For Biased Judges Even White Doesn't Make Right

Linn Washington Jr.

On the second anniversary of their winning a historic $10-million verdict – the largest ever for a discrimination lawsuit against the Philadelphia Police Department – three men staged a protest outside the city’s federal court house criticizing an unusual roadblock keeping them from receiving the fruits of their justice.

The three protestors, all former policemen, had sued the City of Philadelphia for savage, career-ending retaliation they received from Police Department personnel, including top officials, for their reporting of racism, corruption and other misconduct in the department.

In an unusual twist for such a discrimination suit, all three men are white,

This trio suffered severe retaliation during the late 1990s for opposing the vile racism heaped upon black police officers and minority citizens in the precinct where they worked.

Additional retaliation resulted from their reporting misconduct such as officers fraudulently obtaining over-time-pay by falsely claiming involvement in arrests that enabled them to testify in court while off-duty.

Fellow white officers harangued the trio as “rats” and snitches, failed to assist them and physically assault one trio member inside the precinct station.

Meanwhile, police commanders harshly disciplined the trio eventually discharging each on trumped-up charges, the jury determined.

The roadblock triggering that courthouse protest by Ray Carnation and twin brothers Michael and William McKenna is one of the most unusual elements in this legal saga that highlights deep deficiencies in America’s justice system...
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For the rest of this story by ThisCantBeHappening news collective journalist Linn Washington, please go to:
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net