PROTESTERS DEMAND
END TO CASH BAIL
By Cash Michaels
Staff writer
Cash bail - a long held criminal justice tool that prosecutors use to ensure that suspects show up for trial.
Ben David, district attorney for both New Hanover and Pender counties, maintains that the use of cash bails by his office is “fair,” and that requiring certain defendants to post a cash bail for certain alleged offenses is how the system “…protects this community.”
D.A. David strongly denies that the use of cash bail by his office is “excessive.”
But advocates for the poor disagree.
Members of the groups Campaign to End Cash Bail – Wilmington, Women Organizing for Wilmington, and the NHC Chapter of the NAACP, spoke to reporters in front of the New Hanover County Jail May 10thagainst D.A. David’s use of cash bail, alleging that it unfairly burdens poor people of color charged with non-violent offenses with an expense they cannot afford without penalty.
They noted that black women, in particular, fall victim to the cash bail system, particularly for non-violent offenses, forcing many to pay money they don’t oft times have, lose their jobs, and ultimately lose their children, said Deborah Dicks Maxwell, president of the NHC NAACP.
Noting D.A. David’s assurance that the practice is his way of “protecting the community,” the groups countered that the district attorney was using “fear tactics” to convince the community that without it, citizens would be at risk.
Roberta Penn of the Campaign to end Cash Bail – Wilmington, in remarks to reporters, maintained that “almost no one “ being held under cash bail in the NHC jail presents a danger to the community.
But D.A. David countered later that day with his own press conference that suspects in jail are there for because they’ve displayed a tendency towards violence in either their crime or behavior.
Those crimes include sexual, violent, narcotics crimes from trafficking, kidnapping…and even murder.
“My job is not to write the laws, it’s to enforce the laws,” D.A. David said, adding that he is open to reforms to the cash bail system.
If David does, he would be joining a current wave across the nation there local prosecutors are reexamining the purpose of imposing cash bails on citizens who can barely afford making ends meet, let alone having to pay for any legal requirements.
The inequity lies in the law, observers say, and how it treats defendants of means, versus those without.
In North Carolina, what is more commonly known as “preventative pretrial detention” exists through N.C. General Statutes for those charged with capital murder to be held without bond. In the second instance, according to the April 19, 2019 blog North Carolina Criminal Law from Prof. Jessica Smith of the UNC School of Government, “…due to concerns about public safety, flight, and obstruction of justice, other defendants are intentionally detained pretrial through the imposition of unattainably high bonds. The use of a secured bond for preventative detention is an imperfect solution for this simple reason: if a high risk defendant has sufficient resources, he or she can pay the bond or bail bondsman’s fee and walk out of jail with no supervision. But for many defendants, when a judicial official sets what is meant to be an unattainably high bond for the purpose of holding a defendant pretrial, that goal is achieved: the defendant remains in detention. Preventative detention—whether implemented through a statute or through the use of unattainably high detention bonds—must comply with the constitution.”
According to an April 3rdentry from Dr. Smith, in a recent study by researchers of the impact of cash bail reform throughout the country showed that eliminating the system for certain low-level, nonviolent offenses did not result in suspects not showing up for their court dates, or repeating their crimes.
“In spite of the reduced financial accountability that came with the policy change, researchers found “no detectable evidence that the decreased use of monetary bail, unsecured bond, and release on conditions had adverse effects on appearance rates or recidivism,” wrote Smith.
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STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 05-23-19
RECOUNT IN BLADEN COUNTY DISTRICT #3 COMMISSIONERS RACE
[ELIZABETHTOWN] With just a handful of votes separating them in the May 14thspecial election, a recount has been called in the District #3 County Commissioners race between incumbent Democratic Commissioner Russell Priest and Republican challenger Wayne Edge. Edge called for the recount after it was determined that just four votes separated the two, ordered by the State Board of Elections after absentee ballot fraud was discovered in Bladen County. A meeting of the Bladen County Board of Elections has been called for Friday morning to canvass the results, followed at 1 p.m. by the recount to determine the winner.
NHC COMMISSION BOARD APPROVES BLACK HERITAGE COMMISSION
[WILMINGTON] The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners has unanimously voted to establish the NHC Commission on African-American History, Heritage and Culture, according to NHC Government. This group will highlight historic sites throughout the county and beaches, educate the community on heritage and culture, and celebrate contributions of local residents.
HILLSBOROUGH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEAXHER CHARGED WITH PLOTTING ATTACK
[HILLSBOROUGH] An elementary school teacher at Pathways Elementary School has been arrested by authorities and charged with “communicating a threat of mass violence” towards the school. The teacher, Kristen Thompson, immediately resigned last Friday. Other teachers at the school alleged that Thompson “made threats to shoot up the school,” according to a press release from the Orange County Sheriff’s dept.
Thompson, who is in custody now, is expected to face charges in court on June 14th.
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“DIVINE NINE” LOBBY LEGISLATORS
FOR INCREASED SUPPORT FOR HBCUs
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
HBCU’s (historically black colleges and universities) in North Carolina are not being funded equitably, advocates told state lawmakers last week during the annual NC Divine Nine Legislative Lobbying Day May 15th.
State senators were urged to get behind Senate Bill 667 – UNC HBCU Funding Parity/NC A&T Doc. Programs, to address the matter. Sponsored by state senators Erica Smith (Bertie), Paul Lowe (Forsyth) and Joyce Waddell (Mecklenburg), the bill, if passed, would, “…allocate additional funds to constituent institutions designated as historically black colleges and universities to address underfunding at those institutions and to allocate additional funds to North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University to support its doctoral programs.”
The measure calls for $50 million in additional recurring funds for the 2019-2020 fiscal year from the General Fund to go to the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina…”to address funding disparities between the HBCUs and the other constituent institutions of [the UNC System].
An additional $7.5 million is being asked for N.C. A&T University to “support new faculty and graduate student services for the doctoral programs.
The bill concludes, “this act becomes effective July 1, 2019.”
That was just one of the many issues approximately 600 participants who attended NC Divine Nine Day at the NC General Assembly were pushing for.
“It is to bring all of the members of the Divine Nine [black Greek fraternities and sororities] together around all of the important legislative issues, particularly around education, voter involvement, and eliminating any barriers like voter suppression is critical,” Dr. Everett Ward, national president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. said.
Dr. Ward, formerly the president of St. Augustine’s University in Raleigh, served as the convener of the NC Divine Nine Legislative Lobbying Day.
On the policy agenda presented to state lawmakers, in addition to more funding support for the state’s HBCUs, was indeed voting reform, economic empowerment, accessible and affordable health care, housing justice, criminal justice reform, and making sure that there is a full count of underserved poor communities of color on the 2020 Census.
State legislators were also pushed to close the Medicaid health insurance coverage gap in North Carolina. Gov. Roy Cooper and the Democrats want to do that, but Republican legislative leaders in charge have been dragging their feet.
When it comes to ensuring the voting rights of all North Carolinians, supporters wanted the state to provide automatic voter registration when they reach their 18thbirthday.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, fifteen states and the District of Columbia already have automatic voter registration. More states re expected to follow as we get closer to 2020.
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SARAH BLAKELY WITH NCNAACP PRES. REV. DR. T. ANTHONY SPEARMAN
JUDGE TO DECIDE TO FREE
DONTAR SHARPE, OR RE-TRY
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
[GREENVILLE] A Wake County judge will now decide whether to free Dontae Sharpe, a 44-year-old black man supporters say was falsely convicted 25 years ago of a 1994 murder he did not commit, or based on testimony from an evidentiary hearing held last Friday, order a new trial.
There has never been any physical or forensic evidence linking Sharpe to the shooting death of a 33-year-old white man, George Radcliffe.
Wake Superior Court Judge Bryan Collins said after hearing from both sides in the controversial case that he would render his decision after considering all of the new evidence presented.
Judge Collins is most recently notable for ruling for the NCNAACP’s lawsuit against the Republican legislative leaders in the North Carolina General Assembly in declaring that the constitutional amendment authorizing voter ID was unconstitutional, because the GOP majority was elected by illegally gerrymandered maps.
Republican legislative leaders have appealed Judge Collins’ ruling.
After the Dontae Sharpe evidentiary hearing Friday, Sharpe’s mother, Sarah Blakely, flanked by NCNAACP President Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman, Repairers of the Breach President Rev. Dr. William Barber, and Pitt County NAACP Pres. Calvin Henderson, told reporters she was hopeful that Judge Collins would deliver a positive ruling on her son’s behalf.
“I'm gonna stand behind him until it's over. I'm not giving up,” Ms. Blakely said. I know he's innocent. I don't care what they say, how they say it, or whatever, but I'm not giving up. This is just another step to victory, and it's coming. I know it's coming.”
Rev. Barber reminded reporters that for the over 24 year that Sharpe has served his time in prison, he has rejected numerous plea deals that would have set him free. Barber said he was also disappointed that the new Pitt County District Attorney decided not to join Sharpe’s family in calling for his conviction to be overturned, and he be immediately released.
“…[T]hat the state here would not agree to a release, as the judge considers this new evidence,” Rev. Barber told reporters at the courthouse. “There's been a grave miscarriage of justice, and this is not about statistics. This is about life ... Dontae has been a courageous man ... a strong man, a man that even inside of the prison walls is respected. It's time for this system to let this young man go now.”
The Sharpe case centers on the fatal shooting of George Radcliffe, a 33-year-old white man killed during a drug deal in Greenville in February 1994. Radcliffe’s body ws found in a pickup truck in a known drug neighborhood. Pitt County prosecutors presented two witnesses who testified that they saw Sharpe shoot Radcliffe after a struggle. However, at least one of the witnesses later admitted that she lied, holding to that contention over two decades later, claiming that police coerced her to lie.
Last Friday, Sharpe’s defense attorney presented that the medical examiner who autopsied Radcliffe’s body was never told Greenville police investigators’ theory of the case when she testified at the original trial. Her examination revealed that it was medically and scientifically “impossible” for Radcliffe to have been fatally shot in the manner in which the state maintained Sharpe pulled the trigger, based on the false witness testimony at the original trial..
At press time Monday, Judge Collins had not yet rendered a decision.
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