It’s All Over …
… except for the recriminations.
Harvard Prof Henry Louis Gates Jr’s lawyer, Walter Prince, and the Cambridge cops negotiate a “just resolution,” in which the cops and the DA drop the disorderly conduct charge, and both sides agree it was a “regrettable” incident.
Later in the day, Gates and his other lawyer, Harvard Law Prof Charles Ogletree, apparently working from a different script, say its all over except for the cop’s abject apology, his personal lecture on black history and sensitivity retraining for the entire CPD, and failing that, maybe a lawsuit. Boston Herald:
Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. won’t rule out a lawsuit against the city of Cambridge, insisting not only that the cop who arrested him on a disorderly charge apologize but that the entire police force submit to sensitivity training, his lawyer told the Herald yesterday.
The demands came just hours after a mutual announcement by the city and Gates that the charge was being dismissed - with agreement Thursday’s incident was “regrettable and unfortunate” but that there had been a “just resolution.” The agreement made no mention of an apology or retraining.
Harvard Law professor Charles Ogletree, who is representing Gates, said the scholar remains upset about what happened, however, when he was first mistaken for a burglary suspect in his own home, and then arrested after allegedly shouting accusations of racism at the police officer.
“He’s still going through the shock of what happened,” he said. “It’s not easy for anyone to get over it and pretend it didn’t happen. He is pleased the charges were dismissed and very hopeful we can work constructively to address how police conduct themselves.”
Asked whether Gates was considering a lawsuit, Ogletree said, “That is to be determined.”
“I think the first step is . . . an apology,” he said.
Sgt. James Crowley could not be reached yesterday. Cambridge police, union and city officials refused to discuss the demands.
Of the demand for sensitivity training, Ogletree said, “We just need to find a way to re-establish that regular routine of engagement and dialogue with police. I see it as an opportunity to address some of the complex issues surrounding (the case).”
Yesterday’s agreement was issued by the city after Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr., recognizing the situation was escalating into a powder keg, entreated Police Commissioner Robert Haas and Gates’ attorney Walter Prince to meet and resolve their differences Monday. They did, and emerged yesterday with police recommending the charge of disorderly conduct against Gates be dropped. That led to the joint statement. Leone declined to comment last night on Gates’ apparently new demands
Maybe the Cambridge cops need more sensitivity training. It’s kind of hard to imagine they haven’t been heavily sensitized to a broad range of diversity already, given that they are governed by Cambridge City Hall.
In any case, no mention of the new conditions in the earlier agreement. I’m no Harvard Law prof, but I have to say it sounds like it has the makings of a good first-year Harvard Law ethics and legal strategy discussion. Or Friday bull session. If one lawyer negotiates an agreement in the morning, does that prevent a second lawyer from levying new conditions in the afternoon? Maybe not, the joint statement only said the charges were dropped. It didn’t say anyone agreed not to sue, and “just resolution” sounds like a phrase you could drive a truckload of lawyers through. Students may consider whether having a civil lawyer who specializes in transportation and white-collar crime negotiate your deal, while having an academician who specializes in demanding slavery reparations handle your press carries any inherent potential for conflict or confusion. Or whether there is a clever one-two punch strategy at play here, of getting the other side to drop charges and at least tacitly admit fault, and just when they think everything is amicably dispensed with, dopeslapping them with a lawsuit threat. Could be genius. I dunno, though, the whole thing does sound a little … disorderly.
Meanwhile, Gates and Ogletree have claimed there is no way he could have been yelling his head off. He had a bronchial infection he picked up in China.
This photo snapped by a neighbor appears to show him yelling his head off.
There’s no audio. However, another neighbor who claims to have witnessed the incident, supported police claims that Gates was yelling his head off.
“When police asked him for ID, Gates started yelling, ‘I’m a Harvard professor . . . You believe white women over black men. This is racial profiling.’ ”
That might tend to suggest Gates’ recall of the incident, which has been a bit of a he said, she said, is flawed.
In other business, the Boston Herald’s Peter Gelzinis notes that this could be a career bost for Gates, a black history documentarian whose highest profile work to date was a PBS genealogy of American black gliterati such as Oprah, and who periodically writes for publications such as The New Yorker. Gates already has indicated he wants to make documentaries about racial profiling and prison reform as a result of the incident. That’s a good idea, as it will give Gates a chance to explore whether in fact he was racially profiled by cops responding to a citizen’s report of a burglary in progress, and whether disorderly charges are disproportionately applied between the races, or if cops will indiscriminately slap cuffs on anyone who starts shouting accusations of injustice while they are trying to do their jobs. Either way, it just goes to show what a great country America is, where anyone who toils earnestly amid adversity can find opportunity.
Topics: academia, cops, law & order, lawyers, racism
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 8:40 am on Wednesday, July 22, 2009
4 Responses to “It’s All Over …”
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July 22nd, 2009 at 9:04 am
I would hope, if I found myself in similar circumstances, that I would have the common courtesy to thank the officer for his concern and his assistance. I would also expect to show the officer ID to establish that the door I was kicking was, in fact, my door.
Of course, I’m a crusty white guy, and I am not a Harvard professor.
July 22nd, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Highly public incidents like this are never about a young black man refusing to cooperate at a legitimate traffic stop, or a black woman getting caught shoplifting, or a black politician caught taking a bribe, or a black academic being questioned about suspicious-looking (if innocent) activity at his home. It’s always about “racism”. Some blacks find the race card easy to play because it has worked for so long.
Well, we have a black man in the highest office in the land, and black officials, and black professionals, and black middle class (oh, yeah, and black cops too) everywhere now. It’s time for the “race card” to go the way of Jim Crow.
July 22nd, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Hey I’m a member of the white subset of the Human Race, do you know where I can get one of those race-cards? How many do you have to have to play solitare?
Are they any good for poker? Does Jesse Jackson use them for poker too?
July 23rd, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Many years ago, late at night, while house-sitting for relatives in another city, I locked myself out of the house. A neighbor saw me fiddling with the screen door and called the police. I showed them my ID and explained the situation, and everything was fine. It would never have even occurred to me to abuse the police. Gates’ behavior shows that he is not an adult and is not competent to exercise even the everyday duties of citizenship.