The usual answer to that question is “no.” Until today. The Indianapolis Fraternal Order of Police is doing endorsements this week. On Monday officers gave thumbs up to Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi, Republican Sheriff Candidate Steve Davis and Angela Cypress, the candidate for Recorder. Like I said, if this were any other year the response would be “big deal.” But this year is no big deal.

This year we’ve seen nearly 120 homicides. (There’s a report someone was recently shot died in the hospital.) This is the worst homicide rate since 1998. Add to that the perception that government is out of touch (i.e., the Controversy in the Coroner’s Office, City-County Councilmember Ron Gibson’s run-in with the law, public safety being used as a political football, etc. etc.) And can you see why law and order might be on a lot of people’s minds. People worried about crime tend to support law enforcement. So having law enforcement’s support is probably a good thing to have.

Now taken in context, not all the FOP’s membership voted and a number of them have an axe to grind with Mayor Bart Peterson and Sheriff Frank Anderson. However, at the end of the day, if I were a candidate running at a time when crime was nearing an all-time high I’d rather have the FOP’s endorsement, than not.

I’ve a busy few days coming up and there’s a chance for us to hang out and chat. Hopefully, you can make one of these events.

10/3 – Blogging and the 7th Congressional District Race, Glendale Public Library 6101 N. Keystone, Indianapolis. 12:00 – 1:30 p.m.

10/4 – Cocktails & Conversation, Nicki Blaine’s. Special Guest: Eric Dickerson, Downtown Indianapolis, 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

10/10 – HPR 2006 Forum, Indiana Crosswords: War Security & Energy, The Columbia Club, 121 Monument Circle, Indianapolis. Live Broadcast 6:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. but the Forum last all day. You can get more details at www.howeypolitics.com

10/11 – Ice Cream Social, The Pyramids,86th & Michigan Road. 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Hope to see you soon.

As we get closer to the end of silly season (Election Day), the most ridiculous things start to come out of the woodwork. The latest accusation is that Indianapolis’ Black politicians are under “assault” and there is a “conspiracy to get them.” I am not making this up. There has been a lot of news about misdeeds and missteps about some Marion County elected officials, but I don’t think it’s a conspiracy. Let’s walk down the recent list of events and you tell me if there’s a conspiracy afoot.

Ron Gibson – Back in July he got into a confrontation with a Sheriff’s Deputy outside a nightclub. The officer says he shoved her and threatened to have her fired. A special prosecutor was brought in to look at the case and filed misdemeanor battery and public intoxication charges against Gibson.

Kenneth Ackles – The Marion County Coroner’s Office has been accused of mishandling money and cremating the wrong corpses. A search warrant was served this week on the office to prevent records from being destroyed.

Carl Drummer – The Center Township Trustee has leased space (although no one has seen the actual lease) to politically connected insiders to put a bar in the Carson Center. The proposal circumvented many of the traditional zoning procedures.

Monroe Gray* – The President of the City-County Council oversaw the passing of a budget with more holes in it than the Swiss cheese in my refrigerator. He also failed to disclose his wife had an interest in the above-mentioned bar. And he told the Indianapolis Recorder the Bar was necessary for black people to have a place to go. He also has been notorious for playing politics with public safety.

Heather Bolejack – The former head of the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute was let go on grounds of official misconduct. And the night before she was fired her photo showed up in Intake Magazine with the same person she was accused of giving a state contract who did no work for the money.

Frank Anderson – There have a number of controversies this past year involving the Sheriff. A witness was put in the same cell as the person they were testifying against. A jail employee was caught selling pre-paid cell phones to inmates. Desmond Turner, who is charged with the Hamilton Avenue murders, was caught smoking pot in his cell. Anderson got a $50,000 raise during a time the city was struggling to find money for public safety. He later gave it back.

Looking at that list of Black officials, notice who isn’t on it. Former Council president Roselle Boyd, Council members Vernon Brown, Sharron Franklin, Bill Oliver, Ike Randolph, Patrice Abdullah. Let’s add some more people to the list like State Senator Billie Breaux, State Reps. Carolene Mays, Greg Porter, Bill Crawford, Mae Dickerson, and Pike Township Trustee Lula Patton. And don’t forget IPS School Superintendent Eugene White and school board member Olgen Williams. For some strange reason all these folks have managed to stay out of trouble. I wonder why?

Now you may be thinking at this point, “Hey Abdul, what about Eric Dickerson? He was arrested for domestic violence back inn 1991. Isn’t he a victim of the conspiracy?” Well no, because the person who brought up the accusations was Julia Carson who’s Black, so he doesn’t count.

But if you compare the list of the people who’ve been accused of dropping the ball versus those who haven’t you’ll see there is actually something there that is worth looking into. There is no conspiracy. Because to be frank, I don’t think the “other folks” are smart enough to pull one off. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and sometimes individuals’ bad luck is no one’s fault but their own.

P.S. I put an asterisk by Monroe Gray’s name because I won’t be fully convinced he’s black until I see a birth certificate.

BMV Commissioner Joel Silverman has submitted his resignation. His last day will be Monday, October 16.

An Indianapolis City-County Councilmember has being charged with public intoxication, battery and disorderly conduct for a confrontation he got into during Indiana Black Expo. At-Large Councilmember Ron Gibson was reportedly trying to get into a downtown nightclub when a Sheriff’s deputy stopped him. A confrontation ensued and the deputy says Gibson’s speech was slurred and he put his hands on her. Gibson denies the allegations. The charges are misdemeanors. If convicted, Gibson could serve a year in jail, but he could also continue to serve on the Council. Although the incident occurred in Indianapolis, the case was turned over to the Monroe County Special Prosecutor for investigation.

When I came to Indianapolis a little over two years ago, I figured it’s a nice town and it should be easy to manage. That was two years ago. In the past week, I’ve seen the coroner’s office searched for the possibility of corruption and official misconduct. I’ve seen a group of people try to put a bar in a government building and one of their key players is arrested for DUI. The murder rate is so high that spread out there has been a killing every 2-3 days. The budget is a mess! And now I hear a prominent local official could be on the receiving end of law enforcement’s reach. What the f—, people! What the f—-!

When did things just get out of control! When did Indianapolis turn into Detroit, Oakland, Washington D.C? People are dying in the streets, local officials are being investigated for corruption. Your taxes are going through the roof! I truly wonder if anybody gets it? Maybe I just see this stuff up too close and too frequently. Or maybe, I just see things as they are.

I’m interested in your thoughts.

Keep an eye on the news today. There could be some very embarrassing news breaking about a prominent Indianapolis official. As if there hasn’t been enough lately already.

There are a lot of things to report from the legal world today. Here they are…

Dead Men Do Tell Tales

Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi served a search warrant today on the Coroner’s office. Brizzi is investigating allegations of theft and obstruction of justice. He and several investigators showed up to retrieve records and other documents. Brizzi told the media he had exercise the warrant so no evidence would be lost. The Coroner, Dr. Kenneth Eckles was not in the office when the warrants were served. Brizzi says the deputy coroner called Eckles and told him the search was taking place, however Eckles was not expected to return to work.

Kennedy Goes On Offensive

Brizzi’s challenger, Melina Kennedy, today went on the attack. She says Brizzi was not being honest when accused Terrence “Mob” Anderson of being the poster boy for jail overcrowding. Anderson was arrested in 2005, released from jail, went on a shooting spree and killed one person and was later re-arrested. Kennedy told the press today the murders would not have occurred had Brizzi not filed paperwork saying his office did not intend to press charges, at this time. Brizzi disputes Kennedy’s claim. A spokesman says the charges were never dropped so they did not have the evidence to hold him. Once they got the evidence (a ballistic test) he was re-arrested. The spokesman also said it was jail overcrowding was the cause for the release. Anderson was arrested for an unrelated crime and his bond was dropped from $50,000 to zero. Thus, the early release.

A Rather Odd DUI

The son of a prominent political figure has been arrested for DUI. According to court records, Lacy Johnson, Jr. was arrested last month for driving while under the influence and while intoxicated. Normally, I wouldn’t write about something like this but Johnson is not only the son of Lacy Johnson, one of the most prominent Democrats in Indianapolis, Lacy Johnson, Sr. But he is also the registered owner/investor of 300 East, that famous bar in the Carson Government building that’s caused so much trouble. He is also the applicant for the bar’s liquor license. No word yet on how that will impact the hearing. Like I said, a rather odd DUI.

This week’s controversy surrounding the Congressional Race in Indiana’s 7th District has been rather interesting to say the least. There have been posts on a number of blogs and mainstream media outlets about the case, so there’s no need to rehash any of that. What I will say though is that this entire incident made me think about domestic violence.

Knowing what I do about the subject and the fact that some people very close to me have been the victims of it at one point in time, I find it reprehensible that a man (and in some cases, women) would beat their spouse or significant other. For every domestic battery that goes reported, there are many that don’t. In same-sex relationships the numbers are even more staggering.

We have changed laws to make it easier to prosecute domestic violence cases because of the nature of the crime and the unwillingness in many instances of the victim to come forward. However, there is one thing that has not changed in the way we treat domestic violence cases, the defendant is always innocent until proven guilty. But somehow in the debate this week, that seems to have been lost.

As an attorney, I took an oath a few years back to uphold the law. And a fundamental principal of the law is that we use judges and juries to declare guilt or innocence and not public opinion or the blogosphere. A number of anonymous and not-so-anonymous individuals have accused the Republican candidate in the 7th Congressional District of being a wife beater and just no damn good. Is it true, only he and wife truly know what happened that day in August 15 years ago. And despite the police report, case file and innuendo, one thing we know for sure is that Eric Dickerson was never found guilty of a crime.

Might it have been because his wife and daughter chose not to testify? Maybe. We don’t know. Might it have been because the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office back in 1991 dropped the ball? We don’t know. What we do know is that there was never a trial and never a finder of fact. There was never a verdict of guilty. I know some people may find this hard to believe, but in America, people are still innocent of crimes until proven guilty. If we are going to declare people guilty of crimes simply because of police reports, but no trial or pleas, then we have gone down a road that is far away from what I was taught in law school.

I find it very disappointing that quite a few people whom I call friends, although I may disagree with their politics, have decided to declare someone guilty without the benefit of due process. By taking this tactic they are now no better than the system they want to change and make fair for the poor and disenfranchised. On any given day they will point to the innocence of someone wrongly convicted of a crime, but in this case, where there are simple political differences in ideology, they have decided to convict someone who has never been found guilty.

I ask my friends to truly think about the precedent they set, because it lays the moral foundations on which they stand. You cannot accuse the system of being unfair to the poor, to women and to minorities when you yourselves have adopted the same techniques of their oppressors.

If there is anything good to come out of this I hope my friends (and I still call them friends despite our differences) will not sacrifice the principles which make them admirable for the expediency of politics. Let us have the debate over the serious issues of the day, be the war on terror, the economy and making our communities safer and our schools better. But a strategy of guilt by police report, rather than by a jury, is a disservice to the values that you hold. And it opens the door to path that serves no one.

Let’s debate, let’s discuss, but let’s not loose sight of what is important. And let’s not sacrifice principle for politics.

IPD officer and FOP President Vince Huber says he doesn’t remember the night 15 years ago when he and another officer were called to the home of Eric and Paula Dickerson in response to a domestic dispute. A police report, brought to the public’s attention by incumbent Democratic Congresswoman Julia Carson this week, showed her opponent Dickerson being arrested on misdemeanor domestic violence charges in August 1991.

In a phone conversation Wednesday night, Huber told me that the only way he would remember something from that long ago would be if there was something that occurred during the incident that stood out, such as a stand off, severe injury or very bizarre behavior by the abuser or victim.

Although he doesn’t remember the allegation, Huber says he sticks by the report, saying officers would not write down anything they were not told by the parties involved. In the report Dickerson is accused of threatening his wife, hitting her and attacking his daughter.

In an exclusive interview with WXNT, Dickerson’s wife, Paula, denied that he ever hit her or their daughter. The case was dismissed. And in the case file which was recently discovered, neither the wife nor daughter testified.

So what does this all mean in the grand scheme of things? It all boils down simply to who do you believe. Although the charges are serious, there was no conviction. The police report one thing. The Dickersons say it didn’t happen. And there was no trial to create a record and have a final determination. Carson who said Dickerson “beat his wife to a pulp” now says she didn’t mean to bring domestic violence into the race. We obviously don’t want to convict individuals of crimes by just going by a police report. We need a trial and a finder of fact.

I find it rather ironic that the same people who complain about the criminal justice system and how unfair it is to young Black men who have been convicted of a crime are so quick to throw an older Black man under the bus for a crime he was never convicted.

So with all that, I have to ask? Who do you believe?