The Presumption of Guilt: The Arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Race, Class and Crime in America

[EFerrari]

(Cambridge PD is supposed to release their study of the Gates arrest today. Ogletree was Skip Gates' lawyer through the incident.)

Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree on "The Presumption of Guilt: The Arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Race, Class and Crime in America"




The Cambridge Police Department is scheduled to release the results today of an independent review of the arrest of leading African American Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. by a white police officer last year. The incident made national headlines and sparked a national debate on race relations that reached all the way to the White House. Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree acted as counsel to professor Gates throughout the incident, which he documents along with other incidents of racial profiling in his new book, "The Presumption of Guilt: The Arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Race, Class and Crime in America."

Charles Ogletree, professor a law at Harvard law school, and counsel to Henry Louis’ Gates, Jr. during Gates’ racial-profiling incident. He also continues to advise on police behavior to both Harvard University and the City of Cambridge and is special counsel to President Obama. His new book is "The Presumption of Guilt: The Arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Race, Class and Crime in America."

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/30/ogletree

Video at link; no transcript yet. (They've been a little slow lately. )

[Solly Mack]

1. Thanks!

K&R

[EFerrari]

2. Dr Ogletree retells other cases of his colleagues and students at Harvard

stopped for living while black. Unbelievable. 75% of the stops along I95 are of black drivers, who are only 17% of drivers using the highway.

[ParkieDem]

3. OK, question

I don't doubt that discrimination exists, especially by the cops against African-American males.

But I never quite understood the whole "driving while black" argument. When I'm driving down the highway, there's no way I can tell the ethnicity of a car that passes me going the other direction. In fact, the only way I can tell is if the car is right next to me.

This is an honest question, not trying to stir anything up -- how are police officers/highway patrolmen determining that persons are black before pulling them over?

[hfojvt]

4. you cannot do it on a divided highway

But cops are not going from the northbound lane into the southbound lane on an interstate. Typically they are sitting in the median where it says "no U turn". From that vantage point you can see ethnicity of a driver.

[EFerrari]

5. That phrase comes right out of one of the cases Dr. Ogletree talks about.

One of his students was stopped on the way back from his grandmother's funeral. The cops wanted to search his car for weapons. And they told him outright that they didn't need probable cause.

ETA: It was from that case that we got the phrase "driving while black".

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. Here where I live they can tell by the plate on the car

It's a two state metro area and one state has a higher minority population. There are also counties that are heavy minority and the county of residence is on the plates in one state.

[ParkieDem]

21. OK, but

Can you really read a license place (esp. the name of the state/county) at 65mph?

[proud2BlibKansan]

27. Here in one state you have to have a front plate but in the other you don't

So yes, cops can easily tell which drivers are from out of state.

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. The little suburban city where I grew up is probably 99% white

And when you go to traffic court there the folks getting tickets mandating court appearances are 90% minority.

It's disgusting. I can remember my parents being concerned about this 50 years ago. Some things never change. Sigh.

[EFerrari]

10. It's hasn't changed a bit. People can be in a pool of tens to be hired at Harvard

but still in a pool of millions to be mistreated by the Cambridge PD.

Btw, Mom went to see a relative, in for possession, last week. She said she was the only remotely light skinned person waiting in line. This is nowhere near over.

[hfojvt]

8. to my memoery, Ogletree is not being honest

Like Gates pulled out his ID and was totally cooperative. The transcripts I remember said that Gates startedd accusing the officer of racism from the start and refused to provide ID. Maybe I am misremembering it and Ogletree has spent hours poring over the transcripts so he could write this book, but my impression here is that Ogletree is full of crap.

[EFerrari]

9. Your memory may be off. Gate did provide ID. He initially refused

to step outside.

Dr. Ogletree is not full of crap and in fact he is a consultant for the Cambridge PD.

[hfojvt]

13. actually my memory is not that faulty

I just re-read the police report. Gates refused several times to provide ID, although he finally, reluctantly cooperated, but there's Ogletree in the video acting like Gates was all cooperative and still the cop went on a racist jihad against Gates.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0723092...

Yes, I also still remember that there were inaccuracies in the police report which caused the anti-cop faction to cry "ho ho!" and be firmly convinced they had captured a racist heffalump in their cunning trap.

I also note that the report has now been released and unlike Ogletree and much of DU who insisted that only the cop was at fault and that Gates was completely in the right, the report concludes that "Sgt. James Crowley and Professor Henry Louis Gates were EQUALLY at fault for escalating a routine police call that ended in Gates' arrest."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-06-30-harvard-...

I think it is sad that Ogletree is seemingly being dishonest about it.

edited for some computer glitch

[EFerrari]

15. There were not "inaccuracies" in Crowley's report. He lied in his report.

The witness never said the men in question were black, as the 911 recording verifies.

And what do you expect from a commission managed by the City of Cambridge? LOL

But thanks for defending Jim Crow. Maybe he'll lead a parade in your town someday.

[hfojvt]

17. sure he did. Any inaccuracy MUST be a lie

except when Ogletree does it

and apparently calling Ogletree on his lies is the same thing as defending Jim Crow

In your OP you said the commission was independent. Now, because you don't like what it concluded, it is biased? I guess only Ogletree, a personal friend and colleague of Gates, can have the objectivity to find and report the truth (for his own profit)

Really, it is B.S. like this that might lead an objective person to conclude that racism doesn't really exist since here's a case where it was falsely manufactured.

[EFerrari]

18. You have yet to show that Dr. Ogletree misrepresented anything.

Get back to me when you can. Thanks.

[hfojvt]

20. of course, I cannot prove anything when you just impugn whatever source I find

Two police officers said Gates did not produce ID right away, but only Ogletree can be trusted when he implies that Gates was fully cooperative.

That does match Gates original story, but to my eye, his original story always show a bunch of inconsistencies, some of which are detailed here

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh080409.html

and here

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh072309.shtml

[EFerrari]

32. The witness herself came out and corrected the police reports

which were a CYA mess.

It's not surprising that these people wanted to protect their jobs. Most of us would have done the same thing, I suppose.

[hfojvt]

37. I might note something else that the witness said

"(By the way: On last Monday’s On the Record, Whalen’s lawyer told Greta Van Susteren that Whalen “does not believe the police acted inappropriately” in making the arrest. If that’s correct, is Whalen still saintly? Or is she a racist again—now that she has disagreed with an Approved View of our tribe?)"

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh080309.shtml

Gates statemens seem like CYA to me. Or cover your reputation. The witness seems to contradict him as well, since Gates said basically that he did nothing to warrant an arrest, and she seems to think he did.

[EFerrari]

43. So, by your own admission, she didn't say that. n/t

[NoGOPZone]

19. Where in the report does it say Gates refused 'several times' to provide ID?

I only see a sentence saying that he 'initially refused' before displaying Harvard ID. Save this initial refusal, I see nothing that would support the conclusion that providing identification was done 'reluctantly'

[hfojvt]

22. ho ho!! See, I was lying.

Okay, here's how I got several. First, I scanned the report, then I wrote the post. Clearly, my memory is not all that for exact detail.

Still I would count three refusals.
First, he refused to step on the porch.
Then, when it was explained that a burglarly was being investigated, he does not then voluntarily produce ID to clear up the misunderstanding that he logically should have known might exist since he did just have to force his front door open.
Then, he refuses again when asked to show ID.

That looks pretty reluctant to me, and then he starts asking for the Cop's ID for some reason.

Ogletree sums all that up by saying "Imagine that you showed ID and then got arrested in your own home." as if Gates was all "what seems to be the problem officer, how can I help you?" and then got cuffed for no reason.

[NoGOPZone]

23. Thanks for sharing your thought process.

I would have simply counted the number of separate times which he refused to provide ID in response to a direct query by the officer. But that's just me.

[hfojvt]

25. I didn't really want to count anything

I tried to cut and paste the relevant paragraph, but was unable to. If I had been able to then I would have had the statement to inform what I wrote instead of relying on memory, and a memory that remembered more than one refusal.

Now I might cut some slack for Ogletree, for misremembering as well, except that he has written a book that he is hawking and is clearly spinning the story to say Gates = good and innocent, and cop = bad and guilty, and the gist of what I wrote, that Gates did not cooperate (at least if you believe the two cops and the other eye witness). The gist of what Ogletree is claiming is not true.

[EFerrari]

50. There is no "other eyewitness" that reported Gates

refusing to show his ID.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Racial profiling is real. I see it nearly every day here.

A very sad reality.

[hfojvt]

16. Ogletree is being dishonest about the Gates incident

that's what I meand he is full of crap about, only what he said about Gates, not what he said about racial profiling.

But I think poverty profiling is real too. Lily white me was stopped in Iowa for a seatbelt violation and suddenly found about five cop cars there for back-up while they looked for an excuse to search my car for weapons.

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. I disagree about the Gates incident

I found it to be a graphic example of racial profiling. But I realize not everyone felt that way.

[EFerrari]

11. Link to report (pdf) here:

http://www.cambridgema.gov/CityOfCambridge_Content/docu...

[EFerrari]

14. If you want to give Mayor Maher feedback on this report, this is his addy:

mayor@cambridgema. gov

[Taitertots]

24. The Presumption of Guilt: If you get stopped breaking into a house they presume you are guilty n/t

[EFerrari]

29. No one got stopped breaking into a house. nt

[Taitertots]

30. They just showed up, responding to an accurate report of people breaking in

Your right, they got stopped AFTER breaking into a house.

[EFerrari]

31. Dr. Gates let himself in with the key to his back door.

And the word you want is "you're".

[Taitertots]

33. So what, the call was accurate and the response was justified

This is internet colloquial language so I don't care about difference between your and you're. I guess you choose to be anal about it, even when it is totally irrelevant.

[EFerrari]

34. Why are you even posting to this thread?

You don't know the case, "your" just pulling stuff out of your @ss, and by your own admission, the facts don't interest you. Isn't this a waste of your time?

[Taitertots]

35. Whether or not he went into the back door is irrelevant

The call was accurate and the response was justified. The police better show up and ask for ID if they get an accurate call that people are breaking into a house.

The facts interest me. The fact he went into the back door simply doesn't matter. If the police show up after getting a call that someone was breaking into a house they are going to presume that you are guilty of breaking into that house.

Edit: The only fact I got wrong was that the police didn't show up until after they gained access to the house. What are you pulling out of your ass?

[merh]

36. The call was not accurate, Gates was not new to the neighborhood

or to that particular house. He had lived there for some time. Just because the neighbor saw black man doesn't mean she was correct in calling in a break-in.

The cop was wrong in not contacting the university police to meet him on the scene. He knew it was their housing, they had jurisdiction.

But let's play your game, the call was appropriate. The response by the cop was not and the arrest was particularly egregious. Gates did nothing illegal.

[Nikki Stone1]

41. The neighbor saw someone breaking into a house

That's why she called 911. I would hope that my neighbor would do the same for me, regardless of the person's color or gender.

Now, as to why she didn't know her neighbor from a distance, there are many possibilities, including Gates' own busy traveling schedule. (He was just coming back from China, if you remember.) The woman herself also worked, so it is possible that they never ran into each other. In many neighborhoods, people don't know their neighbors and don't interact with them.

[EFerrari]

44. She wasn't a neighbor. She worked at an office in the area

and happened to be walking by. And she said she wasn't sure that the two people didn't live there.

She actually did a great job. She reported the situation without assuming anything.

[Nikki Stone1]

46. Ah. She did do a decent job, if you listen to the 911 tapes

The cops overreacted. They're doing a lot of that lately.

[merh]

52. The neighbor saw the resident of the home breaking into his home

I'd hope my neighbor recognized me and came over to help rather than call the police, especially if I had my suitcases with me.

[EFerrari]

42. And if you remember, merh, she was asked about the race

of the two men and she only said one of them might be Latino. She never said two black men with backpacks. That was someone else's embellishment.

And as Ogletree said, he's never in all his years as a defense attorney seen burglars BRING full suitcases to a burglary.

lol

[Nikki Stone1]

47. That's correct. It's on the 911 tape.

The cop overreacted.

I have two friends who have lived in Boston at different times. Both are African American and both had professional jobs and standing. Both have also been harassed by Boston cops. I have been told that Boston is one of the worst cities for harassment of black professionals. I don't know from my own experience, but both of my friends (who don't know each other) have attested to that.

[EFerrari]

49. Laura Flanders had a local on to discuss this case.

She (at the time) was a doctoral student at the diviity school and she reported the same thing. Plus, she told Laura about Jim Crowley being called "Jim Crow" by people in the black community.

Dr. Gates was apparently jet lagged and ill. He was not at his best. But, damn, Crowley was a "diversity trainer". You have to wonder what his students are like if he's the trainer.

[Nikki Stone1]

55. I figured jet lag played into it some for Gates

I wouldn't have been at my best after 16 hours in a plane, a time change of a whole day, and an infection. I understood where Gates was coming from, and I could see myself getting crabby and moody and desperate (for sleep) at that point.

Interesting that note about Crowley. And yes, if he's the "diversity trainer" Boston PD is in deep shit. It worries me that Obama legitimized him by inviting him to the White House.

[EFerrari]

60. Inviting him to the White House was good for Obama

and sucked for the black community that has to deal with this prick every day, imo.

[merh]

53. and wasn't Gates inside his house when the cop showed up?

Wasn't he at his kitchen counter or something? He wasn't ransacking the place or loading up his suitcase with stolen goods, was he?

[EFerrari]

54. Yeah. But apparently Gates wasn't submissive enough

and that's what ticked of Officer KissMyBadge.

[Nikki Stone1]

58. Cops are like that with women too

If you don't act submissive enough they get mad at you. I'll bet certain tazering incidents we have been reading about have been due to the cops wanting women and minorities to lick their boots, metaphorically speaking.

[merh]

63. I know of a fellow that was arrested on his front door step

at 1:30 a.m. for reckless driving and disturbing the police.

You see, earlier that day his neighbor called the cops and reported him for reckless driving and speeding, the cops went to arrest him at 1:30 in the morning and woke him up, of course he was pretty upset and yelling and cussing,

They called him out of his home and then cuffed him, he made bail and took it to court.

All charges were dismissed, on your front door step is now public for purposes of public nuisance and disturbing the peace.

Lady who complained didn't bother to show up to testify, imagine that.

Yes, sadly too many cops have that *kiss my badge* attitude.

Gates wasn't submissive enough.

[EFerrari]

65. One of the things that pissed Crowley off most, if I have this right,

is that he asked Gates to step "outside" and Dr. Gates refused.

If he had just gone with that and not stepped out onto his porch, I don't think these assholes would have have the excuse to cuff him. When he walked out onto his own porch, he made a mistake.

And this bs report from Cambridge just continues the falsehood that Gates had the same amount of power that Crowley did in this situation. It's ridiculous.

[Nikki Stone1]

70. The cops have the weapons and the badge.

Gates was just another civilian.

[Nikki Stone1]

56. The other thing is that Gates has pictures all over the house of himself with

famous people. There's one of him and Nelson Mandela in plain sight. All the cop had to do was look around to see that the man was in his own home.

[EFerrari]

61. That never occurred to me. Of course he does.

Geezus.

I emailed the Cambridge mayor and copied Dr. Ogletree and he thanked me for weighing in.

This sh!t needs to stop. I don't care how small a member Jim Crowley has. He has no business bringing that to work with him.

[Nikki Stone1]

69. Good for you.

Cambridge officials need to know that other folks around the US care about this.

[apocalypsehow]

39. Notice when they got nothin' they stop even pretending to debate and instead just ask you to leave?

It's very telling, IMO.

[EFerrari]

40. The police didn't get a call that there was a burglary in progress.

The witness said specifically that she might be watching two residents at their own door in her 911 call.

[Nikki Stone1]

45. The woman who called was trying to do the right thing

And she was careful in her phone call. The police overreacted. That was it. I think the presence of the cab driver might have had something to do with it. The cop might have thought that Gates was under duress and was being forced to say that everything was fine. Or the cop could have been pissed off at Gates for yelling at him.

All I remember is that poor woman getting blasted for calling 911 at all and from GATES' OWN website, The Root: http://www.theroot.com/views/skip-gates-speaks

Gates' daughter is an editor on that site, and allowed the female witness' name, work address and boss' name to be published. People from that site wrote hate mail to Harvard (the woman's employer) for just calling 911. Gates has to answer for that in my opinion.

In regard to the cop, remember how many stories we are now reading about cops tazering elderly and pregnant women, middle school students, etc. The cops are overreacting a lot and my guess is that this one did too.

[EFerrari]

48. Iirc, the cab was already gone when the cops rolled up.

This whole thing lasted six minutes. The witness never talked to Crowley, either.

And I believe Skip Gates did apologize to that lady. She did exactly the right thing, imo, but no good deed goes unpunished apparently!

[Nikki Stone1]

57. Well, they needed to take that woman's info off The Root

and if Gates did not do that (and he didn't during the whole flap) then he bears some responsibility for the death threats that woman got.

So Crowley never talked to the witness. And the cab was already gone. What WAS his fucking problem?

[EFerrari]

59. Posting that woman's stuff was over the top.

Agreed.

His problem was he's a dick.

[apocalypsehow]

51. And,uhhhhh...so? Your reply has absolutely no relation to the substance of the discussion above.

You might as well have typed "blue storks migrate in desert yellow." It would have been about as meaningful as some kind of reply to this sub-thread string.

Please try again.

[amborin]

28. K&R

[leftstreet]

38. K&R

Thanks for posting this.

[EFerrari]

62. Dr. Ogletree's office sent his reply to the Cambridge whitewash:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Professor Charles J. Ogletree, Jr. Response to the Cambridge Review Committee Report

I was very pleased to receive the report prepared by the Cambridge Review Committee today. The report is timely and important in addressing key reforms necessary to improve relationships between the Cambridge community and police department. We must applaud the hard work of law enforcement officers here and elsewhere, and make sure they have the resources and support they need to prevent crime and keep our communities safe. I also want to applaud the efforts of Commissioner Robert Haas, who has consistently reached out to the community to seek ways to improve the relationship between police officers and those who are subject to suspicion, detention, and arrest.

The report is sorely disappointing, however, in its recitation of the facts, and applies equal blame to the conduct of Sgt. James Crowley, an 11 year veteran of police services, and Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University. It is disappointing in that the key person who witnessed these events, Ms. Lucia Whalen, whose civic responsibility should be acknowledged and praised by us all, is not even mentioned. The record clearly shows not only that Ms. Whalen called the police, but also that, contrary to Sgt. Crowley’s report, she never stated there were two black men wearing backpacks. In fact, the only defining characteristic she gave was that one of the men may have been Hispanic. Furthermore, it is significant that Ms. Whalen, an eye witness, stated, without any presumptions about the conduct that she was observing, that the two men might have worked there or lived there, hardly a description of someone committing a burglary. Most important, while the report mentions that Professor Gates provided ample identification--including a photograph on his Harvard University ID and a photograph and address on his Massachusetts driver’s license--the Committee’s report offered no explanation of why Sgt. Crowley did not accept these identification cards as proof that Professor Gates was a lawful resident of this house, or why he continued his investigation after presented with proof of Professor Gates’ identity.

I hope that a fuller examination of the entire record will help police and the general public, here and elsewhere, understand their rights and responsibilities. I do not believe that we have to compromise security and safety in order to retain freedom of speech and of dissent. These are the hallmarks of a democratic society, and there is no reason why we cannot exercise them freely.

(Mods: posted in full with permission.)

[The Magistrate]

64. Indeed, Ma'am: Racist Policeman 'Testi-Lies' As Trained....

Business as usual....

[EFerrari]

67. Why does Cambridge believe that putting out this "report"

is a good idea? Because they can get away with it? I wonder if that is true.

Gates isn't the first black faculty member mistreated by the Cambridge PD. He's just the best known one.

[merh]

66. How the hell did they conduct an independent investigation

if they did not investigate? Wouldn't an investigation lead one to question the witnesses?

The thin blue line isn't really all that thin, is it?

[EFerrari]

68. It's a bunch of cr@p.

I guess the city doesn't think anyone cares about this so it doesn't matter how soon they bury it.

They may be right.

But as far as I'm concerned, it's not okay to arrest someone in their own home because they weren't NICE enough. And more, it's not okay to organize a racist narrative to cover your screw up as the Cambridge Pd did when they said their information was two black men with backpacks were trying to break into that house, which the witness never said. Can you believe that? That was their first move.

F#ck them twice to Sunday.

[Nikki Stone1]

71. I just went to the Democracy Now site

Is there a way to get a copy of the police report and the 911 transcripts?

[EFerrari]

72. They're both on the net, although I don't have the links any more.

But they should come right up if you search. The police report is probably archived here at DU.

[Nikki Stone1]

73. OK, I'll look.

There's been so much said that has been ignorant of the facts that it would be nice to have them at hand. I didn't even know that the witness didn't live in the neighborhood and just worked there.

[NoGOPZone]

74. You can find a link to the police report in post 13

I find it easy enough to read and comprehend, although at least one other person seems to have read things in it that weren't there. I don't know where to find the 911 transcripts though. The Associated Press had a page with it at one time but it was either moved or deleted.