Where did They Go Wrong?

Where did They Go Wrong?

Analysis of where this case wen left in the hope that it doesn’t happen again. 

The Exonerated 5: If this movie does nothing else, it showcases the perils of black boys hanging out in large groups. Is it fair? Of course not. But even if the boys weren’t “wildin” a term defined as going out to harm others, they were still perceived as threatening and up to no good. This was the late 80s, and now we all know to stay close to home, especially at night, or do we? 

Media: the media did what they always do- spin the story. They took innocent boys and painted them as thugs and monsters. Tainting the jury pool and making their names and images synonymous with rapists and wolf pack. Not thinking of the long-term consequences or the innocent until proven guilty factor, the media was Judge and Jury for the youth they coined “The Cental Park 5.” 

Parents: All the parents made the fatal flaw of not getting an Attorney to accompany the youth while they were being questioned. Even worse, one parent went home sick while another father went to work. They had no idea the inferno that their children were in. When parents ask my advice on what to do when their children are in trouble with the law I always tell them to get them an Attorney: spare no expense. The earlier you hire an Attorney, the better. 

The prosecutors: They did everything wrong, but the main thing they did wrong is fair to see the humanity of The Exhonerated 5. They failed to see that this could be their nephew, their son, themselves! In fact they didn’t see themselves. Race in America has divided us in such a way that we do not see ourselves in each other. The prosecutors capitalized on the boys vulnerability and lack of knowledge to frame them for a case they didn’t do. When they see us, if they see us, cases like this will cease to be an issue. But until then there will be not justice, just us. 

Forgiving the Fathers

This post is dedicated to Tron. Antron’s broken heart was palpable in Oprah’s special on The Exhonerated Five “When They See Us, Now.” If you have not seen it, please watch on the OWN app. Tron states that he has never forgiven his father for the role he played in his wrongful conviction in telling Tron to give a false confession. Also, his father abandoned him and his mother when they needed him the most. Tron states in thd interview with Oprah that he hates his father to this day. Tron held his head down with the weight of the anger and bitterness he is carrying. It has kept him by his own admission from enjoying anything he has gained since the acquittal including his wife and six children. What can we learn from Tron’s life? The power of forgiveness. Tron’s testimony put forgiveness in the spotlight.

It sounds cliche but what we can see from this example is that Forgiveness is truly for you and not the other person. Tron’s father, we assume from the miniseries, is dead. He does not need, or some would argue deserve, forgiveness. But another meme I read says unforgiveness is like daily drinking poison intended to kill someone else. Forgiveness is not about fairness. Was it fair that Tron’s father’s in fear for his own safety would pressure his son to say he did something he didn’t? Or that his shame and guilt led him to abandon his family in the middle of the trial? Or that his testimony probably did nore for the prosecution than it did for the defense? No! Forgiveness is not about fairness. Rather, forgiveness is about doing exactly what When They See Us tries to do: seeing the humanity of the one who caused you pain. It doesn’t minimize or mitigate the pain: you have every right to feel the way you do. The key is you can feel the pain and still forgive.

So what does forgiveness and Fatherhood have to do with us? We may not wear our pain on our sleeves at apl times, but I’ll never forget the time I was talking to a male friend from High School about who knows what when he said, “You still got Daddy issues?” That moment is inscribed in my mind. I was a thirty-something year old Divorced mother of multiple children and once again I was reduced to a black girl with Daddy issues. There are some things I’ve forgiven, and some I still hold old to. For me forgiveness has been a process. I find so much of myself in reaponses today to my Facebook post: “What have you learned from your Father?”

“Unfortunately absolutely NOTHING!”

The feeling of neglect taught to be consistent in my kid's life...

“How to live without him but also how to forgive him and heal.”

“What did I learn from my dad.. hm. How to fully forgive.. not because he personally taught me... but because it’s something I couldn’t truly offer him (though I never met him) until I was about 21.

Also that, there are reasons for everything, and sometimes I may not learn the reason or UNDERSTAND it until years later...”

“But despite all I TRULY LEARNED that most people really don't hurt because they like to or because they hate you,  they are honestly doing too you what's been done or taught to them. I thank God for his healing, redemption,  I am whole!“

And many more comments in between. For those who experienced the absence of a Father, I encouraged them to think about the lessons learned by their Fathers absence. How that created the person that  they became today. But I understand the struggle. Those who posted about the road to freedom and healing included FORGIVENESS! It was confirmation for what I was considering writing in this post.

Minister Kimbrough when speaking today at Mt Zion Missionary Baptist Church said his wife loved him unconditionally especially when he didn’t deserve it and by doing so showed him God’s love. So it is not in our human nature to forgive, it is in our God nature to forgive. We have  to dig down deep to find our higher selves to forgive our Fathers for the things they did in their presence or absence. In releasing the bitterness and pain we have been holding on to we free ourselves to learn lessons that the pain brought and experience freedom to love and live and in the Words of my beautiful Facebook friend: BE WHOLE!

Juvenile Rights

I was surprised to see juveniles being questioned without counsel or parents present. I was more surprised to find out that in most states this is legal. A juvenile can waive his or her Miranda Rights and answer questions without a parent present. The waiver must be voluntary and that determination will be made based on the totality of the circumstances. In re Gault, 387 U.S. at 55. The presence of a parent and a signed consent from them will just be considered when trying to assess whether there was coercion. The Juvenile Justice Coalition in Columbus, Ohio found that juveniles were 42% more likely to give false testimony when coerced complared with 13% of adults. https://law.capital.edu/uploadedFiles/Law_School/NCALP/Youth%20and%20LE%20(Davies)%20YP.pdf

In Ohio, a divided Supreme Court ruled that juveniles did not gave to be represented by parents or an Attorney prior to being questioned by law enforcement. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dispatch.com/article/20121004/NEWS/310049711%3ftemplate=ampart

We have to teach our children to not give voluntary statements to the police and to ask to contact their parents immediately. And securing an Attorney is something that is ESSENTIAL when facing a charge in the judicial system. Going to court with no Attorney is like going to surgery with no surgeon. Dr’s have specialties so they can become experts and so do Attorneys. If you need a referral to a good Attorney, let me know. 

Knowing vs. Asserting: The African American in America Dillemma

Knowing Yesterday we went over Miranda Rights (please pause and read yesterdays post) Today we will be discussing the difference between knowing your rights and asserting your rights. I believe that even though African Americans may know their rights, when faced with generations of genocide, apartheid and terrorism, they may hesitate to assert their rights for fear of being annihilated. Sandra Bland knew her rights, Philando Castille knew his rights, and they are now among the ancestors. So knowing our rights and having the confidence to assert our rights are two different things. 

Every African American has to consider whether or not the assertion of their rights will end their life. This fear was grounded in the history of slavery in America. Enslaved Africans who dared to assert their right to freedom or education were beaten publicly or worse. So that trepidation you feel is embedded in your DNA. 

Tread lightly and trust your instincts. We do our children a disservice to teach them their rights without advising them of using wisdom when  asserting them. To quote the great Ice Cube: “I’d rather be judged by 12 than carried by six.” What do you think? 

Knowing Your Miranda Rights

What you don’t know absolutely will hurt you. The Miranda Rights were intended to protect an individual against making statements that will incriminate themselves. It also was intended to put the burden of proof on the prosecution. 

Invoking the Miranda Rights means that all interrogations must cease. The Miranda Rights also means that you understand that you can have an Attorney present while you speak to a Detective. You have the right at any time during an investigation to “plead the fifth” and refuse to answer questions. The Miranda Rights also inform an individual that they have the right to a court appointed Attorney if you cannot afford one. 

You have every right to NOT answer any questions that law enforcement ask you. You have the right to have an Attorney present during the questioning. You have the right to a Court appointed Attorney if you cannot afford one. These protections are there to protect you from the type of incident that occurred in When They See Us. 

Ironically The Miranda Rights were named after Ernesto Arturo Miranda (March 9, 1941 – January 31, 1976). According to Wikipedia, Miranda was a laborer whose conviction on kidnapping, rape, and armed robbery charges based on his confession under police interrogation was set aside in the landmark U.S. Supreme Courtcase Miranda v. Arizona, which ruled that criminal suspects must be informed of their right against self-incrimination and their right to consult with an attorney before being questioned by police. Miranda was convicted after confessing to kidnapping and rape without being informed of his rights. His case went up to the Supreme Court where his conviction was overturned and the right to remain silent and have an Attorney present were subsequently renamed The Miranda Rights. 

A side note: Police do not have the right to enter your property withput a warrant and the warrant only allows them to search a specific area of thd house. If you allow law enforcement in your house- anything they see, they are able to seize snd use against you. Same for searching the car, although there are certain circumstances when cops are able to search your car (smell of marijuana, suspicion of firearms). 

What you don’t know absolutely will hurt you. And what you say absolutely will be used against you in a Court of law. 

When They See Us

The next few blog posts will be spent with my reflections as an Attorney with over 10 years of experience, analyzing the Netflix series directed by Ava Duvernay entitled "When They See Us."

I want to start first with dissecting the title of the series: When They See Us

I thought about the title and it hit me that it is a double entendre, it has two different meanings: At first glance, and shortly after beginning the series it becomes obvious that the words that are used to describe The Exonerated Five (formerly known as The Central Park Five), "Monsters," "Gangs," "Wolfpack," "Mob," have all been used to describe groups of young African American males. No matter how young, think Emmit Till young, Treyvon Martin young, or Tamir Rice young, these young men are never ascribed cute or innocent adjectives. Instead, they are described as and seen as animals or threats to society, especially when juxtaposed to white females. And so here we are once again, in New York City, the melting pot of America, where Ellis Island welcomes all of the World to give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore." But that only applies to certain people. We only invite certain people to the table; we only see certain people as innocent until proven guilty; we only want to give freedoms and the American dream to those who we deem worthy. Even young people know what the title implies:  My 12 year old said that whenever they see us they think we are dangerous, hood, ghetto. My other twin said they see people from foreign countries and think they are terrorists. When they see us clearly implies what people of color living in America know to be true: we are seen as a threat and treated as less than human. From the Dred Scott decision that made us 3/5 of a human to the inhumane conditions in prisons such as Rickers Island, where Kalief Browder lived out his final years, guilty until proven innocent, we have been told over and over that we are not enough.

The other thing that stood out in the title was the "us" against "them" mentality, something as American as Apple Pie. In fact, we are not black and white, but black and white were chosen to describe us because it is as far apart as you can get on the color spectrum. Peach and brown are too close and come somehow become closer overtime if we mixed. However, black and white as colors and as motifs in the Bible always symbolize good and evil or darkness and light. When they see us...

The alternative meaning that came to me after I finished watching the series was when they finally see us and really see us...things will change. This came to mind after thinking of the colloquial phrase: "I see you," meaning I really see you, I understand what you are going through, I empathize with you and you are not invisible. When they really see us and understand our shared humanity and how much we are entitled to the same processes and protections that they would give their children and loved ones, then we will see progress. I love this meaning because it gives hope where there is despair and it gives us something to strive for in the future.

I'm not suggesting some pie in the sky, if we integrate we will all get along, I'm saying if we can understand that we are more alike than different and that we all have the same basic needs, we will be able to move forward without incidents like those that happened and continue to happen to The Exonerated Five. When They See Us and see themselves, the justice system will cease to be separate and unequal.

Here for You!

I became a lawyer for my people. Inspired by the Black female Atoirney in Tupac and Snoop’s Amerika’s Mosg Wanted video, I decided to be a resource for my people. My Jewish friend, Gabe Lebowitz got pulled over by the cops in his red sports car for speeding in the HOV lane in Long Island. He called his Uncle and received immediate advice for what to do- on the spot! I was in awe and I wanted to be that person for my people.

So that’s what inspired this Blog. I want to answer any questions you have about the law and  to demystify the legal process. We’ll start with your questions and then I’ll speak on general information I think you should know. I’m excited to start this new chapter with you to put this law degree to good use. Comment below with questions you may have and I will answer next Monday. This is for you, by you so your comments will drive the discussion.. Then we’ll have follow up discussions all week.

I look forward to answering your questions,.

Signed,

Legally Black Girl