Politics wins, children lose as DOJ leaves Memphis
The U.S. Department of Justice terminated its Memorandum of Agreement with Shelby County last week.
The agreement required Juvenile Court and Shelby County to treat all youth fairly, protect the due process rights of children and protect children in the county’s custody from harm.
The agreement was not terminated because the county reached these goals. It has not.
The agreement was terminated because Juvenile Court Judge Dan Michael and previous county administration officials found kindred spirits in the upper reaches of the Trump Administration’s DOJ, who thought it more important to protect the status quo than to protect the children of Shelby County.
The manner in which the agreement was terminated was nearly as despicable as the act of termination itself.
Independent monitors, two of whom have reported on this case for six years, were in town the week of Oct. 8. They were here to evaluate progress and the current status of compliance with the agreement. Their visit concluded Oct. 12 and they were to submit draft reports of their findings within 30 days. They never got the chance. DOJ officials saw no need to wait for a current report on progress. The information DOJ had available to base their decision to terminate the agreement was the following:
❚ Independent monitor reports following a visit in April 2018. These reports indicated black youth were treated more harshly than white youth and due process protections were insufficient.
❚ A report from Paul Summers, former settlement agreement coordinator for the county. Summers’ report included the comment, “We do not have a race problem in Shelby County, Washington, D.C. or Chicago for that matter. We do not have a DMC (disproportionate minority contact), an equal protection, a detention or a due process problem. We have a crime problem.”
❚ A June 29, 2018, letter from then county attorney Kathryn Pascover stating “the Court will never – because it cannot – reach the statistics desired by the DOJ and the Monitor” in DMC and Equal Protection.”
❚ A visit by a local group including Judge Michael and former county mayor Mark Luttrell (in his last week in office) to Washington asking DOJ to terminate the agreement.
DOJ, to its shame, ignored the efforts and expertise of independent monitors, accepted the excuses of a group that wanted to avoid change at all cost, and terminated the agreement.
Hope for youth in Shelby County lies with the newly elected mayor and the county commission. There is talk about continued local monitoring and how that is done will be critically important.
The commission should consider asking monitors to complete their reports based on their October visit. After all, the county paid for that visit. These independent reports could serve as a guide for what needs to be done.
It would also be helpful if the commission includes some type of ongoing independent monitoring.
The mayor and commission have their work cut out for them, if they truly want to make a difference. I wish them the best of luck. Our children are depending on them.
Bill Powell served as the county’s juvenile court monitor until 2017.