MANSFIELD: The Pot Calling the Kettle Black?

By Mansfield Frazier

A recently released report from County Prosecutor Tim McGinty (that was prepared by his transition team) criticizes his predecessor Bill Mason for a couple of failings: the lack of minorities Mason had on staff, and his handing out promotions based on their number of “wins.”

While I never thought I’d be defending Mason (I was a frequent and vociferous critic of his tenure), one thing should be clear: The game of incoming prosecutors splashing a bit of mud on the name and reputation of the outgoing prosecutor is a sport that’s frequently engaged in all across America … so there’s really nothing new there.

Mason, in fact, is taking the entire issue with stoic equanimity, only saying he quit reading the report when he felt it was “unprofessional and laced with inaccuracies.” His response stands in stark contrast to how one outgoing California prosecutor responded over 20 years ago when, in an alternative kick-ass weekly news magazine, he called his antagonists a “sack full of motherfuckers.”

Indeed, not only did Mason, when he took office, criticize his predecessor, Stephanie Tubbs Jones, he allegedly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and many man-hours attempting to find something he could indict her over once he took her place … but he came up as dry as a popcorn fart. So if McGinty is rattling Mason’s chain some, a bit of turnabout is only fair play I say.

But, while McGinty is using the issue of the dearth of black prosecutors under Mason to kick him on the shins, I, on the other hand, am proud of the fact not many young black lawyers wanted to work in an environment that was so hostile and unfair toward people. While it couldn’t quite be compared to asking blacks to join the Klan (Mason’s posse was hard on everyone poor — black, white or Hispanic), I’ve often wondered how black prosecutors could stomach working in an atmosphere where building Mason’s conviction “stats” (and therefore his political career) primarily on the backs of these poor defendants was the primary goal, a mission far exceeding the supposed goal of the prosecutor to be a seeker of truth and justice.

And Mason’s laser-like focus on “wins” was his method of attempting to improve his eventual chance to run for and win higher political office — a plan that didn’t work out too well. Karma is a bitch, ain’t it?

This always has to be stated early-on: I’ve got zero problems with locking up people that pose a danger to society; that’s what prisons are built for. No matter their race, color or national origin, those little cretins who would do damage to society via violence need to be given sentences that knocks snot out of their noses … judges need to set sparks to their little asses. And they need to be kept in prison until they learn a marketable skill or trade … why should we let them out to wreck more havoc sans an education? In many cases we’d be doing them a favor, actually saving their lives, since young gangbangers are twice as likely to die on the streets as they are in prison.

But the American system of justice, as practiced all over the country, is too often used not to dispense justice but to enrich those who operate the levers of power. Take for example the cop who wants a lot of overtime so that he can afford that Harley-Davidson or a new bass boat. He goes out and makes bullshit arrests (preferably not someone of his own race), thereby fucking up folks’ lives by saddling them with opportunity-killing felonies — and not one person in the entire criminal justice system says, “Hey, this is wrong … stop it.”

Mason could have stopped this odorous practice by telling police departments to instruct their officers to quit bringing him such meatball cases, but he didn’t since they were slam dunks that made his “stats” look better … and they were a damn sight easier than doing the hard work of sniffing out real crime (that, as it turns out, was occurring right under his nose) and maybe having to do battle with competent lawyers who weren’t being overworked like so many “meet’um and plead’um” public defenders who, in some cases, only see their clients for five minutes before going into court and allegedly representing them.

I say “allegedly” because much evidence exists that our system of justice is set up to mete out life-altering decisions with little aforethought or due process … especially if the person standing at the bar of justice is poor. Not for nothing are they sometimes called “public pretenders” … since their job is often to simply give the pretense of representation, the patina of justice to the legal proceedings merely to fulfill the minimum Supreme Court requirements and to keep things moving right along.

But as bad as things might have been under Mason, what I’ve heard so far from McGinty doesn’t make me a lot more comfortable. My fear is he wants to become “Mr. Efficiency” … that’s all I ever hear him talk about: increasing the speed with which the justice system works (to save taxpayers dollars, I get that) but never a word about increasing the level and quality of justice delivered. One excellent way to save money (and lives too) is to quit pursuing simple drug possession cases. A prosecutor in Colorado did so a few years ago and his county didn’t turn into Sodom and Gomorrah.

Justice isn’t supposed to be simply about a contest … two lawyers locking ass in a courtroom to see which one of them wins … it’s really supposed to be about seeking out the truth … which often gets lost in the shuffle in the high stakes, zero sum game of who “out lawyered” the other dude or dudette. And this is a problem not exclusive to Cuyahoga County, it goes on virtually all across the United States — and while some people very high up the criminal justice food chain know we’ve got a real problem in this country, nothing much is done because the impact of our broken system is felt mainly by the poor and by people of color. Just stroll through the Justice Center one day and see for yourself.

I realize most people think (if they don’t say it), “I’m not going to break the law, so why should I care about such issues?”

Here’s why: We’ve finally come to the logical conclusion that if we want our region to grow, prosper and thrive we’re going to have to attract talented immigrants … many of them people of color, who, due to the regions of the world they emanate from, are very sensitive to issues of justice simply because there wasn’t much of it around their home countries. And they don’t care to go from one bad situation to another.

People, as well as businesses, make decisions on where to relocate based on quality of life issues — schools, commute times, recreational activities and cultural enrichment opportunities to name a few — and we fool ourselves if don’t realize they factor the quality of justice into the equation. Justice equates to fair play … and who doesn’t want that?

The 137 shots gave our entire region a black eye, but the feds coming in raised hopes that our police and criminal justice problems are set to be solved. And the new county prosecutor could advance the regional agenda if he sent a loud and clear signal that indeed there really is a new day hereabouts in terms of basic fair treatment at the local prosecutorial level.

He needs to send a big and bold message that Cuyahoga County is a fair and just place to live, work and do business … which could set us apart from other counties around the country and make us more attractive to new arrivals. New talent has options in where they locate … we need to give them good reason to move their families here.

At the same time the report critical of Mason was released, another one, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office Efficiency Study (prepared by The Justice Management Institute and written by M. Elaine Borokove, Marea Beeman, Barry Mahoney, Jan Bouch, and Stephen Bouch) was also released.

After reading the names of the folks who prepared the document, McGinty has a lot of nerve talking about a lack of diversity under Mason. I’m willing to bet a dollar to a rolling donut not one of the preparers are a person of color (did McGinty demand such inclusion up front, and if he didn’t … why not?). Nonetheless they probably came up with some creative ways to assure that the cradle-to-prison pipeline (or as it’s some time referred to, the “womb-to-the-tomb express”) works with maximum efficacy. But hell, Mussolini made the trains run on time, even if some of them were headed to forced labor camps.

On more than one occasion I’ve written that I felt Mason never was a racist, and I stand by that. What I’ve said is that he was far worse — he was an overly ambitious politician (which is a far more dangerous breed of animal). It meant he’d send anyone’s ass down I-271 with the quickness if he felt it would further his political career. He fought tooth and nail against sentencing alternatives, and when he lost the fight he pretended he was for them all along … and the media never called him on it.

The real question is not whether McGinty will hire more minority prosecutors and quit handing out promotions based on wins, but if he’ll put an end to the diabolical practices of the office he’s recently moved into that turn Lady Justice into a scarlet, painted whore. Practices such as prosecutors not only tolerating witnesses — many of them government employees so afraid of their own shadows they’ll make up and say whatever they think the prosecutor wants to hear — flat-out lying on the stand (aptly called testilying), and in some cases allowing paid informants to completely fabricate testimony in order to win convictions. After they’ve done their dirty work on the witness stand these informants are usually given reduced sentences on any charges they are facing, or earn “get out of jail free” cards that allow them to go back into the community and sell drugs or commit other crimes with impunity … as if they have a license from the police — which they often do.

These kinds of legal shenanigans have become so ingrained in our justice system that even judges who know innocent people are being railroaded sit mutely by and allow these outrages to happen … or if they do raise their voices it’s usually only in regards to some arcane point of procedure. Our national criminal justice system is so broken that when a prisoner condemned to death petitioned a Virginia Circuit Court to review new evidence on his behalf, then-Attorney General Mary Sue Terry argued: “Evidence of innocence is irrelevant.” It’s all about appearances and procedures and in America county prosecutors have become the judge, jury, and executioner.

McGinty is clearly signaling a willingness to hire more minority prosecutors, but will they, similar to those who worked under Mason, have to sell their souls to the devil to keep their jobs? If, for instance, if they say evidence in a case points toward innocence of the indicted person will they be heard, or will they be fired for such temerity … for “going off the reservation” and seeking true justice? Or, will they hide exculpatory facts from defense attorneys, as has been standard operating procedure in the office?

When he was a prosecutor McGinty certainly — based on the record he accumulated — didn’t always seek out the truth or play by the rules. Nonetheless, maybe he’s a changed man; I’m willing to wait and see. But I have to be ready for the reality that he too may just prove to be another crass politician … desirous of using minorities and the poor to give him cover as he turns the old Cuyahoga County justice steam locomotive into a bullet train to more quickly send folks off to the joint.

This slamming Mason could really just be a case of the pot calling the kettle a different kind of black … but the ball clearly is in McGinty’s court and those of us in the know are waiting to see what he’s going to do. He’s got the whip now, it’s his serve … and we’re not going to have to wait all that long.

From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://NeighborhoodSolutionsInc.com.

 

 

 

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