Invalid warrants just cost my adopted son his job

[ohio_liberal]

Back in 2004 my then 18 year old son was busted for possession of marijuana for personal use**. A summons was issued through the court system for him to appear in court. There was a mixup in his court date and even his lawyer had been given the wrong date. A bench warrant was filed for failure to appear. He went to his defender, they both went to the judge and cleared up the mess. He appeared at a new court date, paid a fine, spent 3 days in jail. You'd think that would be the end of it.

18 months later he got a job at an automotive service station/gas station. He's been on the job two days. The city police have a contract with the gas station to fill up their cars. The police saw him there, apparently decided to check warrants on the only black man, and arrested him on the spot for failure to appear at his court date in 2004. His employer fired him immediately.

Since the city has no jail he was taken to the county jail. The county jail called his former probation officer and got the information on his court appearances. The jailer says he shouldn't even be there. He should be released immediately, right? Oh no, that isn't going to happen. He has to stay in jail until Tuesday when the courts open again.

I don't know who to blame--the clerk of courts, a judge?? I'm ready to sue everybody, anybody for this humiliation. He'll never get his job back, and goddamn it decent jobs are hard to find here. Ohio is a right to work state, and he was a probationary employee.

The same damned thing happened a couple of months ago when the Ohio Valley Black Caucus picketed my city's police department for tasering a man repeatedly, apparently with excess force. The arrested man came to the rally and the police arrested him again for outstanding warrants. Those warrants were found that same day to be invalid and the man was released immediately. Without an apology from anyone.

I'm beyond pissed, and I don't know what to do.


**He suffers from glaucoma and uses marijuana outside the home.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. ACLU might help

especially if he was the only one whose background was checked. Sounds like Employed While Black to me.

[ohio_liberal]

12. I have a phone call in to the Ohio Valley Black Caucus

The director's name is Delores Wiggins. I'll try the ACLU too. I'll do anything at this point.

[ohio_liberal]

15. Oh, and yes

He was the only one the police checked for outstanding warrants.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

16. ACLU, then

as well as every civil rights group you can find! This is totally outrageous!

[ohio_liberal]

21. I know!

It's blatant racism. I don't think the police who arrested him are even the same ones as the first time. Why did they feel the need to check for warrants? Doesn't there have to be some cause to do so?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

26. tell him we DUers

stand in solidarity with him (and you!) as brothers and sisters.

[ohio_liberal]

32. I will do that

I know he's feeling all alone there. I was in total shock when he called and wasn't as verbally supportive as I could've been. I'll let him know tomorrow that this shit will not stand.

:grouphug:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. oh, man. Welcome to the Brave New World. That sucks

No wonder the GOP wants to maintain control of the state political apparatus. If real people get elected, things will change.

[HereSince1628]

3. Isn't technology wonderful? An IED explodes and in minutes half

a world away knows it.

But, getting information updated in a police database, that takes years.

My advice is get a damned good attorney. Find out what the employers rules were, if the firing was unlawful and doesn't reinstate your son...go for his pocket book.

[ohio_liberal]

25. I've got the papers my son got when he was hired

They say the corporation has the right to terminate employment at any time for any reason. :(

[HereSince1628]

39. He should appeal the firing as based on no cause and get unemployment

payments.

If he accepts the firing for cause it could take hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars earned to re-establish his eligibility for unemployment.

Screw the papers. Get some legal advice. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

[liberalhistorian]

69. If he was only on the job for

two days, then, unfortunately, he definitely won't be eligible for unemployment, even if he would qualify.

Every day I am more and more glad that I moved from NE Ohio last May to take a job in Rapid City, SD. Things are so much better here and in this state than in NE OH and the state as a whole. I went back for Christmas, and within two days I just wanted to be back in SD again, I'm NEVER going back to Ohio. And that's where I was born and raised and lived most of my life. This type of thing is the kind of shit that's par for the course in OH. And it's definitely an employer's world in OH, too.

OL, have you thought about contacting Connie Schultz at the Cleveland Plain Dealer? I believe her email is [email protected]. This is the kind of thing she really hates, (she's married to Ohio's greatest politician, Sherrod Brown), and I'm sure she'd be interested. And the police and employers hate that kind of publicity.

[ohio_liberal]

71. We really haven't considered the media yet

I didn't want to make a decision to involve the media without my son's OK. He just got out today and I'm taking him to the doctor in a little bit. He's not well, not well at all. I haven't talked much about the whole thing about with him yet. I just wanted to bring him home, get him a shower, give him some decent food first.

[proud2BlibKansan]

43. Same laws here in Kansas

Hubby went through an unfair firing about 10 years ago and after calling several lawyers, we had to accept the fact that there was nothing we could do about it.

I know how pissed you are. Cops seem to zero in on folks with these 'failure to appear' warrants here too.

[babylonsister]

4. That absolutely stinks. Here's a list of

Ohio senators, FWIW. Maybe you can find one that can help you.


http://www.senate.state.oh.us/senators/by_name.html

[ohio_liberal]

Thank you

I'll add them to the list of people to call.

[file83]

5. That is some messed up shit. Sue the shit out of the city - call the ACLU

Channel your anger into a constructive way to back at the man. Make those bitches work for you - not the other way around.

[ohio_liberal]

23. I'm going to do everything I can

They've got him in that lousy jail and he's sick with the flu. They give them one crummy blanket and not enough food to satisfy a 20 year old man. God, the humiliation he must feel. I can't even talk to him until tomorrow. I'm just sick about it.

[Mr Rabble]

6. That sucks! ACLU should be able to help.

Good luck.

[Fridays Child]

7. Talk to your son's employer. Maybe he or she will understand.

It's worth a try, right?

[ohio_liberal]

13. There's one cop who helped him when he got busted

I left a message on his cell phone voice mail. He might be willing to put in a good word with his employer. I don't know if it will work though, honestly.

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. Ohio is just a mess these days :^( I hope some justice can be found for

your son. :hug:

[BrklynLiberal]

9. Get a good lawyer. Call the ACLU.

[NJCher]

10. there has to be a way to get him released before Tuesday

And the irony: it's Martin Luther King Day that's coming up on Monday.

Perhaps you can use this to your advantage: threaten to go to the press with this miscarriage of justice. It will definitely be of interest because of the holiday.

Do you know any lawyers who you can ask for help?




Cher

[ohio_liberal]

14. No, I don't know any criminal lawyers

I can't afford one for him now anyway. :cry:

edited to add:

But I will find a good personal injury lawyer for him.

[Nutmegger]

11. Contact the ACLU to see what they have to say. n-t

[pretzel4gore]

17. use the system- a squeaky wheel gets greased.!..

holler, call protest and act enraged, play up the glaucoma, the racism, the sheer bureacratic stupidity...even if you must, pretend only a large cash settlement will buy you off! i know it's easy to give advice but apparently the bushviks hate the system cuz angry people can resort to it rather inexpensively, if that's true (and the vast rightwing conspiracy to criminalize pot cuz it's therapeutic, it's competition for the textile makers and the booze/drug moneyclubs, not to mention it's racism and anti hippie aspects) and if you got a thick skin (the first people you encounter representing the MAN are always nice guys who just doing thankless job etc) USE THE INJUSTICE AGAINST THE PRICKS!
(As a note, Marijuana cured seasickness and during world war2 millions of servicemen went over on ships and suffered seasickness though THE MAN knew damn well how to prevent that, they didn't cuz they win win win win making/having/keeping pot illegal...the source for this is of course foxnews)

[rfranklin]

19. Got to the newspapers and work on the fact that he has a medical ...

condition, he was working honestly and the bureaucracy fouled up. Should be a nice story...

[kywildcat]

18. Southern poverty law center....

http://www.splcenter.org/index.jsp

worth a try?

[ohio_liberal]

20. I got their number from the website

It's worth a try, for sure.

[kywildcat]

22. I'm not sure what city you are in, but Cincinnatis

new mayor is Mike Mallory. He is a democrat and a pretty sharp fellow. Try his office. Call the news in your area, and the county and state police and ask them how this would be handled normally. Call the local news.

[ohio_liberal]

24. I'm in Belmont County in a shitty little redneck town

This city, including the council and mayor, completely dissed the ohio valley black caucus--told them to go home where they belong. I have no reason to believe they will do anything to help a black man.

[babylonsister]

27. Can you contact someone in the caucus?

Also, perhaps the media is the way to go. You can pitch one loud bitch.
Here's a link to the Ohio newspapers:

http://www.usnpl.com/ohnews.html

[kywildcat]

29. Try the state police. Call the nearest station

and see what they have to say. Just checked the map, your near the west virginia border or PA?
Try the state police. then try Cleveland news and Wheeling WV news stations.

[ohio_liberal]

31. I'm about 5 miles from Wheeling WV

I've talked to two cops already. One was a sherriff deputy and one is a Ohio highway patrolman, which are basically glorified traffic cops. They both say the cops are not the problem here, one is blaming the invalid warrants on the court system and the other says it's the jail's responsibility to make sure information shows that court appearances were made. I don't think either one of them really knew what they were talking about. It's tough to get cops to admit bad things about cops.

[troubleinwinter]

28. "decided to check warrants on the only black man"

They think they can run warrant checks on any person of color they see???!!! Get on that phone and STAY on that phone. This goes way beyond your son (though you and he are hurting and rightfully angry), there is a very serious problem in your police force that must be exposed and rooted out.

[ohio_liberal]

30. I know, I know

This is why I made a point of mentioning the other case of someone being arrested on an invalid outstanding warrant in this city. It isn't the first time its happened and I know for sure it won't be the last. I feel lucky that they didn't taser the crap out of him like the other guy.

[The Backlash Cometh]

54. Scalia is moving to give the police this right.

It use to be that you had to have either a probable or reasonable cause to do certain kind of searches. The police would override this formality by checking first, then finding a reason to satisfy the courts after the search. i.e. If they find something wrong like a busted taillight, they'll claim it was the busted taillight that gave them the right to search; or they'll claim they got an anonymous tip to look for a person which happened to meet the suspect's description. Scalia is trying to get it so the police can dispense with even these formalities.

By all evidence, he's going to take it to the next level. He wants to give the police the right to base their decision on past statistics or experience. In other words, he wants to legitimize the skewed arrest statistics that are created when racist cops disproportionately search more minorities than whites. And once he accomplishes that, it will legitimize racial profiling.

[dsc]

33. A couple of things

First, for the future, your son should carry with him the original forms that show the disposition of that case. I can tell you from personally related experience that it is common in Ohio for paper work such as that to get screwed up. I think it is a case of different computer systems not being well interfaced.

Second, to get him out now I would suggest you threaten to go to the press with this story. Surely some judge is on emergency call for this weekend (they have to have warrents signed etc). Demand a hearing before that judge to have your son released. Trust me if this were some connected kid he would be out on bond right now.

Finally, this really does suck. I hope he can get his job back. The employer may be more understanding that you think.

[ohio_liberal]

34. We're looking for the paperwork right now

He has all his papers at his bio mom's house and she's digging through it right now. She just moved though and isn't sure she'll be able to find it.

Here's another problem. I've called the jail something like 6 times already, and there is now a new jailer. He told me a judge won't release him without an appearance because he's on probation. I told him a dozen times that he's NOT ON PROBATION. Their paperwork, computer, whatever is all screwed up. The freaking guy won't listen.

I've threatened with the media, ACLU, the OV Black Caucus, lawsuits, you name it. They told me to go right ahead.

[dsc]

38. I know how frustrated you are but sadly the jail isn't the bad guy here

Leaving aside for a moment the original running of his name, the rest really is standard police procedure. Criminals often lie so they require proof of these things. I have no idea why Ohio's computers are such a mess, but they really are. I have literally known a half dozen people who have been sober for years who got picked up for some old warrent or ticket that had long since been taken care of. My former sponser never left the house without the paper work clearing his mess of a licence.

I hope you can find the paper work. Sometimes life really sucks wind.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

35. Have You Talked To Any Lawyers Yet Or THe ACLU?

That all sounds like utter bullshit, especially if there was no due cause whatsoever to do a search for warrants. I would definitely consult with a lawyer on this one.

[ohio_liberal]

42. I've got a call in to my attorney to refer me to someone who can help

He was my divorce attorney and I don't think he handles criminal cases. I don't know if he'll get the message tonight. We'll see. I just borrowed money from my Dad for a retainer.

[EFerrari]

36. There has to be a judge on call who can sign the paper.

Find a lawyer friend and make it an issue.

Those BASTARDS.

[firefox]

37. Somebody should speak out against the drug war

Especially since the CIA is the biggest player on the planet.

Free Cannabis For Everyone.

[Time for change]

40. Sorry to hear that

Just one more reason why we need a new government.

Something similar happened in my family recently:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5680466

[DistressedAmerican]

41. Senseless Marijuana Laws Have Destroyed A Lot Of Lives.

We must DEMAND legalization so this shit stops happening to people who were harming noone with their actions. Victimless crime laws are themselves a crime.



Not to mention that it sends untold dollars into the hands of criminals. It is like people never freaking learn.

Best of luck to you and your son. This sounds like grade A bullshit. I hope he beats it and you sue their asses.

[proud2BlibKansan]

44. I almost lost my drivers license several years ago

I got a ticket, paid it and several months later, I got a letter from my insurance company saying they were canceling my coverage since my license had been revoked. Turns out the state revoked my license for non payment of the ticket. The city where I got the ticket had lost my payment and notified the state that I had not paid it, and state law says that can result in revoking the license.

The strange thing is the letter from my insurance company was the first clue I had that there was a problem.

I ended up having to drive to Topeka with a letter from the city verifying that I had indeed paid the ticket. The people at the state dept of revenue told me that this city was notorious for losing payments and they weren't the least bit surprised by what had happened to me.

Blew my mind. The consequences for my supposed non payment were quite severe while the city was allowed to lose my payment records and that was no big deal, just a routine thing.

[ohio_liberal]

45. "Routine Thing"

I can't begin to tell you how many people I've talked to in the last 4 or 5 hours that have said what I'm going through is nothing out of the ordinary.

I'm sorry that happened to you. There should be some sort of penalty for these kinds of errors by government agencies.

[troubleinwinter]

46. I got a "fix it" ticket, not a moving violation...

Fixed it and paid the $10 fine in person at the county offices.

THREE YEARS later, I could not renew my license without paying a $350 payment to a collection agency (!!!!) for "non-payment". Of course I hadn't kept the receipt to all those years. FUCK.

[ucmike]

47. made me wonder if his boss asked the cops to run his name.

seems weird that a cop would just decide to run a gas pumpers name for no reason.

aclu seems like a good suggestion, and raise a stink in the local papers.

[ohio_liberal]

48. The guy who runs the station...

...told my son on the first day of his employment that he told one of the cops who comes regularly who he was hiring and the cop said he was A-OK. My son told his bio mom that the police chief came in on his first day of employment and joked around with him that he remembered following him around outside after curfew many years ago. My son was never asked to sign any pre-employment papers nor did any of the paperwork say that the company would run a formal background or criminal check. The application never even asked if he had ever been arrested. I asked him about this before he was hired because he had feared that the drug charge would haunt him all his life.

This is a small town of less than 6500 people and the minority population is way below average for Ohio. I imagine some of the cops in town remember who he is.

[greiner3]

49. And I'll bet the city denies there is racial profiling. n/t

[ohio_liberal]

51. Absolutely

The city policeman I talked to today said "This is not about race." :eyes:

[The Backlash Cometh]

50. Sue their asses.

They'll go through whatever lengths they can to take away opportunities from minority groups.

That said, I hope your son has outgrown his youthful indiscretion.

[ohio_liberal]

52. He has

He's no choir boy, that's for certain, especially during his teenage years. I can honestly say that he has never hurt anyone but himself, and he's been walking the straight and narrow for almost two years.

[ohio_liberal]

53. UPDATE

I made phone contact with the ACLU and also filled out their online complaint form. I can only leave a message because nobody answers the phone at the Ohio location.

We're waiting for a phone call from the pastor of an AME church in Steubenville. He may be able to help us approach other organizations. I'm also waiting for my lawyer to call me back and put me in touch with a good criminal defender.

I am not allowed to visit my son this morning. Although it is a regular visiting day, I am required to make an appointment beforehand because the county jail has limited space for visitors and that space has already been filled for the day. The next visiting day isn't until Thursday. My son will have phone priviledges after today but I'm worried that he won't call because there is a very unreasonable fee to make a call, and he won't want me to pay collect charges. :cry:

[The Backlash Cometh]

55. Boy, does this sound like a case of false imprisonment.

[kywildcat]

56. Just a thought, do you have to 'pay' a daily fee

for your sons incarceration? In our county in kentucky, if you are jailed in addition to paying bail, they charge a $20 a day 'housing fee'. If your county imposes this fee, check into reverse billing. Ask your attorney if you can submit a bill to the county for your time and your sons lost time.

[ohio_liberal]

57. I will check on that

I honestly don't know at the moment whether they're charging him for room and board.

[NJCher]

58. sounds like you're making headway

I checked in this a.m. to see if you'd posted because I thought all night about your son unjustly imprisoned. That and the mistake in Pakistan is where my mind was last night.

Also, maybe you could get your son's bio mom to let you bring over some helpers to go through boxes? I know it sounds a bit aggressive but she might let you do it.

The paperwork might solve a multitude of problems.




Cher

[ohio_liberal]

60. Yes, slowly but surely we're making progress

I feel much better just knowing we're not all alone here now.

[ohio_liberal]

59. UPDATE 1/16/2005--The NAACP is in the House

My son is still in jail and will not be released under any circumstances until he appears before a judge. I cannot contact him, cannot go visit to let him know we're trying our best to get him out.

One of the local AME pastors gave me a number for the Steubenville NAACP. I got a callback from from a gent this morning. They'll be down to help us this afternoon after their MLK Jr celebration.

The gentleman on the phone told me that he believes Belmont County and surrounding cities purposely leave warrants open and active in the hopes of catching someone for various crimes beyond the active, invalid warrants.

He said the city police had no valid reason to do a warrant check on my son. He believes my son's civil rights have been violated.

I'll post updates as they come.

[lonestarnot]

61. Tell him to go to the Court and collect the record (1/2 pieces of paper)

re the FTA, should be a minute entry re situation and put it in his wallet.

[ohio_liberal]

62. We're going to do that first thing Tuesday morning when the court opens

We're all set to go collect necessary documents.

[lonestarnot]

63. Excellent!

[bleedingheart]

64. that is just awful and it is clearly an act of racism..

I would demand justice for your son and definitely call the ACLU.

[ohio_liberal]

65. It sure is

I don't know what to call it but racism.

I called the ACLU in Ohio on Saturday and left a message. I also filled out their online complaint form. The waiting is killing me.... :cry:

[TX-RAT]

66. Question

When they arrested him at the station, did they approach him and ask for ID, or did they tell him they had a warrant for his arrest?

[ohio_liberal]

67. I don't know the answer to that precisely, but I'll find out

He doesn't have any ID. He lost his state ID card and we were supposed to go get one on Tuesday. The police knew who he is. He knows the friendly cops on a first name basis, was even friends with the son of one of them. The police chief came in to the station on his first day of employment and joked about him being out after curfew years ago.

[NJCher]

68. here's to tomorrow

The gentleman on the phone told me that he believes Belmont County and surrounding cities purposely leave warrants open and active in the hopes of catching someone for various crimes beyond the active, invalid warrants.

He said the city police had no valid reason to do a warrant check on my son. He believes my son's civil rights have been violated.


It would be interesting to see what case law there is re your latter statement. I'll just bet there's a lot of it.

Re your former point, if you are able to get any media time, you will probably get stories from others. That could be very helpful if you are able to file a lawsuit.

I will be thinking about you tomorrow, OH_liberal, and will look forward to your update.

If there's anything I can do down the road re writing, let me know. I'm a professor of writing and I also have some experience with the law. Also, as a volunteer for a legal self-help organization, I see all too many people not follow up when an egregious action like this takes place. This only emboldens them to do it again. I hope you will push to file complaints against them. Don't worry about money: just go to the right people and state your case. Even if you don't have money for this, many times the responsible people will act on your behalf because they know what is at stake.




Cher

[ohio_liberal]

70. Another Update--1/18/06

My son is out of jail on $10,000 bond today. The judge would not allow my son to enter a plea to the charge of failure to appear, nor would he consider evidence supporting the fact that my son showed up at his scheduled court hearing 18 months ago. The judge did set bond at $10,000. He is represented by my divorce attorney for the time being. We have to go back to court on the 25th.

It's 22 degrees outside and the county jail brought my son to court in a two-piece short sleeved orange jailbird outfit and thong sandals. :mad: