Today (April 27, 2017) marks the 2nd anniversary of the 2015 Uprising, the eruption of violence in Baltimore following the funeral of Freddie Gray, the 25 year-old African American man who suffered a fatal spinal injury while being arrested by Baltimore City Police. Those fateful days of rage – coming after two weeks of tense but largely peaceful protests -- shook Baltimore to its roots. It sparked a city-wide soul-searching that launched ambitious efforts to address the long- simmering issues affecting Baltimore’s communities of color. Yet two years later, many would say too little has been done to address the root causes of the 2015 unrest, and that the city may have let slip important opportunities for lasting change.
We’re reflecting on the anniversary of the Uprising in several programs this week and next.
Today, we look at the legal repercussions of the Uprising that have been playing out over the past two years, from the failed prosecutions of the six police officers involved in Freddie Gray’s arrest, to the lawsuit that those officers have filed against State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, and the consent decree between the Department of Justice and City Police.
Tom's guests are three legal experts who’ve closely followed these upheavals in the city’s criminal justice system, and the long legal shadow that Freddie Gray’s death still casts over Baltimore:
Debbie Hines joins Tom from the studios of NPR in Washington. She is a DC-based trial lawyer, a former prosecutor and the founder of LegalSpeaks.com a blog that focuses on race- and gender-related criminal justice issues. She was in the courtroom during the trials of the officers charged in connection with the death of Freddie Gray.
And we welcome back to the show our legal analysts, Edward Smith and David Jaros. Ed Smith is an attorney who just recently retired from private practice. He has served in the office of the State’s Attorney, and he has argued cases in front of the Supreme Court. David Jaros is an associate professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law, whose scholarly focus is on Criminal Law. Dave was also present in the courtroom during the police officer trials last year.
