From the Metro Desk of the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog.Com (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com) 

 

Thank you to News Channels 5, 3 and 19 for covering the rally as to the 6 pm curvew law adopted three weeks ago by Cleveland Hts City Council. The rally was on July 18, 2011 in front of Cleveland Hts City Hall with some 25 activists protesting, followed by discussions at the City Council meeting where activists called for council to end the unconstitutional and irresponsible city ordinance that allegedly targets Black children and gives police the discretion as to whom to arrest for eating a sandwich at select  restaurants in the city after 6 pm.

Activist groups, including The Imperial Women and Stop Targeting Ohio's Poor,  also took issue with the curfew law provision that gives police the discretion to pick and choose and to arrest Blacks while leaving their White counterparts alone, if they wish, which they say is a licence for potential discrimination. 

 

The curfew law at issue, adopted by way of an amendment to a longstanding city ordinance on curfews, allows police to arrest children under 18 caught eating at select restaurants or otherwise patronizing select businesses in Cleveland Hts. in the absence of a parent or guardian after 6 pm. Activists and others met with State Sen. Shirley Smith (D-21) on Tue. to make their demands known and agreed to delay scheduled upcoming protests until the senator meets with the group again after conferring with Cleveland Hts Mayor Edward Kelley. They want the ordinance repealed  saying that it is racist and unconstitutional and they are calling for more sensitivity training for police in Cleveland Hts.