ACLU of Ohio Says Cuyahoga Falls Mayor's Court Shows Evidence of Racial Bias

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ACLU of Ohio Says Cuyahoga Falls Mayor's Court Shows Evidence of Racial Bias

Ideastream Public Media | By Mitch Felan

Published August 20, 2018 at 7:43 PM EDT

The city's mayor Don Walters disputes the claim of racial bias and questions the accuracy of the data.

For years, residents have accused which hear traffic, city ordinance and misdemeanor cases, of being more interested in collecting revenue than serving justice.

, the ACLU of Ohio said some of those courts, including , show evidence of racial bias.

Policy researcher Sri Thakkilapati said Cuyahoga Falls Mayor's Court shows some issues.

鈥�(The city's population is) 3.3 percent black, but 17 percent of the citations that were issued were to black folks,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here was (also) a lot of clustering in the poorer side of town, in the southeast side of Cuyahoga Falls.鈥�

Meanwhile, disputes the claim of racial bias and questions the accuracy of the data.

He also added the city's Mayor鈥檚 Court is irrelevant to the actions of police officers. He said they would still issue citations and cases would be sent to municipal courts instead.

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Mitch Felan

Mitch Felan is a news intern for WKSU. He is a multimedia journalist with experience in print, television, radio and visual journalism. Felan is a junior at Kent State University, working towards a Bachelor's Degree in Multimedia Journalism. During the school year, Felan works for Kent State Student Media in TV2, The Kent Stater, and KentWired. He will be serving as the Digital Director for Kent State University's Student Media Newsroom in the Fall.

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ACLU of Ohio Says Cuyahoga Falls Mayor's Court Shows Evidence of Racial Bias