Dennis Kucinich article by Kathy Wray Coleman of Clevelandurbannews.com: Ohio candidate for governor Dennis Kucinich and his running mate Akron Councilwoman Tara Samples call for the grand jury process to be abolished in Ohio as they unveil their criminal justice platform in Cleveland along side of community activists and others in the historic Glenville neighborhood, both saying the criminal justice system in Ohio has a shameful record of targeting Blacks and Latinos, Black men in particular....Their proposal also addresses tackling the opioid crisis, ending the prison-industrial complex, putting more emphasis on rehabilitation and mental health issues relative to defendants, de-emphasizing deadly force by police, curbing the abuse of power by judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officials, and recognizing and rooting out institutional racism....Kucinich is a former congressman and former Cleveland mayor who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2004 and 2008.....By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief of Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com
Ohio Democratic candidate for governor Dennis Kucinich (front row-fifth from left), a former congressman and former Cleveland mayor who has also run for president, and his running mate for lieutenant governor, Akron Councilwoman Tara Mosley Samples (front row-fourth from left), pose with Lakewood Councilman Tristan Rader (back row- fifth from left), and some of the several Cleveland community activists in attendance as they unveiled their platform for criminal justice reform in Cleveland on Feb. 15. Activists there included Kathy Wray Coleman of the Imperial Women Coalition (front row- second from right), Yvonka Hall (back row-far left), the Rev Pamela Pinkney Butts (front row-far left) and Alfred Porter Jr of Black on Black Crime Inc. (back row- second from right)
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Ohio Democratic candidate for governor Dennis Kucinich (front row-second from left), a former congressman and former Cleveland mayor who has also run for president, and his running mate for lieutenant governor, Akron Councilwoman Tara Mosley Samples (front row-far left), pose with Lakewood Councilman Tristan Rader (back row-second from left), and some of the several Cleveland community activists, including Kathy Wray Coleman of the Imperial Women Coalition (front row- far right) and Alfred Porter Jr of Black on Black Crime Inc. (back row- far right)
CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM-CLEVELAND, Ohio- Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dennis Kucinich and his running mate for lieutenant governor, Akron Councilwoman Tara Samples, joined community members and local activists in Cleveland on Thursday in the historic Glenville neighborhood at East 105th Street and St. Clair Avenue on the city's largely Black east side to unveil their platform for criminal justice reform.
Asked by Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com his position on the grand jury process in Ohio, Kucinich, a former Cleveland mayor and former congressman who twice ran unsuccessfully for president in 2004 and 2008, said "it should be abolished."
The gubernatorial hopeful and Samples, also a progressive who introduced U.S. Sen Bernie Sanders when he visited Akron, took issue with heightened and excessive prison sentences in Cuyahoga County and elsewhere that disproportionately target young Black men, some of whom are juveniles tried unnecessarily as adults.
"The criminal justice system in Ohio, as well as nationally, has a shameful record of disproportionately targeting, prosecuting, jailing and otherwise discriminating against the African-American and Latino communities," both Kucinich and Samples said while distributing their proposal for criminal justice reform they say they will seek to implement if Kuncinich wins.
A former stenographer and bailiff, Samples, who is Black, said Black men in particular have been dealt a raw deal by the criminal justice center since the beginning of time.
"I saw this first hand when I was a bailiff," said Samples.
Other aspects of their criminal justice reform proposal include addressing the opioid crisis and racial discrimination, ending the prison-industrial complex, and putting more emphasis on rehabilitation and mental health issues relative to defendants.
The well-crafted proposal, which reveals an understanding by Kucinich and Samples of intrinsic issues impacting the legal system nationwide regarding the disenfranchisement of poor people, and people of color, also speaks of de-emphasizing deadly force by police, speedy release for defendants in jail or prison on low-level marijuana convictions, curbing the abuse of power by judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officials, and recognizing and rooting out institutional racism.
Frances Caldwell, a Glenville resident and executive director of the Cleveland African-American Museum, said she is pleased that Kucinich is taking on the legal system and that she wished "current Governor John Kasich had done more on the issue."
A Republican and 2016 unsuccessfully candidate for the Republican nomination for president, Kasich, in his second term and term-limited, leaves office next January.
The Rev Jaland Finney, associate minister at Second Baptist Church in Akron and an ex-offender, said it is difficult for people, Black men in particular, to find jobs when they get out of prison after serving time for felony convictions.
"They told me to apply for jobs seven years later when I returned home from prison," said Finney, a clergy leader who attended the press conference on Thursday in Cleveland. "They must do a better job of providing employment opportunities for ex-offenders, particularly for Black people who regularly face discrimination by potential employers."
To become governor, Kucinich must first win the May 8 Democratic primary against front-runner Richard Chordray, state Sen. Joe Schiavoni (D-33), former state representative Connie Pillich, and former Ohio Supreme Court justice Bill O'Neil in a five-way race for the Democratic nomination for governor. And if he proceeds to the general election of Nov. 6, he would likely run against Mike DeWine, the state's attorney general and a former U.S. Senator facing underdog candidate Lt Gov Mary Taylor for the Republican nomination for governor.
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS
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