F. Michael Higginbotham, Dean Joseph Curtis Professor at Law at the University of Baltimore, contributed an op-ed to The Baltimore Sun titled “Clinton deserves black vote” (May 15).
Professor Higginbotham hailed an April 29 speech by Hillary Clinton at Columbia University, in which the presumptive Democratic nominee for president spoke of the recent unrest in Baltimore following the death in police custody of 25-year-old Freddie Gray:
“Ms. Clinton began by recognizing that something is seriously wrong in the current relationships between police and the minority community. She is absolutely right. Relations in Baltimore have been strained for decades due to unnecessarily harsh policing practices and outright race discrimination by the police. Baltimore has paid over $6 million in court judgments and settlements in over 100 lawsuits alleging police brutality since 2011, according to The Baltimore Sun. Ms. Clinton also noted the stark racial disparities that exist in sentencing and incarceration. As Ms. Clinton declared, ‘African American men are still far more likely to be stopped and searched by police, charged with crimes and sentenced to longer prison terms than are meted out to their white counterparts.’
Professor Higginbotham concluded: “Hillary Clinton understands not only that black lives matter, but that justice requires fundamental reform in the courts, on the streets and in classrooms, offices and voting booths. That is why, I predict, by Election Day, she will be embraced, with enthusiasm, by the African-American community.”
Learn more about Professor Higginbotham.
