Although the Cincinnati Police Department has been the primary focus of local complaints about racial injustice, the Hamilton County courts are increasingly under scrutiny.
In the past year, a series of high-profile criminal cases have demonstrated the perceived disparities in justice as it’s meted out to whites and African Americans, police officers and private citizens.
Every prosecution involves unique circumstances, so comparisons are inherently flawed. But in Hamilton County, the disproportionate sentences given, for instance, to a cop who lied and a protester who interrupted a food festival can only reinforce the perception that the courts, like the police, use different standards for different people.
This article appears in Sep 18-24, 2002.