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National News: Black Ohio Residents Denied Water Get Millions; Jury Selection Resumes In Nichols Trial; NAACP Convention To Host Both Presidential Candidatates
July 14th, 2008Black Ohio residents denied water get millions
A federal grand jury awarded residents of a Black neighborhood in Ohio almost $11 million last week because, for nearly five decades, they were forced to dig wells, haul water or collect rain so they could drink, cook and bathe, while Whites enjoyed the benefits of the public water system. The jury found that the 67 residents of the Coal Run community in Muskingum County in east-central Ohio were victims of longstanding discrimination and awarded them between $15,000 and $300,000, depending on how long they had lived there. The award is for “monetary losses and the residents’ pain and suffering between 1956, when water lines were first laid in the area, and 2003, when Coal Run got public water,” The Associated Press reports. The Ohio Civil Rights Commission found in 2003 that the residents had been discriminated against, which prompted the lawsuit. “As a child, I thought it was normal because everyone done it in my neighborhood,” said one of the plaintiffs, Cynthia Hale Hairston, 47. “But I realized as an adult it was wrong.” The city, county and water company, however, deny that any discrimination has occurred. Attorney Mark Landes, who represented the county and water district, described the suit as “a case that was started and filed by out-of-town lawyers who saw an opportunity for a cash settlement.”
Jury selection in the Nichols trial resumes today
Jury selection in the oft-delayed trial of Brian Nichols is back on track following a surprising weekend off. Last week, Judge James Bodiford made a big deal about the need to convene the court during weekends for the trial of Nichols, the man accused of escaping from an Atlanta courtroom in 2005 and killing a judge, court reporter and two other people during his escape and time on the lam. Lawyers, victim’s rights advocates and others have criticized the system for allowing the case to linger unresolved for so long. Bodiford is the second judge after taking the case over from Judge Hilton Fuller several months ago. Fuller, who stepped down amid controversy surrounding his statements that “everybody knows Nichols is guilty,” had placed the trial on hold for several weeks, honoring defense claims that the state had not adequately funded the defense of the death-penalty defendant. As many as 1,000 prospective jurors eventually will be called to the Fulton County Courthouse for questioning. During the first week of interviews last week, all but one from an initial batch of juror candidates had been called in. Bodiford said he could not justify asking the county to pay for opening the courthouse over the weekend for one interview. Legal observers say the Nichols trial, which is expected to last several months, could be the most costly in the state’s history. Already, the defense has spent at least $1.2 million representing their 38-year-old high-profile defendant.
The NAACP to host both presidential candidatates
The NAACP Convention kicked off its 99th national convention Cincinnati Saturday, uniting its 8,000 delegates around the diverse issues affecting people of color, including poverty, health, criminal justice, voting and home ownership. As an example of ideas anti-poverty proposals surfacing from the gathering, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg aims to redefine the standard of poverty to account for society’s rising costs. In other words, food, clothing, shelter and housing costs, and utilities expenses would be factored in, and the poverty line for those living in New York would go from $20,000 for a family of four to $26,000. Although the new formula would not affect federal social service programs, it would be used by city officials to develop initiatives within New York. This conference, whose official theme is “Power, Justice, Freedom, Vote,” is being held at the Duke Energy Center in downtown Cincinnati. The city’s African-American mayor, Mike Mallory, expects to generate an estimated $10 million from hotel room charges, meals, tips and other tourism-related activities by the time the event concludes on Thursday. Both presidential candidates, senators John McCain and Barack Obama, will speak at the event.
Let me see…only the black neighborhood couldn’t get water from the public water system…humph… longstanding discrimination….humph…is it time to play the race card now??? Sounds like another form of institutional racism to me and the response from the county’s attorney is ridiculous and does not address the issue of why this happened for 5 decades!!!.
Meseed up!! how you Black Americans put up with such crap your ancestors built that country & you let em treat you like Rats.
When will the Government give us our Forty and the Mule! as for the Londoner you got your own problems , no Jobs and terror living next door to you. We African Americans have a lot more power that you think.
The Londoner is right. Why do we accept such treatment?
White police officers kill innocent black unarmed men, we complain and then comply.
White judges and juries incarcerate our men disproportionately compared to whites, and we complain and comply.
White city, county and state officials deny us the right to drinking water for half a century, while supplying it to white citizens, we complain and comply.
White national media outlets call into question the loyalty and patriotism of the first presumptive black presidential candidate in our nation’s history, while no white candidate’s patriotism has ever been questioned…NOT EVER, while we complain and comply.
Maybe that’s all we’re capable of doing…..is, complain and comply.
Maybe that’s what whites expect us to do….is complain and comply.
Maybe that’s why they continue to treat us as they do cause they know that no matter how bad the treatment , how extreme the disrespect, and how atrocious the civil or human rights violation, we’re gonna do what we do best..just complain and comply.
The Londoner is right. Why do we accept such treatment?
White police officers kill innocent black unarmed men, we complain and then comply.
White judges and juries incarcerate our men disproportionately compared to whites, and we complain and comply.
White city, county and state officials deny us the right to drinking water for half a century, while supplying it to white citizens, we complain and comply.
White national media outlets call into question the loyalty and patriotism of the first presumptive black presidential candidate in our nation’s history, while no white candidate’s patriotism has ever been questioned…NOT EVER, while we complain and comply.
Maybe that’s all we’re capable of doing…..is, complain and comply.
Maybe that’s what whites expect us to do….is complain and comply.
Maybe that’s why they continue to treat us as they do cause they know that no matter how bad the treatment, how extreme the disrespect, and how atrocious the civil or human rights violation, we’re going to do what we do best…..just complain and comply
And you want our black men to join what…. Black people stop joining the US Military. Muskingum County is showing you what America thinks. Its stuff like whats going on in Ohio that pisses me off to no end. And then the white lawyer suggest that outside lawyers just see a way to make money. Or you for real. You white folks are enjoying a nice hot bath and people are hauling water. Or you for real…. and you say America is color blind. this is really a racist country. Muskingum County in east-central Ohio shame on you. Shame on All of you good Christian white folks who look the other way and to hell with those of you racist white folks that felt it was right.
pismo in gary…i couldnt agree more…you said it all right…that all we is complain and comply…but one that is forsure if we dont step up and election barack obama for president…we as black deserve every nothing we are going to get for the other party…we have our chance for real chnage….i just wish black peoplewould step up for once for someone of their own color…HELP HIM TO GET ELECTION GO AND VOTE FOR HIM……PLEASE!!!!!!BRAACK OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT!!!!!!!!
so cool guy,does he still hook up with those tall beauties on the tall dating site ____Tallmingle.com____ ???The last time I saw his profile is last monday, hope he does not leave.
WATER IN OHIO – How long has this been going on? What year is this? My God, what is going on? This is BLANTANT discrimination and dehumanizing of Black people.
NICHOLS TRIAL – This guy should have been on death row a long time ago. A shame how tax payers money is being wasted…but I guess he has a right to due process, whatever that means.
NAACP Event – It is nice to see people come together in unity. Praise the Lord!
There is no end to the injustices blacks are being subjected to but they want us to forget about the past. LOL
We shall overcome
i wish a @*#*~ would come to the bahamas an talk $#%? about recruitin for war …fuk dat we smarter than that $#%? we want our $#%? before we fight im not gonna go killin people because the preis. want me to….first i want a Lincoln LS v6 2008 (custom made like run the assembly line for my one car) then i want 1 house with 3 8 plex buildings i want sole ownership i want my own 3 secrt service agents ….fuk im dream harder than a motha right now lol only if you really was important to them like a sientist…..but real talk that really aint fair though i think i would’ve spotted something wrong from the fist week i gatta bathed in cold water in Ohio???? domt it snow out there??? if so i think i woulda been in rage from 1973 if ya ask me…alot of Americans slow though soon as shits dont go they way they gonna sue yall some cold hearted niggas though if ya asked me i woulda make them bitches go threw the sufer for 20 years then get the cash stupid ?#@@ shots aye lmao i would make the niggas who run the operation to expieranced that real talk….wonder whos gonna read this if so you might agree….
i agree too wiht Lone..Cause if i was bathing in cold water for a week im tellin you it was a prroblem from there…i sure lil chldren was talking in school though so it coulda stop long time….plus aint no company cant change stage between the years to let them know whats going on to the new comers who coulda even speak up
Isn’t it interesting how the county water district says, “that was (a case) started and filed by out-of-town lawyers who saw an opportunity for a cash settlement.” instead of saying that those people deserved water. It is a shame that they were proven to be wrong and instead of acknowledging that, they claim people were just money hungry as if the blacks there enjoyed hauling water like they were still in slavery.
ALWAYS SEEK GOD!!! GOD WILL FIGHT YOUR BATTLES!!! GOD IS LOOKING AT EVERYTHING!!! GOD IS NEVER LATE HE IS ALWAYS ON TIME!!!! VENGENANCE IS MY SAID THE LORD!!!
The Fair Housing Advocates Association (FHAA) was a plaintiff in the case. In 2002, it received a complaint regarding black persons in Zanesville being denied public water service, while such public water was being provided to white persons. The staff conducted an investigation which revealed that pubilc water service was provided to the predominately white neighborhood surrounding Coal Run and Langan Lane, but denied to predominately black neighborhood of Coal Run/Langan Lane. The FHAA contacted civil rights attorney, John Relman of Relman & Dane, who flew to Columbus to meet with FHAA director, Vincent Curry, Rachel Robinson of the Equal Justice Foundation, and many of the Coal Run/Langan Lane residents. The federal lawsuit was filed in November 2003 by the law firm of Relman & Dane, which represented 66 of the plaintiffs (i.e. FHAA and both African-American and Caucasian persons who presently reside and/or had resided in the neighborhood that had been denied public water service). The other plaintiff, the Ohio Civil Rights Commission (OCRC), joined the federal lawsuit in August 2004. The OCRC enforces the state fair housing, but was allowed by the court to join the federal lawsuit.
““The best way to describe what the evidence showed would be to use a doughnut with the doughnut representing the white neighborhoods and the hole representing the Coal Run –Langan Lane area,” said Mr. Curry. “The doughnut had public water service and the hole did not. It is depressing to think that if we had not pursued this matter, they would still have no public water service.” Before the complaint was filed, residents had no public water service and had to drink, bathe, and wash in water that contained bugs and had an odor; haul in water to be placed in a cistern; and ration water by sharing bath water and limiting the number of times that a toilet was flushed.
The jury examined the evidence and found that both the city and the county played a role in providing water service in ways that included, but not limited to, securing funding for water projects, determining what water projects were pursued, controlling who could tap into water lines and running water lines past Coal Run Road and Langan Lane in order to provide water to other cities, villages, or townships.
A few pics of the area can be found at http://www.fairhousingadvocates.com.
The city has indicated that it intends to appeal and file a motion for a new trial.
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