Friday, June 15, 2007
Posted by Media Release
 Photo courtesy of here.
The Cincinnati Branch of the NAACP is concerned about the lack of diversity in our Juvenile Court. Out of two judgeships, there has never been an African-American. Since the 1990’s our community has had the ability to appoint a third judge to the Juvenile Court. Our communities’ failure to do so is unacceptable.
Courts should reflect the make-up of the community served. The court system should be fair and equitable. Large numbers of African-American children are being funneled through the court system, never having the opportunity to be judged by their peers. The NAACP’s Cincinnati Branch believes this is poor public policy. With two Juvenile Court judges always having been white and the correction population being 80% African-American, the Cincinnati NAACP President must advocate for an African-American Juvenile Court judge.
The Cincinnati NAACP President supports African-American lawyers, current judges and magistrates to organize around this critical issue facing the African-American community. The NAACP does not endorse candidates. However, the diversification of this court will be a top priority for the organization in the November election. Smitherman says, “ The delay in appointing a third judge and the push to raise taxes to build a new jail are issues that are deeply intertwined. This is an example that our court systems are broken.”
It is regularly stated that Cincinnati is 20 years behind the rest of the country. In this case, Cincinnati is 50 years behind in its court system. Sentencing precedes incarceration. Before building capacity for more inmates, the sentencing playing field must be leveled.
The Cincinnati President of the NAACP will place a vote of no confidence in the Hamilton County court system before its membership at the Thursday, June 28th, 2007 general membership meeting.
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