Judge Dismisses Cases Against Cincinnati “Black Lives Matter” Demonstrators
Charges against more than 100 protestors have been dropped due to an unconstitutional curfew order, judge rule
Background
In May and June of 2020, hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Cincinnati to protest the then-recent killings of several black Americans, including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by police and an unarmed Ahmaud Arbery by a Georgia resident. About 500 protesters were arrested by police and charged with violating a curfew order by Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley.
Approach & Resolution
Friedman, Gilbert + Gerhardstein partner Jacqueline Greene, also an attorney with the Cincinnati Mass Defense Coalition, defended the protesters and helped get the charges dropped against more than 100 of those arrested. Three different judges heard these combined cases, which were the first to come to resolutions following the spring demonstrations, and ruled them vague and overbroad. One judge wrote that the “curfew is fatally flawed in many respects” and “it is absolutely unclear as to who [stet] the curfew applies.” This wave of dismissals marks another victory in the fight against arrests and prosecutions that targeted and attempted to silence the movement for Black liberation.
Updated Wednesday, December 16, 2020