(CLEVELAND, OH, 6/26/15) – On Monday June 29, the Cleveland Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Collaborative for a Safe, Fair and Just Cleveland and the Cleveland chapter of the National Lawyers Guild will hold a joint press conference to announce the filing of an amicus (friend of the court) brief in US Federal District Court in the matter of United States v. City of Cleveland (1:15-cv-01946).
[NOTE: The Cleveland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Cleveland) is a founding member of the Collaborative for a Safe, Fair and Just Cleveland.]
In the brief to be filed Monday, the civil rights groups will seek to address serious concerns about certain aspects of the Settlement Agreement reached between the City of Cleveland and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding that department’s finding on December 4, 2014.
The DOJ finding, which resulted from an almost two-year investigation, found a pattern and practice of unconstitutional conduct by the Cleveland Division of Police, including excessive use of force in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
SEE: Federal Judge Approves Cleveland Consent Decree
WHAT: Press Conference to Announce Legal Filing in the Matter of United States v. City of Cleveland
WHEN: Monday, June 29, 11 a.m.
WHERE: Steps in Front of the Carl B. Stokes, US Federal Courthouse, Northern District of Ohio, 801 West Superior Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44113
CAIR-Cleveland Executive Director Julia Shearson, 216.830.2247, jshearson@cair.com
“We are filing the brief because there are some key areas where the decree has unworkable stipulations that must be remedied to ensure the best chance of truly effective and lasting police reforms that will satisfy the people of Cleveland,” said civil rights attorney James Hardiman, co-chair of the Criminal Justice Legal Redress Committee of the Cleveland branch of the NAACP.
“As civil rights organizations, we represent stakeholders who want to ensure that the consent decree best protects the interests of aggrieved communities and that it is as strong as possible,” said Dr. Rhonda Y. Williams, Chair of the Collaborative for a Safe, Fair, and Just Cleveland. “We want the Court to know that without these key fixes, the community will be negatively impacted.”
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CONTACT: James Hardiman, NAACP, 216.256.6544, attyjhard@aol.com; Dr. Rhonda Y. Williams, Collaborative for a Safe, Fair, and Just Cleveland (CSFJC), 216.559.0909, ryw@case.edu; Edward Little, CSFJC, 216.256.7020, edlittle9@gmail.com; CAIR-Cleveland Executive Director Julia Shearson, 216.830.2247, jshearson@cair.com