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PageA8
May 2,2012
Bizarre Ruling by the Supreme Court
Strip searches
and driving
while black
D onald K alil
The
r a d ic a l
co n serv ativ e m a­
jo rity o f the S u­
prem e Court deliv­
ered yet an o th er
b iz a r r e o p in io n
last m onth.
It ruled that police and jail o ffi­
cials can strip search anyone ar­
rested for anything, no m atter how
m inor the violation or how u p stan d ­
ing the suspect.
In doing so it agreed w ith the
rulings o f low er courts that have
found strip searches legal after a r­
rests for violating leash law s, d riv ­
ing w ithout a license, falling behind
in child support paym ents, failing to
use a turn signal, or (m y favorite)
riding a bicycle w ithout an audible
by
bell.
Are these guys nuts?
The case that triggered the ruling
involved a m an w ho w as a p assen ­
g er in a c ar stopped for speeding. A
background check revealed an un­
paid fine on his record, so the cops
took him to jail and forced him to
take o ff his clothes, bend over, and
the rest o f it.
He spent the b etter part o f the
follow ing w eek in jails, w here he
w as strip -search ed again, before
police discovered that their in fo r­
m ation was w rong, that h e ’d long
since paid the fine.
That was fine with the Four H orse­
m en (John R oberts, Sam uel A lito,
A ntonin Scalia, and C larence T h o ­
m as) and their faithful com panion
A n th o n y K en n ed y . A p p a re n tly ,
you c a n ’t be too careful. T hat seem s
to be the paranoid R ight's m antra.
O h, by the w ay, did I m ention that
A lbert Florence, the guy a rre ste d —
a finance m anager for a N ew Jersey
car dealership — w as black?
T he C ourt didn't seem to m ention
it either. It acted as though it hadn't
m attered. I've got new s for them .
B eing black in this society al­
w ays m atters. A lw ays.
I've been driving for som e 60
years and I've never been pulled
over by police in a random check. It
happens to black m en all the tim e,
particularly to those w ho com m it
the crim e o f driving a nice car. T o be
black in our society excites the p re­
sum ption o f guilt.
Som e people are still arguing over
w hether the shooting o f black teen-
ag erT ray von M artin had som ething
to do w ith his race.
W e'll never know w hat actually
hap p en ed that February night in
Sanford, Florida. W e have the v er­
s io n o f th e s h o o te r , G e o rg e
Z im m erm an, w ho w as finally ja iled
m ore than six w eeks after the bullets
w ent off. But M artin is, w e ll...d ea d .
I m ust say, Z im m erm an's story
seem s far-fetched. H e asks us to
believe that his sense o f duty as a
T he M ultnom ah C ounty L ibrary is one o f
o u r co m m u n ity ’s greatest treasures. W hether
it’s helping kids succeed w ith early literacy
program s, connecting seniors to the w orld
w ith hom e delivery o f ov er 2 0 0,000 boo k s a
year, o r providing critical resources for people
searching for a jo b - o u r libraries are open
and free to all, and provide a safe, positive
place that m akes a real difference in o u r lives.
T h e Library L evy is how w e fund our
L ibrary. T he Levy - M easure 26-125 - p ro ­
vides o v er 65 percent o f our lib rary ’s fu n d ­
ing. If it is not renew ed in M ay, it w ill expire,
and that funding w ill disappear. T he loss o f
that funding w ould m ean devastating cuts,
th e c lo s u r e o f n e ig h b o r h o o d lib r a r y
branches, reduced library hours and the elim i-
Voting forYing
H elen Y ing has the experience connecting
under-represented com m unities to their g o v ­
ernm ent.
M uch o f M etro's p ow er co m es from its
ability to c o lla b o ra tew ith oth er governm ents
and com m unity groups, and right now M etro
lacks a voice that can reach everyone.
JJortlanh (Obseruer
Jeff Cogen
Multnomah County Chair
O ur region is grow ing m ore diverse, but so
m uch o f that population grow th is taking
place in areas that lack parks, reliable public
transit, shopping centers, and oth er am en i­
ties.
H elen Y ing w ill be that voice that M etro
needs. Join m e in voting for H elen Ying.
Established 1970
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47 4 7 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211
Charles H. Washington
EDiroR.Michael L eig h to n
D is tr ib u tio n M anager : M ark W ashington
C reative D irector : P aul N e u fe ld t
OtherWords columnist Donald
Kaul lives in Ann Arbor, Mich.
To Superintendent Carole Smith and the School Board:
nation o f im portant program s at a tim e they
are needed m ost.
As the O re g o n ia n ’s editorial board stated
in their en d o rsem en t o f M easure 26-125, “ If
the levy doesn't pass, the library system
hardly w ould be reco g n izab le.” L e t’s not let
that happen.
M easure 26-125 is not a tax increase, it’s
sim ply a renew al at the current rate. V oting
begins in less than a w eek, and w e need your
help to reach m ore voters. Please help us
keep our L ib rary ’s doors open w ith a co n tri­
bution o f $25, $50, $ 100 or m ore if you can
to d ay .
W e cannot afford to lose this asset in our
com m unity. T h an k you for y o u r support,
and d o n ’t forget to vote YES for o ur libraries!
Mike Verbout
North Portland
really begins to rear its unlovely head.
H ad the young black m an been
arm ed and, feeling threatened, turned
and shot this hulking w hite stranger
follow ing him , do you im agine that
the police w ould have let him go? In
Florida?
If you think that, give m y regards
to the T ooth Fairy the next tim e you
see her.
W ith o r w ithout Z im m erm an's
potentially racist m otive, this kill-at-
will statue is a m onum entally stupid
law. It raises every altercation —
every bar fight, every fender bender
— to the level o f a potentially lethal
en co u n ter.
W hatever happened to the good
old days w hen you could have a fist
fight w ith som eone w ithout one o f
you ending up dead?
R em ind me not to go to Florida
the next tim e it gets cold up north.
A nd w hile you're at it, rem ind me
to get the bell on my bicycle fixed.
Tubman School Closure Not Worth Loss
betters ta the (Editar
Supporting Libraries
s e lf - a p p o in te d N e ig h b o r h o o d
W atch guard prom pted him to fol­
low M artin and confront him , d e­
spite a w arning from a91 1 dispatcher
not to.
T hen, he says, M artin ju m p e d
him as he w as w alking aw ay, cau s­
ing him to fear for his life. So he shot
the kid. In self-defense.
T hat sounds like a dog-ate-m y-
hom ew ork alibi if I ever heard one.
M artin w as a tall, skinny 17-year-
old. Zim m erm an's a 28-year-old man
on the stocky side.
I don't know how it w as in your
neighborhood grow ing up, but in
m ine, tall skinny kids didn't go
aro u n d c o m m ittin g u n p ro v o k e d
assaults on older, heavier guys. It
ju st didn't happen.
Following the Feb. 26 shooting,
th e S a n fo rd p o lic e re le a s e d
Zim m erm an on the grounds that he
was protected by Florida’s "Stand
Y our Ground" law, which allows
people w ho feel threatened to shoot
their assailants. That's w here racism
I was shocked to learn that the H arriet T u b m an Y oung W o m en ’s L eadership A cadem y
is on the block for closure. In light o f parent testim onies in the Portland O bserver and
elsew here, closing T ubm an appears to be m erely a sym bolic gesture, not a great saving,
not w orth the loss. I urge you to reconsider. *
The culm inating story in m y recently published book, “ First F am ilies o f V an co u v er’s
A frican A m erican C o m m u n ity ,” tells o f a young single m other o f three w ith no incom e, no
education, and no hope w ho volunteered in h er d au g h ter’s kindergarten class at P o rtlan d ’s
E liot School in the 1960s and w as given a chance by the sch o o l’s principal B ob H arold to
w ork as a teach er’s aide.
N ine years into that jo b , Idam ae Bain G reenidge earned her degree and certification at
Portland State U niversity and becam e an elem entary teacher for Portland Public Schools,
retiring in 2001 after 34 years w ith the district.
It has been a satisfaction to M rs. G reenidge to w atch the H arriet T ubm an L eadership
A cadem y for Y oung W om en taking root over the last five years on the grounds o f the form er
E liot School, w here she got h er start. T here w as nothing like that for h er w hen she needed
it
A fter being shut out o f ninth grade as “a bad influence” for being pregnant, then passed
into the 1 Oth grade unprepared, then shut out again, she possessed no sense o f h er gifts
until B ob H arold happened to notice them . She w as lucky, and so w ere h er future students.
T he H arriet T u b m an L eadership A cadem y, likew ise, is planting seeds w ith young
w om en that will benefit the entire com m unity, and it should continue to grow and m ature.
A T ubm an parent said “w e don ’ t have the history, the com m unity support o r a cham pion
in the d istrict like o th er schools.” H ere is a single strand o f deep-rooted history, one life
story, w hen w oven into the achievem ents o f countless other w om en during the sam e
period, should serve as illustration w hy T u b m an should be encouraged, not closed.
T ubm an is an opportunity for Portland Public Schools, not an obstacle. W hy uproot this
effort w hen it is ju s t beginning to flourish? W hat side o f history are w e on?
Jane Elder Wulff
Battle Ground
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