FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Justice Paradox: Abuse of Power and

Selective Prosecution
Cincinnati, OH- December 10, 2014Ghandioncesaid,
TheTrueMeasureofAnySocietycanbefoundinhowit
treatsitsmostvulnerablemembers.Thisstatementcouldnt
betrueroftheU.S.duringthisdefiningmomentinhistory
atimewherecitizensacrossthiscountryaremobilizing
acrossracialandethnicgroupsandacrossageandpolitical
persuasionstofightinjustice.Somearguethattheissueswe
arecurrentlywitnessingasanationarenotaboutrace,othersarguethattheyareclearlyabout
racialinjusticeandwhiteprivilege.TheonethingIbelievewecanallagreeonisthatwehavea
problem.And,asIseeittheproblemisabuseofpowerandselectiveprosecution.
TheentirenationhaswatchedinhorrorasinjusticesdirectedatAfricanAmericanshavebeen
carriedoutacrossthisnation.Wehavewitnessedthekillingsofunarmedblackmenandboysat
thehandsofthepoliceandvigilantecitizens.Wehavealsowitnessedpolicebeatingsofblack
womenfromcollegeprofessorsontheirwayhomefromworktohomelesswomencrossingbusy
roads.WehaveliterallywatchedAmericabecomeawarzone,reflectiveofthe1960sracial
unrestandCivilRightsMovement.
TheargumentsadvancedbyProsecutorsandGrandJuriesinthepolicekillingsoftwoAfrican
Americans,43yearoldEricGarnerand18yearoldMichaelBrown,wasthattheyweredoing
somethingwrongandtherebysubsequentlycontributedtotheirowndeaths.EricGarner,afather
ofsixchildren,whowaschokedtodeathbypoliceofficersinStatenIsland,NewYorkinJulyof
thisyear,wasaccusedofsellingsinglecigarettesfrompackswithouttaxstamps.Michael
Brown,acollegeboundstudentwhowasshotbypoliceofficersinFerguson,Missouriwaslater
accusedofstealingcigarillos.Neitherstealingnorsellingcigarettes/cigarscarriesthedeath
penaltyintheU.S.,butbothmenweremercilesslyexecuted.Incidentally,theofficerinthe
Browncasewasnotevenawarethatanycrimehadoccurredwhenheexecutedtheteen.Inboth
casesgrandjurieshavemadethedecisionnottoindictthepoliceofficersthatwereresponsible
forthekillings.
ThebestexamplesofabuseofpowerandtheracialimplicationscanbefoundinOhio,where
twoblackmalesweregunneddownbypoliceofficersforcarryingtoygunsinanopencarry
state.OnevictimwasTamirRice,a12yearoldblackchildinCleveland,Ohio,whowas
gunneddownonNovember22,2014,whileplayingwithatoygunonaplayground;theother
wasJohnCrawford,ayoungblackmaleresidentofCincinnati,Ohiowhowasexecutedina
WalmartstoreinBeavercreek,Ohio.Crawfordwasalsocarryingatoygun,presumablywiththe
intenttopurchaseitforhischild.Crawfordwasshotincoldblood,whilestillshoppinginthe
departmentstore.Bothincidentswerecaughtontapeandinplainviewfortheworldtoseethe
killingsoftheseinnocentblackmales.Yet,intheCrawfordcasetheGrandJurymadethe

decisionnottobringchargesagainsttheofficerwhoshothim.Thecaseofthe12yearoldis
stillpendinginvestigation.
ThemostblatantlyabusiveofalloftherecentcasesisthecaseofJudgeTracieMarieHunter,the
firstblackandthefirstDemocratJudge,inJuvenileCourtinCincinnati,Ohio,whowasrecently
publiclylynchedincourtandinthemedia,atthehandsofthesamerogueProsecutorswhochose
nottoprosecuteJohnCrawfordskiller.Thislynchinghasbeenalmostcompletelyignoredby
thenationalmedia,butthecommonalitybetweenalloftheaforementionedpoliceshootingsand
thelynchingofJudgeHunteristheabuseofprosecutorialpowerandselectiveprosecution.
Unliketheincidentsofpolicekillings,JudgeHunterslifehasbeenspared.However,her
characterhasbeenassassinated,hergoodnamehasbeenruined,andhercareerhasbeen
slaughtered!HunterawaitstheDecember29thdatethatsheistosurrenderherfreedomforan
incarcerationsentenceofsixmonths,1yearofprobation,andfinesandcourtcostsfortrumped
upchargesandcrimessheclearlydidnotcommit!
Prior to Judge Hunter being brought up on 9 frivolous criminal charges. Joe Deters, the Hamilton
County prosecutor, and his Republican political cronies began a series of politically motivated
attacks on Judge Hunter. These attacks began with the filing of an unprecedented 30 frivolous
lawsuits commencing upon her taking her seat as Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge. During
Hunters trial, witnesses testified that the Attorneys were instructed to files lawsuits against
Hunter and that the Ohio Supreme Court told the Prosecutors office to keep an eye on her.
These attacks were so pervasive that Judge Hunter found herself spending countless hours
working late evenings to defend herself against countless frivolous lawsuits. When she filed
ethics charges against Deters, stating that, Acting in his role as Hamilton County Prosecutor, he
was suing her and representing her at the same time. This demonstrated a clear conflict of
interest, and Deters was required by The Ohio Supreme Court to recuse himself.
Deters personal divorce attorneys, Croswell and Shriverdecker, were then appointed to
prosecute Judge Hunter in the criminal proceedings. These Prosecutor appointees
subsequently refused to deliver any discovery documents that were requested by Hunter during
her trial, despite the fact that she was legally entitled to the documents for her defense. Presiding
and retiring Judge Norbert Nadel, and both Special Prosecutors were contributors to Deters
political campaign for Prosecutor and have essentially operated as his proxies in this case. On
two occasions before and during the trial, Judge Hunter was denied the right to have the trial
moved to a different venue where she could get a fair trial. Judge Nadel also refused to recuse
himself, despite the fact that Nadel is Hunters judicial peer and the law precludes him from
legally presiding over her trial.
These charges were maliciously and vindictively brought against Judge Hunter by Prosecutor Joe
Deters, in an attempt to nullify the votes of over 120,000 constituents and remove her from the
bench. Hunter was accused of over nine crimes and only one stuck, and to get that one to stick,
she was subjected to a biased and secretive grand jury process and a non-randomly selected jury,
made up of friends, neighbors, spouses and legal representatives of her political foes. Several
jurors admitted at the start of the trial stated that they couldnt be fair and impartial, however
they were not removed from the jury. Hunter was also denied a jury of her peers as 6 black jurors

in a row were dismissed. Judge Nadel dismissed many of them for cause, who appeared to be
helping the Special Prosecutors in an effort to dismiss jurors for no arguable reason, other than
the fact that they were black.
Nadel also refused to poll the jurors at the request of Hunters Attorney, after the verdict was
read. Three jurors came forward and signed affidavits to say that the guilty verdict was not
their true and accurate verdict. One of the jurors signed an affidavit saying that she was pressured
to vote guilty by the jury forewoman Kirkham. Judge Hunters motions for a new trial based on
failure to poll the jury in open court and based on juror misconduct were both denied. The
community watched in horror as Judge Hunter suffered at the hands of a tainted jury and a
corrupt presiding Judge, who caused Judge Hunter to be denied numerous constitutional rights,
as well as her rights to a fair trial and due process.
Prosecutor Joseph Deters mother-in-law, Judge Sylvia Hendon, and other political foes are
Judges in the First District Court of Appeals of Hamilton County, and there has been a clear
political bias against Judge Hunter at the Appellate Court and the Ohio Supreme Court, as
evidenced by their mishandling of her formal complaints and denial of requests for legal
assistance. ProsecutorJosephT.Detersandhiscronieshaveopenlyandpompously
demonstratedhowthegrandjury,thejuryselectionprocess,andthemediacanbeusedtonullify
thevotesofover120,000citizenswhoelectedHunterandplacedherinoffice.
PerhapsallofusneedtobequestioningjusthowitisthatawomanwhowasPROTECTING
30,000ofthemostvulnerablechildrenandfamiliesinoursociety,canbefoundguiltyofcrimes
andgivenajailsentence,fines,andcourtcosts,whilecopswhoareguiltyofKILLINGchildren
andgunningdowntheinnocent,cangofreeandnotsomuchasevenbechargedfortheir
crimes?Thereisclearlyacontradictionwithoursystemofjustice!ItappearsthatHunterhas
becomeavictimofthepoliticalandracialcrossfireintheAmericanInjusticeSystem.
WhileU.S.policeforces,judicialauthorities,andProsecutorsacrossthecountryhave
effectivelywagedwarondomesticcitizensandhaveimprisonedmoreblackmentodaythan
wereenslavedin1850,itwasannouncedDecember5ththatTheChinesehavejustwonthe
economicwar,surpassingtheU.S.outputby.2trilliondollars.InthewordsofDr.Martin
LutherKing,Jr.,Inarealsense(inthiscase,realGDP)alllifeisinterrelated.Allmenare
caughtinaninescapablenetworkofmutuality,tiedinasinglegarmentofdestiny.Whatever
affectsonedirectly,affectsallindirectly.Unitedwestand!Dividedwefall!Wehavethe
opportunityinthisdefiningmomenttorewritehistoryandtoredefinetheAmericawewantto
be.Nowiswhenwegettochoosetoeitherbeanationoflawlessroguesonourwaytothird
worldstatus,ortobeanationthatlivesoutthetruemeaningofourcreed,thatAllmen(and
women)arecreatedequalandareentitledtoequalprotectionunderthelaw!Ifwearegoingto
prosperasanation,massincarcerationcannotbeourlargestindustry.
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(1688 words, incl. title)
Vanessa Enoch, Ph.D. student, Union Institute & University
(513) 549-4622