floor inside the house and that he never gave Ms. Jefferson first aid. 

VA Beach to Pay $3M to Settle Donovon Lynch Suit. Media Claims Police Shot Black Man to Death During a "Chaotic Scene" but in Real Life a White Cop Shot Him as He Posed No Threat, Then Watched Him Die

From [HERE] The city of Virginia Beach will pay $3 million to settle a lawsuit from the family of a Black man who was shot by a Virginia Beach officer on March 26 while multiple shootings were happening at the Oceanfront.

The city and the family of Donovon Lynch — a cousin of musician and Virginia Beach native Pharrell Williams

Wayne Lynch, Dononvon’s father, filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit in June 2021 against the city and police officer Solomon D. Simmons, who is also Black. According to the complaint:

Upon information and belief, the officer failed to attempt to stop or otherwise determine the identity of Mr. Lynch prior to firing his police-issued firearm

• During the incident, the officer failed to activate the body camera that he was wearing. The body camera should have been activated pursuant to Virginia Beach Police policies, procedures, and/or protocols

• Upon information and belief, the officer failed to render life-saving medical aide and/or failed to cause others to render life-saving medical aide to Mr. Lynch after shooting him twice.

Police have previously claimed that Lynch was “brandishing” a handgun at the time of the shooting, an allegation that his family and a witness have sharply denied.

Lynch was at the Oceanfront with his friend Darrion Marsh on March 26. They were inside a nightclub during a shooting in which they had no involvement. They then left and walked toward their cars when they encountered Simmons, according to the lawsuit.

“Immediately, unlawfully and without warning, Officer Simmons fired his police-issued firearm at Mr. Lynch, shooting him twice and killing him,” the lawsuit reads. It claims that Simmons acted with gross negligence and used excessive force when killing Lynch.

Lynch, one of two people killed that night in addition to eight others being injured, did not speak or act in any way that suggested that he posed “any threat, let alone a deadly threat, to Officer Simmons or anyone else,” the lawsuit says. The complaint states:

Upon information and belief, it was while Mr. Lynch and Mr. Marsh were walking towards their cars that they encountered Officer Simmons. Immediately, unlawfully, and without warning, Officer Simmons fired his police-issued firearm at Mr. Lynch, shooting him twice and Killing him. 24. At the time of his death, Mr. Lynch was 6’5” and weighed 305 Ibs. A former offensive lineman for the University of Virginia College at Wise, he stood out due to his enormous size. He was unmistakable as anyone else.” [MORE]

Lynch’s shooting occurred on a warm March night near the city’s crowded boardwalk, which is lined with restaurants and hotels. The evening dissolved into chaos after separate outbreaks of gunfire. At least eight people were wounded and one woman, who was believed to be a bystander, was killed.

Lynch, 25, a former college football player, was at a nightclub with his friend when a shooting occurred outside, the lawsuit stated. The men left and walked toward their cars when they encountered Simmons.

“Immediately, unlawfully and without warning, officer Simmons fired his police-issued firearm at Mr. Lynch, shooting him twice and killing him,” the lawsuit states.

In November 2021, a special grand jury found that Simmons was justified. Authorities said Lynch had a gun and racked a round into the chamber before pointing his weapon toward a parking lot filled with people and police.

Tuesday’s joint statement said more has been learned “about the facts of that fateful night and encounter.”

“(W)e have come to understand that a series of unfortunate occurrences led to Donovon’s death that night — which in hindsight should never have occurred as it was later determined that neither Donovon nor the officer set in motion the events that transpired,” the statement said. In other words, we will keep nghrs anytime we want and there is nothing you can do about it.

Louisville to Pay $2M to Settle Claims w/Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend. White Cops Used Falsified Warrant to Break in House and Shoot Sleeping Black Woman to Death, Disregarded His Rights in the Process

From [HERE] The city of Louisville will pay $2m to settle two lawsuits filed by the boyfriend of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman killed by police during a no-knock raid at her apartment two years ago, the Washington Post reported.

Kenneth Walker filed the lawsuits against the Kentucky city in state and federal court, claiming plainclothes officers violated his rights when they burst into Taylor’s apartment while the couple was asleep and killed her on 13 March 2020, during the botched raid.

Taylor’s death “will haunt Kenny for the rest of his life”, Walker’s attorney, Steve Romines, said in a statement to the Post. “He will live with the effects of being put in harm’s way due to a falsified warrant, to being a victim of a hailstorm of gunfire and to suffering the unimaginable and horrific death of Breonna Taylor.”

Neither Romines nor an attorney for the city of Louisville were immediately available for comment.

Walker fired once at what he said he believed were intruders. Three officers responded with 32 shots, none of which hit Walker. Six struck Taylor, killing her. Walker was arrested and charged with attempted murder but charges were dropped.

Taylor’s killing also shone a spotlight on no-knock raids, a controversial police tactic that can be dangerous for police and civilians.

In August, US prosecutors charged four former Louisville police officers for their roles in the raid. The federal charges came five months after a Kentucky jury acquitted former detective Brett Hankison of wanton endangerment. Hankison’s stray bullets during the raid hit a neighboring apartment.

An NYU School of Law Study Provides More Evidence State Farm Discriminates Against Blacks. Lawsuit Filed Against the Nation’s Largest Home Insurer

From [HERE] and [HERE] Black home insurance policyholders brought a federal class action against State Farm on Wednesday morning, alleging the multibillion-dollar company subjects their claims to greater scrutiny than it does those of white clients.

More specifically, the suit accuses State Farm of violating the 1968 Fair Housing Act by forcing Black policyholders to wait longer than their white counterparts for their claims to be approved. 

It further alleges, using data drawn from 800 white and Black homeowners across the Midwest, that Black customers were 39% more likely than white customers to be asked to submit additional paperwork after filing a claim, and 20% more likely to need more than three meetings with State Farm employees in order to settle one. The additional hurdles Black customers have to clear in turn causes them to wait longer for necessary home repairs. 

"Thirty-nine percent of white State Farm policyholder respondents had their claim paid out in one month or less from time of submission; by contrast, only 30% of Black homeowner respondents were paid out at the same rate," the suit claims. 

Several hours after the complaint was filed, a State Farm representative released this statement: 

"We take this filing seriously. This suit does not reflect the values we hold at State Farm. State Farm is committed to a diverse and inclusive environment, where all customers and associates are treated with fairness, respect, and dignity. We are dedicated to paying what we owe, promptly and courteously."

But attorney Aisha Rich of the law firm Fairmark Partners, who helped author the complaint, countered in her own prepared statement that “The data behind this lawsuit indicate that Black homeowners are subject to a fundamentally different and worse claims process at State Farm." 

"State Farm should be a ‘good neighbor’ to all its policyholders, regardless of their race,” Rich said. 

Other attorneys representing the putative class include a team from the Center on Race, Inequality and the Law at New York University School of Law, as well as the law firm Mehri & Skalet.

The class representative in the case, an Illinois woman named Jacqueline Huskey, is one of the many Black customers allegedly affected by State Farm's institutional bias. She filed a claim in June 2021 after a hail storm damaged her roof, but said it took the company two months to send adjusters to inspect the damages and four months for it to approve her claim for the cost of internal repairs. The insurer has still not approved her claim for external damages to the roof itself.

"As a result of State Farm’s delay, Huskey experienced further damage to her home—water damage to her kitchen and to two bathrooms caused by leaks in the unrepaired roof—and a decrease to her home’s overall value," the complaint states.

The cause of this alleged discriminatory practice is State Farm's automated claims processing system. Unlike the racism of yesteryear, when would-be Black homeowners faced explicit redlining by living human beings, modern discrimination can be carried out by computers using racially inflected data sets. 

"In the insurance industry, as elsewhere in our society, racial discrimination has shifted from overt to covert," the lawsuit states. "Even though race-based redlining is now illegal, discrimination has persisted through practices such as using credit-based insurance scores and discriminatory underwriting guidelines that use age and home value as a proxy for race."

Automated processing systems are useful to large insurance corporations like State Farm because they both reduce labor costs and streamline customer intake. They also prevent any one employee's biases from affecting how a customer is treated by the company. But given that race, class and wealth are conflated in the U.S., the suit alleges that even the supposedly race-neutral economic factors an algorithm considers while evaluating the legitimacy of a claim can reinforce racial disparity. 

"Unfortunately, algorithms too often have discriminatory effects, even where demographic data, such as race, are not included as inputs," the complaint states. "This is because algorithms can 'learn' to use omitted demographic features by combining other inputs that are correlated with race (or another protected classification), like zip code, college attended, and membership in certain groups." (Parentheses in original.)

The inherent bias of algorithmic systems has been noted beyond the insurance sector – their use is also criticized in policing, credit reporting and university admissions. The suit cites a 2021 Brookings Institute study which found that AIs trained on internet data often have "negative associations for the concept of an African American social group" due to the racist depiction of Black names online, and a 2020 article in the MIT Technology Review that argued that predictive policing algorithms ought to be abolished. 

State Farm itself has acknowledged that racial bias can extend into the AI learning process, given that the company's automobile division filed a software patent in 2022 for a "method of controlling for undesired factors in machine learning models."

"The model is trained to probabilistically correlate an aspect of the applicant's appearance with a personal and / or health -related characteristic. Any undesired factors, such as age, sex, ethnicity and / or race, are identified for exclusion," the patent's abstract states, but there is no indication that this model has been applied to processing homeowners insurance claims.

Given the alleged breach of Black homeowners' civil rights, the suit asks a federal judge to enjoin State Farm from using its current automated claims processing system. It also calls for audits on the company to ensure an end to the discriminatory effects of that system. 

"State Farm could examine the algorithmic bias that inflicts enormous harm on Black policyholders, but its failure to do so necessitates this litigation,” said attorney Alexander Rose of Fairmark Partners.

Cops Use Black Criminality to Propagandize the Myth of White Superiority on Fakebook: Stanford Study Finds that Posts Made by Police Departments Overrepresent Black Suspects by 25%

From [HERE] Posts made on Facebook about crime by police departments overrepresent Black suspects by 25% compared to local arrest rates, according to a new study from Stanford Law School professor Julian Nyarko and his co-authors Ben Grunwald from Duke Law School and John Rappaport from University of Chicago. 

The researchers found that this overrepresentation of Black suspects increased with the proportion of Republican voters and non-Black residents in the region where the posts were made.

The study, which was published in November in “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,” looked at 14,000 police departments in the United States and around 100,000 Facebook posts. The researchers used several algorithms to identify posts that have both race and crime descriptions. They then used AI language models to identify posts regarding crime and further used algorithms to determine which posts included descriptions of the suspect’s race.

“We already knew of studies that looked at if the media reports on crime, if the representation of Black suspects is in line with what happens on the ground, and the results of the empirical studies are conflicting,” Nyarko said. “But now that we have this channel of communication where there is no media outlet but rather the police communicating with the general public, we can basically look nationwide.”

Their study compared Facebook posts from police departments across the country with arrest and incident statistics from the FBI. However, the goal of the study was not to analyze the motivations behind the police posts, but rather to understand the justification behind including race descriptions in crime-related posts to begin with.

“We’re looking at the impact that reporting practices have, so we’re basically saying, irrespective of how you choose the posts — ‘you’ being the police department — the consequence of what you’re doing is the stigmatization,” Nyarko said. “So huge costs to minorities, specifically Black minorities.”

With more and more people relying on Facebook and other social media platforms for news, the study has major ramifications, Nyarko added. “When people consume social media, they should be aware of the biases,” Nyarko said. 

Along with increasing a negative racial bias, this study found that these posts can also impact policy making. Grunwald, a co-author on the study, said that when people are exposed to stories about crime that are racially coded, it can influence their support for different kinds of criminal justice policies.

“One thing that is worrying is that when police departments are, as we find, over-exposing people to post about Black suspects, that can activate racial stereotypes, and in turn, it can make them less supportive of progressive criminal justice policies that would make the criminal justice system function better and be more fair,” Grunwald said. [MORE]

Wells Fargo to Pay Record $1.7 Billion CFPB Fine to Settle Allegations it Harmed Over 16 Million People with Deposit Accounts, Auto Loans and Mortgages

From [HERE] Wells Fargo WFC 0.74%increase; green up pointing triangle & Co. reached a $3.7 billion deal with regulators to resolve allegations that it harmed more than 16 million people with deposit accounts, auto loans and mortgages.

The settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau includes a $1.7 billion penalty, the agency’s largest-ever fine, and more than $2 billion in consumer restitution, the regulator said Tuesday.

The consumer watchdog agency said the bank illegally assessed fees and interest charges on loans for cars and homes. Some consumers had their vehicles illegally repossessed while others had overdraft fees unlawfully applied, the agency said.

Wells Fargo’s regulatory troubles continue to ripple through the bank more than six years after its fake account scandal burst into public view. At the time, regulators alleged that Wells Fargo executives focused so heavily on meeting lofty sales goals that they pressured low-level employees to open unauthorized accounts. Other problems later surfaced across the San Francisco-based bank, including in its lending and deposit-taking businesses.

The CFPB settlement resolves a major penalty hanging over Wells Fargo but leaves it handcuffed by other regulators. The Federal Reserve has had a cap on the bank’s asset growth in place for nearly five years. Politicians continue to target the bank, and investors have filed a series of class-action lawsuits.

“Wells Fargo is a corporate recidivist,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, on a call with reporters Tuesday. He said the settlement “should not be read as a sign that Wells Fargo has moved past its longstanding problems.”

The bank had been negotiating with the CFPB for months in an effort to lump as many outstanding issues into the settlement as possible, according to people familiar with the matter. [MORE]

White Cop Caught Smiling After Brutal Bloody Beating of Homeless Black Veteran by a Gang of White Colorado Cops. Charges Dropped Due to Unlawful Detention, so the 4th Amendment Protected Him Right?

COMPULSORY PUBLIC “SERVICE” FROM UNCONTROLLABLE PUBLIC MASTERS. Brazen cops so frequently abuse their power that no Black shopper, pedestrian, motorist, juvenile, adult or Black professional of any kind—could make a compelling argument that so-called constitutional rights provide Black people any real protection from cops or the government in general.

Rationalized legal nonsense enable racist authoritarians to use TRAFFIC stops to place Black people in greater confinement and control them in the free range prison, a legal system based entirely on physical coercion and manufactured social relations. Obey or go to jail. “The lie of tyranny is that you will maintain the freedom of life by obeying authority. The choices it offers you are a lifetime of obedience or death.“ [MORE]

The only thing upholding the 4th Amendment is your belief in it. You only have rights if an authority says that you do. Your possession of "rights” given to you by a magical government, which functions as your master, is cult belief. Rights are myths. As stated by Dr. Blynd,  “There is no freedom in the presence of so-called authority.” The belief in “authority,” which includes all belief in “government,” is irrational and self-contradictory; it is contrary to civilization and morality, and constitutes the most dangerous, destructive superstition that has ever existed. Rather than being a force for order and justice, the belief in “authority” is the arch-enemy of humanity.” [MORE]

BUT THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR SERVICE NHGR. From [HERE] and [HERE] Dalvin Gadson, who served in the Army National Guard as a helicopter mechanic, claims he was racially profiled and subjected to a brutal attack by multiple white police officers in Colorado Springs while others looked on and didn’t intervene after he was pulled over for his car failing to display its tags in October. Apparently, he only had one tag.

One of the photos taken in the aftermath of the beating shows an officer smiling while displaying what appears to be a bruised knuckle, presumably from the police violence.

Source: The Law Offices of Harry Daniels and Latin Law Group / The Law Offices of Harry Daniels and Latin Law Group

UNLAWFUL STOP. The white cop apparently either pulled the black man solely for unregistered vehicle, which is a non-arrestable class B traffic infraction punishable by $15 to $100, a small surcharge, and no DMV points, or the white cop stopped him for Driving Without License Plates, also a non-arrestable offense punishable by a fine of up to one hundred dollars. Neither offense is related to or evidence of impaired driving. During the brief traffic stop probable cause for DUI simply did not exist - no facts support the arrest. As such, when the white cop ordered him out the vehicle he violated the black man’s so-called 4th Amendment rights (for those who believe in such legal truths). Gadson, who was homeless at the time, was ordered out of the car and told he would be placed in handcuffs.

The DUI charge was dismissed last week after it was determined that “there was insufficient probable cause.”

When Gadson asked why he would need to be handcuffed, he said the question was only answered with swift force.

Gadson, who has set up a GoFundMe account to help him pay for legal representation, explained what happened next:

At that moment, one of the police officers violently grabbed my hand, and my body’s natural reaction was to pull my hand back. I did not think to do this. It was a natural reaction.

The same police officer immediately started punching me in the face while pulling me out of my car. After the first punch, I tried to say okay, I tried to say sorry, I tried to lay on the ground, but multiple officers were grabbing me, kicking me in the head, kneeing and elbowing me in the face, and punching me everywhere possible.

After I was punched several times in the face, I lost consciousness. (NOTE: No officers on the scene tried to stop this wrongdoing against me. There was thirteen police officers on the scene) I regained awareness, lying on the asphalt. I was covered in blood, with two black eyes, one eye swelled shut with blood in my cornea, my whole body badly bruised, abrasions all over, lips busted, ribs and spine hurting and my eyesight was halfway gone (NOTE: my eyes, head, spine and back are still damaged from this incident).

Adding insult to literal injury, Gadson was charged with two counts of second degree assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, obstructing a peace officer, driving under the influence and driving without license plates. The assault charges were eventually dropped.

No charges were brought against the white cops, as they have an uncontrollable right to attack people (unprovoked) aka as authority, the right to rule.

EXCELLENT COMPULSORY SERVICE FROM IGNORANT, VAGINAL COPS WHO DON’T EVEN UNDERSTAND THE LAWS THEY ENFORCE

One of Gadson’s lawyers suggested the officers involved were motivated by race.

“Dalvin Gadson was a homeless veteran living out of his car as he worked to reenlist and continue serving his country. But all these officers saw was a black man and they beat him for it, smiling for the camera as he lay on the ground bleeding,” civil rights attorney Harry Daniels said in a press release with graphic images of Gadson following the traffic stop. “They beat him mercilessly and now he’s afraid to go outside and the VA can’t see him to treat his injuries and PTSD until January.”

Gadson said he’s been left “terrified” of police officers.

“My liberty and pursuit of happiness is in jeopardy because of this incident,” Gadson said. “I don’t feel safe in my own neighborhood anymore.”

To be sure, this isn’t the first time Colorado Springs has been implicated in anti-Black and racist behavior.

Just last week, comedian and actor Mark Curry claimed he was racially profiled in a Colorado Springs hotel where he was booked to perform.

And back in February, the city of Colorado Springs was ordered to pay $175,000 to a Black Lives Matter protester to settle an excessive force lawsuit stemming from a violent encounter during the summer of 2020.

White Cop Guilty of Manslaughter after Murdering Atatiana Jefferson. Shot Black Woman as She Played Video Games w/Her 8 yr Old Nephew in Her Home. Liar Cop Gave No First Aid. What Will White Judge Do?

From [HERE] A white Texas police officer was convicted of manslaughter Thursday for fatally shooting Atatiana Jefferson through a rear window of her home in 2019, a rare conviction of an officer for killing someone who was also armed with a gun. 

Jurors were also considering a murder charge against Aaron Dean but instead convicted him of manslaughter. The conviction comes more than three years after the white Fort Worth officer shot the 28-year-old Black woman while responding to a call about an open front door. 

Mr. Dean, 38, faces up to 20 years in prison on the manslaughter conviction. The sentencing phase of his trial is set to begin Friday before Judge George Gallagher, who is also a white man. Mr. Dean had faced up to life in prison if convicted of murder. 

The Tarrant County jury deliberated for more than 13 hours over two days before returning the verdict. The primary dispute during the six days of testimony and arguments was whether Mr. Dean knew Ms. Jefferson was armed when he shot her. Mr. Dean testified that he saw her weapon. Prosecutors alleged the evidence showed otherwise. The jury apparently did not find him to be credible.

Lesa Pamplin, a lawyer and friend of the Jefferson family, said she was glad that jurors took their time. 

Many of those who came to watch the verdict condemned the jury's decision. Carolyn J. Ruff traveled from Chicago to hear the verdict, she said. She went out into the hallway of the courthouse and shouted: "She was murdered. She was murdered.” [MORE]

Trice Jones was a fixture at Fort Worth's racial justice protests in 2020, and she crowdfunded an effort to paint a mural to memorialize Jefferson near the home where Jefferson lived and died. Progress is not moving fast enough, she told reporters at the courthouse.

"Black people are not safe in Fort Worth," Jones said. "Black people are not safe."

Mr. Dean shot Ms. Jefferson on Oct. 12, 2019, after a neighbor called a nonemergency police line to report that the front door to Ms. Jefferson’s home was open. She had been playing videogames that night with her nephew, and it emerged at trial that they left the doors open to vent smoke from hamburgers the boy burned. 

The case was unusual for the relative speed with which, amid public outrage, the Fort Worth Police Department released video of the shooting and arrested Mr. Dean. He had completed the police academy the year before and quit the force without speaking to investigators. 

Since then, the case had been repeatedly postponed amid lawyerly wrangling, the terminal illness of Mr. Dean’s lead attorney and the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Police body camera footage showed that Mr. Dean and a second officer who responded to the call didn’t identify themselves as police at the house. Mr. Dean and Officer Carol Darchtestified that they thought the house might have been burglarized and quietly moved into the fenced-off backyard looking for signs of forced entry. 

There, Mr. Dean, whose gun was drawn, fired a single shot through the window a split-second after shouting at Ms. Jefferson, who was inside, to show her hands. 

Mr. Dean testified that he had no choice but to shoot when he saw Ms. Jefferson pointing the barrel of a gun directly at him. But under questioning from prosecutors he acknowledged numerous errors, repeatedly conceding that actions he took before and after the shooting were “more bad police work.” 

Ms. Darch’s back was to the window when Mr. Dean shot, but she testified that he never mentioned seeing a gun before he pulled the trigger and didn’t say anything about the weapon as they rushed in to search the house. 

Mr. Dean acknowledged on the witness stand that he only said something about the gun after seeing it on the floor inside the house and that he never gave Ms. Jefferson first aid. 

Ms. Jefferson’s 8-year-old nephew, Zion Carr, was in the room with his aunt when she was shot. Zion testified that Ms. Jefferson took out her gun believing there was an intruder in the backyard, but he offered contradictory accounts of whether she pointed the pistol out the window. 

Although Detroit is Surrounded by Water, Inhumane [Liberal] Authorities Make it Scarce for Black, Poor Residents; Civil Rights Groups Seek to Stop the City from Using Water Shut-Offs to Collect Debts

From [HERE] A group of civil rights organizations are urging the city of Detroit not to disconnect Detroiters from water after a moratorium on residential water shutoffs ends this year, and they took their request to federal court.

The coalition — including the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan (ACLU), Legal Defense Fund and Michigan Poverty Law Program — filed a motion Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on behalf of plaintiffs who are part of an ongoing 2020 lawsuit that says water shutoffs have, for years, harmed residents and calls for a long-term solution to the problem.

They want the court to enter a preliminary injunction that would prohibit the city from stopping water service for debt collection over unpaid water bills, according to the court filing. They say that although the city created a water affordability program earlier this year, some residents have not been able to enroll and don't know whether they qualify.

“Clean running water should flow in all Detroit households beyond 2022 as well as become affordable for everyone. Our lawsuit shows that water shutoffs are devastating to poor families, with a particular impact on Black families, in violation of civil rights laws," Mark Fancher, staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan's Racial Justice Project, said in a Tuesday statement.

A moratorium on water shutoffs for residential customers in Detroit ends Dec. 31 and Detroiters who are having trouble paying their bills must enroll in one of the city's water assistance programs to avoid getting disconnected next year.

In March 2020, Michigan required utilities to restore water services and halt shutoffs for nonpayment, during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The city extended the moratorium later that year vowing to find a long-term solution to stop shutoffs for low-income Detroiters. Over the summer, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department launched the Lifeline Plan based on income and usage to help people reduce their bills. That program, which began in August, is currently funded for 18 months.

In a statement Tuesday, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department said that the moratorium will continue for households that apply for the Lifeline Plan or enroll in the 10/30/50 program, through which people can make a down payment and pay off their delinquent balance in installments.

"As of Dec. 12, that means at least 16,000 households will be in the moratorium after December 31. … We will respond to the motion by the civil rights groups. Meanwhile, we continue our unprecedented outreach, including neighborhood canvassing, to invite more eligible households to apply for the Lifeline Plan," the statement said.

Those who are income eligible can apply for the Lifeline Plan by calling the Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency — the organization administering the program — at 313-386-9727 or go to waymetro.org/DWSDlifeline. For more information about the 10/30/50 plan, go to bit.ly/waterassistanceprograms or call DWSD at 313-267-8000.

Plaintiffs question the accessibility of the Lifeline Plan and, in the court filing, raise concerns about "the high probability, if not certainty, that large numbers of Detroit residents will, for various reasons, fail to enroll in the program and thereby render themselves susceptible to shutoffs."

Among the people who may be unable to access the program are those who don't know about it, don't have access to technology, large families who exceed the water usage limit of the plan and those who have insecure immigration status, according to the filing.

One plaintiff, Tuana Henry, said she is concerned about her family using more than the 4,500 gallons of water a month the program requires to remain at the fixed rates. She had applied for the Lifeline Plan, but as of early December, has not received a response about her enrollment, she said in the court filing.

She said she was enrolled in the 10/30/50 program before March 2020 but could not afford the plan. She has dealt with water shutoffs on and off.

Another plaintiff, Jacqueline Taylor, said she has been trying to apply to the plan for months but has not been successful. She does not use a computer, and when she called to make an appointment, she could not get through to do so. She's dealt with water shutoffs for nonpayment prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, as she struggled to pay her water bills and other monthly expenses.

"The loss of water services on and off over the years has caused disruption and mental anguish," she said in the court filing.

Although the Lifeline Plan is a step forward, especially because it wipes away arrears, she said, she's concerned because its funding is temporary.

The water department currently has enough money to run the program for 18 months and is searching for permanent funding. Director Gary Brown previously told the Free Press that DWSD is working with state and federal officials and philanthropic foundations to identify permanent funding.

Out of 220,000 total residential customers in Detroit, 60,000 accounts are in delinquent status, the water department said, and the average balance owed is $700.

The water department has held in-person enrollment fairs, attended community meetings to talk about the program, included notices in some water bills about the moratorium ending and options for assistance programs, and canvassed households that were likely low income, according to DWSD.

DWSD said last week that 20,000 Detroit households are eligible for the Lifeline Plan. As of Nov. 25, more than 12,000 households had applied and 7,900 of them had been enrolled; Wayne Metro was processing roughly 4,300 applications. There are more than 2,400 residential customers in the city's 10/30/50 payment plan.

Suit Claims Racist Suspect Liberal Authorities in Portland Used Highway Construction and "Urban Improvement Projects" to Intentionally Displace Black Residents and Destroy Their Communities

From [HERE] A lawsuit says racism motivated Oregon’s largest city to destroy Black residents’ homes and force them out of their neighborhood decades ago

A home that was a fixture of Bobby Fouther’s childhood is now a parking lot, the two-story, shingle-sided house having been demolished in the 1970s along with many other properties in a predominantly Black neighborhood of Portland.

“Growing up there was just all about love,” Fouther said.

Fouther and his sister, Elizabeth Fouther-Branch, are now among 26 Black people who either lived in the neighborhood or are descendants of former residents and are suing Portland, the city's economic and urban development agency and Legacy Emanuel Hospital, accusing them of the “racist” destruction of the homes and forced displacement.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in Portland, shines a light on how urban improvement projects and construction of the nation's highways often came at the cost of neighborhoods that aren't predominantly white.

"In many cases, city and state planners purposely built through Black neighborhoods to clear so-called slums and blighted areas," according to a 2020 report by Pew Charitable Trusts, a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit public policy group.

People who were part of racial minorities were often obligated to live in those neighborhoods because of "redlining" — banks discriminating against home loan applicants based on race — and even due to laws that maintained all-white neighborhoods.

In 1934, Fouther's great-aunt and her husband bought a house, which he and his sister visited almost daily, in the Albina neighborhood of Portland, according to the lawsuit.

But even after buying homes and building lives in Albina, residents were forced to move by so-called urban renewal and highway building.

Albina had already been partially destroyed and carved up in the 1950s and ’60s by the building of Interstate 5 and Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the original home of the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers. But then a hospital expansion was announced.

Between 1971 and 1973, the Portland Development Commission demolished an estimated 188 properties, 158 of which were residential and inhabited by 88 families and 83 individuals. A total of 32 business and four church or community organizations were also destroyed, according to the lawsuit. Of the forcibly displaced households, 74% were Black.

A first phase, in the 1950s and '60s, involved city officials secretly agreeing to compensate the hospital for the full cost of the purchases and demolitions, the lawsuit said. The homeowners were intimidated by hospital representatives and told that if they didn’t leave, the city would take their homes. They were not fairly compensated and in some cases not compensated at all, according to the lawsuit.

“This case is about the intentional destruction of a thriving Black neighborhood in Central Albina under the pretense of facilitating a hospital expansion that never happened,” the lawsuit says, adding that the loss of homes "has meant the deprivation of inheritance, intergenerational wealth, community, and opportunity.”

Much of the land that used to be a thriving neighborhood, where Black families felt safe and had social and spiritual connections, became parking lots or stood vacant.

“I was taken out of my safe and loving community. I was moved into a neighborhood that saw me as a nuisance and to a school where I was one of three Black children,” said Connie Mack, one of the plaintiffs.

The lawsuit said the defendants are benefiting from "unjust enrichment" from “this horribly racist chapter from Portland’s past.”

Legacy Health, which owns Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying it is evaluating it. Prosper Portland, formerly the Portland Development Commission, also said it is evaluating the complaint and had no additional comment. City officials didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Albina is now called the Eliot neighborhood, which boasts trendy shops, cafes and eateries.

“Our neighborhood, in the heart of the former city of Albina, is a great place to live, work and play,” the Eliot Neighborhood Association proclaims on its website.

Many of the plaintiffs' homes, if they had not been destroyed, would have been worth more than $500,000 today, the lawsuit says.

The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory damages from defendants in amounts to be determined at trial.

Should Racists Educate Your Kids? Study Finds that White Teachers Talk about Black Children in Code

From [HERE] It appears that while some teachers are exposing their racism in front of their students others try to be sly with it. According to a study published in Urban Education, white teachers often speak in racially coded ways, influenced by stereotypes, when talking about or dealing with Black students. The outcome of their behavior is inevitably harmful.

John Hopkins Assistant Professor Olivia Marcucci and Washington University (St. Louis) Associate Professor Rowhea Elmesky based their research on a study from 2015 examining why white teachers couldn’t form positive relationships with their Black students. The answer, as you could’ve guessed, was racial bias.

First, the study noted Black students make up 97 percent of disciplinary referrals despite making up only 8 percent of the student population of the school they examined. On the other hand, white students only made up one percent of referrals.

The disparity in treatment across the student population may stem from something Marcucci and Elmesky called racially coded stereotypes - kind of like an exclusive teacher lingo but ... racist.

Read more about the study from The Conversation:

In a different example, two white teachers began talking about how parents at their school didn’t care about their children. At one point, they pretended to be parents, with one of the teachers even making a joke that one of the parents completely forgot they even had a child:

Teacher 1: Yeah, just somebody saying, ‘Hey, you know you have a baby, right?’ Teacher 2: I do? Teacher 1: Yeah. Teacher 2: Oh. Teacher 1: Oh, wooord.

Nothing about this interaction is racially explicit. But the teacher’s joke invokes a stereotype of Black parents as disengaged from their children’s lives by using a stereotypical African American vernacular – “wooord.” When white teachers at a predominantly Black school make statements like these, they are upholding the stereotype that Black parents lack concern for their children – even if that is not the teachers’ intention. [MORE]

Racist Doctors: According to New Study Black People are Less Likely to be Given Proper Treatment for Severe Cases of Pulmonary Embolism Compared to White Patients and Deaths are Higher for Blacks

From [HERE] People of color are less likely to be given proper treatment for severe cases of pulmonary embolism compared to white patients, according to the findings of a new study.

Research from the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont Burlington presented the study at the recent American Society of Hematology annual meeting, which suggests there are serious racial disparities in access to advanced pulmonary embolism treatments. The findings are considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal, but indicated that Black patients and Asian/Pacific Islander patients are 13% and 24%, respectively, less likely to receive potentially life-saving treatments than white patients.

The study involved a review of data on more than 1.1 million patients who were hospitalized for pulmonary embolisms from 2016 to 2018, using information from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, which captures 20% of discharges from US hospitals. Overall, 66,570 cases were considered high-risk, including patients suffering from shock, cardiac arrest, or using a vasopressor medication, or on ventilation.

Pulmonary embolism (PE) occurs when a blood clot enters the lungs. It can lead to pain, breathlessness, and cough. If left untreated, it can be dangerous and life-threatening, but is easily treated by doctors if a patient gets treatment early enough.

Early treatment typically includes blood thinning medication, compression socks, leg elevation, and pneumatic compression. Advanced therapies used to treat PE include systemic thrombolysis, catheter-directed therapy, surgical embolectomy, and vino-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Rates of PE were highest among Black patients, occurring in 20 patients per 10,000 people. However, compared to white patients, the use of advanced therapies to treat PE was 13% lower among Black patients and 24% lower among Asian/Pacific Islander patients.

Researchers also found disparities in treatment among patients enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid. Patients enrolled in Medicare were 27% less likely to receive treatment and those on Medicaid were 32% less likely to receive treatment compared to those with private insurance.

In-Hospital PE Deaths Higher for People of Color

For patients who suffered from high-risk PE, all racial and ethnic groups had higher in-hospital death rates compared to white patients. [MORE]

Recent Data Suggests Black People’s Brains are likely to Age Faster Due to Stressors such as Racism

From [HERE] Black physicians are fascinated but not surprised by recent data that suggests Black people’s brains are likely to age faster than those of other races due to stressors such as racism. However, doctors said lifestyle changes and preventative care could help slow some of the decline. 

In a study published last month in the journal JAMA Neurology, researchers from Columbia University found racial and ethnic disparities in brain markers of Alzheimer’s disease and related cases of dementia. The scientists analyzed MRI scans of nearly 1,500 participants, and found that Black adults in their mid-50s were more likely than white or Hispanic adults of the same age group to show white-matter lesions in their brains, which are indicators of cerebrovascular disease or cognitive decline. 

The authors noted that “social forces” may have played a part in the accelerated brain aging seen among their Black subjects. In particular, the study says the weathering hypothesis — which states that “chronic exposure to social and economic disadvantage leads to accelerated decline in physical health outcomes”— could cause Black middle-aged adults on average to have cerebrovascular disease earlier in life. 

JAMA Neurology did not immediately respond to request for interview. [MORE]

Eighth Circuit Rules Jail's Unwritten Policy to Report Non-White Immigrant Detainees to ICE is Unlawful

From [HERE] Anoka County, Minn. had an unwritten policy under which foreign-born persons booked in the county jail would be detained until the county heard back from ICE on whether ICE wanted to take custody. Eighth Circuit(link is external): This is literally the "classic example of national-origin discrimination" and an exceptionally dumb policy, not least because it'd apply to foreign-born icons Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, both long time American citizens. At the same time, the policy is also an exceptionally good example of policies that violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

The case is Myriam Parada v. Anoka County(link is external), No. 21-3082 (8th Cir. Nov. 30, 2022).

Doug Evans, the racist suspect DA who Falsely Prosecuted Curtis Flowers 6X for Murder and Routinely Removed Black Jurors b/c They were Black, Loses Election for Judgeship

From [HERE] Embattled longtime prosecutor Doug Evans, who tried Curtis Flowers six times for murder and saw his convictions overturned on appeal, lost his bid to become judge for the 5th Circuit Court (article available here(link is external)).

As a circuit court judge, Evans could hear criminal cases in the same district where the U.S. Supreme Court said he prevented Black people from serving as jurors(link is external), including in Flowers’ case. 

Evans, who has been the district attorney of the district for over 30 years, first tried Flowers in 1997 for the killings of four people at the Tardy Furniture store in Winona. 

Evans secured four death penalty convictions for Flowers, but those were overturned by state and federal courts. In two trials, a jury didn’t reach a unanimous verdict. 

Evans recused himself after the Mississippi Center for Justice, which represented Flowers, asked for him to be removed from the case. Attorney General Lynn Fitch was appointed as the lead prosecutor.

In September 2020, Fitch’s office dropped charges against Flowers after he spent 23 years in prison, most of it on death row at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. 

In 2021, Flowers sued Evans in federal court for misconduct. A federal judge ordered the case stayed until May 1, 2023.

Lawsuit claims New York law disqualifying felons from jury duty is discriminatory

From [HERE] The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) Thursday filed a class action lawsuit to challenge Section 510(3) of the New York Judiciary Law, which disqualifies people convicted of felonies from serving on juries, no matter the nature of the offense or how long ago the convictions occurred.

The civil rights action challenges what the NYCLU calls “mass disenfranchisement of Black people— especially Black men—from the state court jury pool in Manhattan.” The lawsuit alleges that Section 510(3) has been applied alongside decades of racially biased policing and prosecutorial practices to lead to an overall underrepresentation of black people, and black men in particular, on juries.

According to the NYCLU, the disparity is rooted in racist policies and practices throughout the past half-century, including disparate drug enforcement, broken-windows policing and the New York City Police Department’s unconstitutional stop-and-frisk program. The NYCLU estimates that Section 510(3) likely excludes from jury service more than one out of every four otherwise jury-eligible Black residents of New York County. For otherwise-eligible Black men, the exclusion is, “even more devastating,” disqualifying likely more than 40 percent.

The suit argues that this reduction in jury diversity compromises the quality of deliberations, erodes public confidence in the fairness of the jury system, hampers successful reintegration into society and violates the class’s Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.