MANSFIELD: The Marines Landed

By Mansfield Frazier

The recent angst at the Plain Dealer in regards to the front page (of the Metro Section I do believe) photo of two young girls being thrilled by hoisting some sort of rocket launcher onto their shoulder under the watchful eye of a Marine brought back memories of a trip I took over a decade ago.

As the editor of a weekly newspaper, I (along with dozens of other journalists) got invited to an all-expenses-paid weekend trip down to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, SC, to see what these brave and tough men and women go through as they transition from being soft civilians to become lean, mean killing machines. The trip, like the landing, was part of an on-going PR effort by the Marines.

Being anti-war (or more accurately, pro-peace), I did what any self-respecting journalist would do when invited: I packed my bag and went. Hey, I’m a big supporter of a strong military… as long as it’s more of a peace-keeping, self-defense force. If someone invades Washington State or the Florida Keys, I’m right there with them defending the homeland. But, on the other hand, military adventurism leaves me cold. But I digress (as I sometimes do).

While at Parris Island I went into one of the many souvenir shops in town to purchase some trinkets for the folks back home when I saw this T-shirt that, by the way, was selling like hotcakes:

Join the Marines,
Travel to exotic places,
Meet interesting people,
And KILL them.

At a couple of bars I visited later on that night many Marines were wearing the same T-shirt. I witnessed firsthand how our military has mastered the art of turning the killing on… but with returning service members now committing suicide at the alarming rate of one a day… we haven’t quite figured out how to turn the killing off, have we?

 

Is the Machine Finally Broken?

The Cuyahoga County Democratic Party’s executive committee recently voted to make Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Michael John Ryan their candidate to run against Republican Anjanette C. Arabian Whitman this fall. Whitman was recently appointed by Gov. Kasich to fill the seat on the Juvenile Court bench that opened up upon the death of long-time Judge Peter Sikora. However, her chance of winning election to the seat outright against virtually any Democratic candidate here in Cuyahoga County is probably slim to none-existent.

So the real race for the seat took place at the meeting of the Democratic Party faithful, a group which — historically — has selected candidates not as much on qualifications as on name recognition… with Irish names usually faring better than most. The “machine” usually told committee members who to vote for and for years they, almost without question, did what they were told in lockstep. But that didn’t happen this time… which begs the question, is the “machine” broken?

Ever since Stephanie Tubbs Jones snookered the “machine” by beating a Corrigan (and the son of John T, no less) for the job of county prosecutor back in 1991, vows were allegedly made that never again would someone not anointed by Westside powerbrokers be allowed to win at the county level… and those vows, by-and-large have been kept… that is until now.

Ryan’s win throws sand into the gears of the “machine” and indeed he might have broken it. Could his victory possibly mean that at last Democrats are coming to their collective sense and voting for the best candidate, not just the one with the Irish surname?

Of course my characterization of Judge Ryan as the “best” candidate is totally a subjective opinion on my part. Indeed, all of the candidates vying for the nod were competent attorneys with a good understanding of the law… so what makes Ryan the “best”? His background, his history, his life experiences.

The vast majority of juveniles coming before the Court are youth of color, and poor youth at that. Sure, some white kids get into trouble too, but in most cases family financial wherewithal enables them to hire private attorneys (who are not necessarily better lawyers, they just don’t have the backbreaking caseloads county and court appointed lawyers are saddled with), ship them off to private treatment facilities, and do whatever else is necessary to assure a good outcome.

But, while the vast majority of youthful offenders are Black, the vast majority of judges on the Juvenile Court bench are White… and yes, believe it or not, this does make a difference. This is not to say White judges are not just as concerned, caring and well-meaning as Black judges — most of them are (and if they have any prejudices they hopefully leave them at home, or at least don’t carry them as they step up on the bench).

But it’s a two-way conversation between the person sitting in judgment and those being judged, and rest assured those on the receiving end of justice the potential outcomes as being more fair when the person meting out the punishment or decisions look more like them… which can affect the efficacy of the corrective measures handed down by the jurist.

Born in the projects to a heroin addicted mother (but eventually raised by his grandmother to become the man he is), Judge Ryan can better understand and empathize with the youth and the families coming before the court, and he therefore can obtain better outcomes by making more informed, nuanced, decisions. It’s only by the grace of God and the good work of his grandmother that he, as a youth, didn’t appear in front of the same bench he is now seeking.

Of course there’s no empirical method of ascertaining if the above supposition is true or not, so White candidates can claim they can be just as effective on the bench… and they will and here’s why: the number of slots — in this case judgeships — is finite, limited, and virtually no one is willing to step aside for another candidate… even if in their own heart they know another candidate is better suited for the position. This just isn’t normally done in America. Power is never ceded; it has to be wrestled away. And Judge Michael John Ryan did just that.

But back to the original question: Is the “machine” broken? I wouldn’t bet on it. Perhaps it’s in need of some service, perhaps a tune-up, but trust me that after Judge Ryan’s win some folks are already tinkering around with it, trying to fix it so those who’ve been in power for so long remain in power… no matter how unjustly they use or abuse it.

If the “machine” politicians really wanted to play fair they would join with Blacks and lobby the State Legislature to allow judges — county judges — to run in state representative districts instead of countywide, which would insure a fair number of minorities on the bench. But don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen.

 

From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://www.neighborhoodsolutionsinc.com.

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