Spectrum

Too often we, as a country, focus only on the incidents of violence perpetrated on African Americans by police officers instead of looking at the total picture of racism that perpetuates the criminal justice system from the streets to the courtrooms, says Judge Gayle Williams Byers, of the South Euclid Ohio Municipal Court. Racism goes well beyond what happens in the streets, she says. It truly is systemic. Judge Byers complains of over-policing in minority neighborhoods. “Overall, the issues related to police brutality and its intersection with black folk is “ground zero.” While the media has largely focused on the overreaching and many times illegal police tactics employed while interacting with the black community, they have overlooked the role that City Councils and Courts often play in setting these confrontations in motion,” says Judge Byers. She also claims that City’s use courts and over-policing as revenue streams. “Often, local governments use police forces and courts as revenue generating A