I’ve always thought judges had too much unchecked power in the United States judicial system, and this is just another example of that.
Although not a huge injustice (for once), Ohio attorney Andrea Burton was sentenced to jail time by Judge Robert Milich for disobeying a directive to remove a ‘Black Lives Matter’ pin she was sporting in the courthouse.
NY Daily News fills in the details:
Attorney Andrea Burton was arrested at a Youngstown, Ohio courthouse on Friday while representing a client. She was charged with contempt of court after refusing to remove the pin on the grounds that she was expressing her right to free speech.
She was given the several-day jail sentence but has been released while an appeal is underway, WKBN News reported.
Now there’s a segment of the population that will undoubtedly chastise Ms. Burton for defying a judge’s order to remove the pin, and I’m willing to bet this is the same crowd spewing the “stop resisting & you won’t get shot” narrative.
You see, it’s really quite simple. The crux of this whole situation can be found in what happened in that Ohio courtroom. A Black woman, is clearly feeling a certain way about whats been happening in this country, specifically to Black people. This judge loses nothing by acknowledging her support of a POSITIVE movement, important to her; but of course he cites a Supreme Court ruling allowing…not mandating, but allowing judges to prohibit “political symbols” from the courthouse.
Instead of humanizing the situation, Milich passive-aggressively blows the situation up to way more than it needs to be, tries to waste already unacceptable prison space by jailing an innocent (yes I meant innocent) woman, and furthers the divide between the judicial system and people of color.
Here was a perfect opportunity for a public show of compassion from one side to the other, but I guess Ms. Burton is just far too dangerous to be free to walk the streets…or just too hard-headed.
Burton will remain out of jail as long as she adheres to the judge’s order not to make “political statements” in court” however, if she loses her appeal she’ll have to spend 5 days behind bars.
Curious to know if the American Flag pins I always see in courtrooms fall under that “political statement” umbrella or not?
Flip the pages for video from the lawyer explaining what happened…
