A Black lawyer was placed under arrest by the judge overseeing a trial in Youngstown, Ohio on Friday [July 23], when she refused his orders to remove a Black Lives Matter pin she had worn to the municipal court date. Deeming the pin a political statement, and distinguishing that it would fall into a different category than would an American flag pin, a pin symbolizing one's religious beliefs, or one representing a favorite sports team, Judge Robert Milich asked attorney Andrea Burton to take it off. When Burton disregarded his command, the 18-year Youngstown bench veteran ordered the bailiff to take her into custody, charging Burton with contempt of court.
The Youngstown chapter of the NAACP got on the case as soon as it got wind of Burton's detainment. “We are monitoring this case very closely as it may violate Attorney Burton’s civil rights,” it's branch president George Freeman, Jr. said in a statement released to the press. “We will do all that the NAACP Youngstown can do to ensure that Attorney Burton’s constitutional rights are not being violated.”
Soon after Burton was taken in she was released pending an appeal. Should she lose the appeal, Burton would cede to the five-day jail sentence passed on to her by Milich. Milich's decision also drew criticism from Ohio's American Civil Liberties Union, who said on past occasions, similar measures have been taken by judges set on retaining a defendant's right to a fair trial. Burton admitted to being aware that in wearing the pin she was treading a thin line, stating: “It’s an act of civil disobedience. I understand that. I’m not anti-police. I work with law enforcement, and I hold them in the highest regard, and, just to say for the record, I do believe all lives matter. But at this point, they don’t all matter equally, and that’s the problem in the justice system.”
Source: dailycaller.com
