Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III
One of the things that make America unique is its Constitution, specifically the Bill of Rights. In its original form, the Constitution did not include a list of basic civil liberties or guarantees to the individual. Many prominent Americans, including Thomas Jefferson insisted that a list of fundamental protections be included to restrain the national government from tampering with the fundamental rights and civil liberties of its citizens. The intent of the framers of the Constitution was to level the playing field. They felt it necessary to restrain the very powerful government, prosecutors, and police from arbitrary and capricious action against the less powerful individual. Over time these protections have been passed down to the state level.
The case of Heather Ellis is a perfect present day example of why individual American citizens need to be protected from over zealous capricious prosecutors and police. For a young woman to be facing up to fifteen years in prison for trespassing, disturbing the peace, and two felony counts of assaulting a police officer, all for allegedly cutting a check-out line at a Wal-Mart is unconscionable.
What is at play here is not a prosecutor’s pursuit of justice. At the end of the day, Ms. Heather Ellis and her family find themselves engaged in a battle with a prosecutor who is more concerned with maintaining his hegemonic control over the lives and minds of the African American community in Kennett, MO than the pursuit of justice. Ms. Ellis is being persecuted not prosecuted.
If Ms. Ellis had gone along with the plea bargain (a small misdemeanor count) offered by Kennett, MO Prosecutor Stephen Sokoloff, all would have been forgiven. Unfortunately, many times in life the easy route is not the best route. The problem with accepting Sokoloff’s “bargain” is that Ms. Ellis believes that she is innocent. Also, by pleading guilty to a lesser charge, Ms. Ellis reduces her due process rights. She waives her rights to a jury trial, her right to appeal, and her right to sue Wal-Mart and the Kennett, MO police for unlawful arrest and police brutality.
The family has received threats from the Ku Klux Klan, some of which were reportedly delivered by the police themselves. It has been reported that Ms. Ellis’ family was told by Prosecutor Sokoloff, that they should have taken the plea offer because they "can never win in this town." His town? I thought prosecutors worked for and in the best interest of all of the citizens within their particular jurisdiction.
As a community, we need to be certain we restrain the very powerful government, prosecutors, and police from arbitrary and capricious action against the less powerful individual. This is clearly a case of persecution and not prosecution.
Dr. Wilmer Leon is the Producer/ Host of the nationally broadcast call-in talk radio program “On With Leon,” and a Teaching Associate in the Department of Political Science at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Go to www.wilmerleon.com for more information. For media requests or speaking engagements, please visit www.GreatBlackSpeakers.com. You can also call (901) 413-0203.
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