March 23: Cleveland - Police Reform: Why Respect for Difference Matters

Videotaped images of individuals being killed or severely injured during interactions with police currently permeate our national media and discourse. While the images are new, the deaths of Americans – in particular members of marginalized communities – at the hands of police are not new. The shift to militarized policing from community-oriented policing plays a crucial role. Over the course of several decades, attempts have been made to institute police reforms to ensure that police departments do not engage in use of excessive force. When the individuals killed at the hands of law enforcement belong to a minority group due to their race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and/or mental health status calls have been made for bias-free, culturally sensitive policing. This panel will engage civil and criminal defense lawyers, law enforcement officials, government attorneys, and the broader community in a discussion on how diversity plays a role in police reform efforts and provide suggestions for police reform.

Title:
Police Reform: Why Respect for Difference Matters
When/Where:
March 23, 2016
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Moot Courtroom (A59)
Case Western Reserve University School of Law
11075 East Boulevard
Cleveland, OH 44106-7148
Speakers:

• Daniel Chaplin is a solo practitioner, whose practice includes preserving and rehabilitating homes and businesses.From 1991 to 1993, Represented Edward Henderson a mentally ill man who lead Cleveland Police on a short but dangerous police chase and was savagely beaten by Cleveland Police after he surrendered and was handcuffed. After this case began to focus Law Practice on Police Practices and Police interactions with the mentally ill and the criminalization of mental illness and poverty.
• Ayesha Bell Hardaway is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Milton A. Kramer Law Clinic. As a member of the faculty, Hardaway teaches in the Health Law and Civil Litigation clinics. She supervises students as they represent clients in disability, guardianship, emergency mental health commitment, housing, and employment related cases. In addition to her scholarship interests in health law and civil litigation, Hardaway also researches and writes about the intersection of race and the law. Prior to joining the law school faculty, Hardaway practiced in the Litigation Department of Tucker Ellis LLP. Her six years at the firm were devoted to defending major electrical, automotive and pharmaceutical manufacturers during all phases of litigation as trial counsel and National Coordinating Counsel. Hardaway represented those clients in state and federal courts throughout the country. Before her time at Tucker Ellis LLP, Hardaway was an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for Cuyahoga County and handled a variety of criminal matters, including juvenile delinquencies and general felonies.
• Michael L. Nelson, Sr. has always been an advocate for social and economic justice. Upon graduation from Central State in 1972, Michael returned to Cleveland and joined the Cleveland Public Schools as a teacher. In 1984, at the request of then Senator Michael R. White, he joined the Glenville Development Corporation as Director of Housing, with the direct charge of turning the agency around.
• Maya Simek is the Director of Programming at the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland and Founder/Staff-Attorney of the Community Lawyering Program at the Nueva Luz Urban Resource Center. Couched on the belief that the fusion of law and social work help to assist clients in the most comprehensive fashion possible, the Lawyering Program works to create interdisciplinary teams of lawyers, social workers, housing case managers, medical practitioners, and nutrition assistance in order to effectuate a holistic web of individuals and resources for the good of clients living with HIV and AIDS in Cuyahoga County. Ms. Simmer also works as an Adjunct Clinical Law Professor in the Community Advocacy Clinic at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.

By:
Case Western Reserve University School of Law
Credit:
Approved for 1 hour of in-person CLE credit
Cost:
Free and open to the public.

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