Nov 18th, 2009
Posted by Brenda L. Jones, Executive Director, ACLU of Eastern Missouri at 3:34pm	Racial Justice

Heather Ellis Case is One in a Long Line of Missouri's racial injustices

(Originally posted on The Grio.)

When hundreds of people rallied outside a Wal-Mart in Kennett, Missouri Monday, they did so to protest the treatment by police and local prosecutors of Heather Ellis, the now infamous 24-year-old African-American college student who three years ago made a routine trip to that very same Wal-Mart to run some errands and ended up leaving in handcuffs after being accused of cutting a checkout line.

Led by civil rights activist Dr. Boyce Watkins and a coalition of civil rights organizations including the ACLU, the protesters marched to the Dunklin County Courthouse where, beginning today, Ellis, a Kennett native whose father still serves the Church in God in Christ congregation in town, will find herself fighting for her freedom after being charged with multiple felonies that could land her up to 15 years in prison. They were there to decry what Ellis has said was the abhorrent treatment she received from both her fellow shoppers and police. In a complaint she filed with the NAACP, Ellis says she was pushed by a white customer, hassled by store employees and called racial slurs by police who physically mistreated her. The police were called to the scene after Ellis and her cousin got into two separate checkout lines, and after Ellis joined her cousin when one line started moving faster than the other.

Make no mistake — this single incident involving Ellis warrants community outrage and the storm of subsequent local and national media coverage it has elicited. It is disheartening to think that in this day and age a woman who never before had any criminal record and who has aims on going to medical school and becoming a doctor could face years of imprisonment over an incident so minor.

But this case is about much more than Heather Ellis. Indeed, her case snaps into focus broad, systemic and longstanding problems with discriminatory policing and prosecutions in the Kennett area and across the state of Missouri, and exemplifies the unjust and disparate treatment that people of color in Missouri's Bootheel region routinely receive from law enforcement and in the criminal justice system.

Data compiled by the Missouri Attorney General show that police target people of color disproportionately for stops, searches and arrests.

While African-Americans comprise just over 12 percent of the Kennett population, they accounted for almost 15 percent of traffic stops in 2008. During that same year, African-American drivers were more than twice as likely as white drivers to be searched and to be arrested.

The racially disparate treatment of Hispanic drivers in Kennett is especially stark: 2008 traffic stop data shows that they are stopped by police at a rate more than three times their representation in the population. In addition, Hispanic drivers were more than four times as likely to be searched and close to four times as likely to be arrested as white drivers.

People of color are also disproportionately represented in Missouri's prison population. Though African-Americans account for 11.39 percent of the state's population, 40.11 percent of the Missouri prison population is black. A significant percentage of people in state prison are sentenced from the Bootheel.

Treating people differently based on race betrays the fundamental American promise of equality under the law. We rely on police and other law enforcement officials to be standard-bearers of fairness and justice. When communities of color are treated unfairly, it can create a climate of fear and resentment. These communities may be less likely to rely on or cooperate with police, and an adversarial relationship between police and communities of color compromises everyone's safety. Heather Ellis, as well as all Missourians, deserves to be treated according to these principles. The security of our community and our democracy depend on it.

Permalink |	Racial Justice

1. Maggie Says:
   Nov 18th, 2009 at 3:56pm

   If there are multiple felonies against Ms. Ellis, you failed to mention them. I certainly don't know what the answer is. The only way I can see this changing is if you do not stop anyone for any kind of traffic violation.

2. Anonymous Says:
   Nov 18th, 2009 at 6:05pm

   Thats already applied!!! they don't stop anyone for any kind of traffic violation, but only when the person is whie!!! I have seen police let a car of drunk white females go after a mexican food restaurant called them to report these girls driving drunk and causing problems at the drive through!!! I am not white and have been stopped by police with my wife and we have been harrassed and demanded to show social security cards and asked about passports!!!wtf that that have to do with a traffic stop??? I didn't even have any traffic violations, I spent the night in jail, accused of driving under the influence of drugs!!! I passed the sobriety test twice and had blood drawn!!! What the fuck do you think you know????

3. Jackson Says:
   Nov 18th, 2009 at 7:48pm

   The only way that we can possibly get any type of justice for these kinds of incidents is if every 'decent' person gets on board to totally denounce them very loudly, both verbally and actively. As citizens of these United States we should all be appalled that these things still continue to happen on a regular basis. We are not living in the 18th and 19th centuries are we? America is 'supposed' to be a civilized nation at this point in time, or so its been said. Yet these situations are not isolated as some people may choose believe. WAKE UP !!! Ignorance is not bliss.

4. Maggie Says:
   Nov 19th, 2009 at 7:26am

   #2 that kind of language gets you no where. Is that the way you spoke when stopped? How do you know that I have never been stopped. So what do you think you know?

   #3 just because my opinion is different then yours does not make you right and does not make me wrong. You only hear about these situations when it is a person of color and feel they have been wronged. I am quite sure there are a lot of stops for all colors that you don't even hear about.

   Ms. Ellis was in the Walmart store. Did she drive her car through? There are 3 versions of an incident. The accused, the accuser and the truth. Hopefully that will come out in court. But because she is a person of color she will be the victim no matter what the verdict.

5. Olivia Says:
   Nov 19th, 2009 at 10:08pm

   Her arrest has nothing to do with racism. She cut in line, provoked another customer, assaulted police officers, and resisted arrest. It is entirely unfortunate that there is racism in her town, but it is even more unfortunate that this woman can play the race card to attract sympathy.

   Also, I wish people would stop trying to argue that, because there is a high percentage of minorities in prison, there must be something wrong with the judicial system. The distribution of race in a population does not necessarily need to be reflected in the distribution of race in prison. Are we trying to apply reverse affirmative action in prisons now?

6. mdj-smj Says:
   Nov 20th, 2009 at 8:53pm

   I teach in the Missouri Bootheel, so you can imagine my shock when two different African-American students stated in two different classes how embarassed they are by "the way black people act." When I enquired how black people act, they said "stupid and rude." I am troubled by this and I have challenged them to break the pattern they see and act to set an example. They told me "black people don't learn by example."
   When high school students from a small town can spot a pattern in their own community is it not time for that community to sit up and take notice and give its youth a respectful ear as opposed a combative spirit?

7. Anonymous Says:
   Nov 20th, 2009 at 9:06pm

   Cutting in line? She was a student then, they should have taught her good manners by letting her first in the line. Haven't anybody heard if someone FORCES you to go one mile, go with him two miles?

8. Anonymous Says:
   Nov 21st, 2009 at 12:14am

   For those who think the lady in question is a model citizen, they might consider investigating her record in high school. She regularly expected preferential treatment, and was almost always resistent to any type of authority!

9. Anonymous Says:
   Nov 21st, 2009 at 1:40am

   (most blacks are assholes)

10. Anonymous Says:
    Nov 21st, 2009 at 11:08am

    I am so tired of blacks thinking they desirve special treatment! My great great great grandfather fought in the civil war for the union and died in a prision camp in Tennessee. I have always tought my children that there is no superior race, I am starting to wonder. Never in my dreams would I attempt to cut in line in front of another customer!

11. SHAME ON THE ACLU Says:
    Nov 21st, 2009 at 12:12pm

    You have lost all credibility supporting Heather Ellis. You owe the people of Kennett an apology.

12. Anonymous Says:
    Nov 21st, 2009 at 4:51pm

    She was arrested because she DESERVED it. This is why I have (and will) NEVER support the ACLU. The ACLU only cares about your case if you are a minority.

13. Gail Says:
    Nov 22nd, 2009 at 6:37am

    This was a disappointing case for the ACLU to squander it's moral authority on. She cut in line, bullied other shoppers and the clerks, and assalted offercers called to help the clerks. The testimony of EVERYONE but her cousin is consistent with this. Is this what the racial justice division supports? Or are you implying that this is the best we should expect from blacks? Your support of Ellis is insulting to minorities everywhere and demeans cases of true injustice. I was saddened to see a fine old friend reduced to this.

14. Violator Says:
    Dec 1st, 2009 at 1:50pm

    Well,here we are again,black and white,in the deep south,will you you people ever figure this out! that this is truly the beginning of the end times.You people waste so much of your life hating one another that you can't see that time will pass you by.Why don't you who are so quick to judge others look in the mirror,for once,and know that one day you will be gone.V

15. Anonymous Says:
    Dec 2nd, 2009 at 3:41pm

    Yes she should not have cut in line, but she should not get 15 years in prison either, that is insane. They should have fined her for creating a public disturbance, but this is not worth going to prison for. White men commit Fraud everyday and do not go to prison when they ought to. Look how long it took them to lock Madoff up and they want to send Heather to prison for 15 years. Fine her and let it go.

16. Neil Says:
    Dec 9th, 2009 at 1:09pm

    your story is so slanted to make your point. There are lies, damn lies and statistics...The reason blacks are in jail so much is because they commit crimes at a much higher rate. Criminals go to jail mostly, it is not a color thing, get over it.

Name

E-mail

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.

Homepage

• Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>
• Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

More information about formatting options

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

What code is in the image? *

Enter the characters shown in the image. Case-sensitive.