Baltimore Police Accused of Suspending Due Process

By Oliver Laughland, Paul Lewis, Jon Swaine and Ben Jacobs, Guardian UK

01 May 15

Police detention of around 100 people without charge on governor’s orders is described by public defender as showing ‘no respect for due process’

round 100 people detained without charge following riots in Baltimore on Monday were released from detention on Wednesday night after a raft of petitions filed with the city’s public defenders led to a backdown by authorities.

All those released had been held in detention for around two days and had no charges filed against them after police failed to produce paperwork documenting the basis for their arrest.

The large scale release came after the Maryland governor Larry Hogan issued an executive order effectively suspending habeas corpus – the right to be freed from an imprisonment that is without lawful basis. The decree gave law enforcement officials 48 hours to hold people before presenting them to district court officials for booking.

Hogan described the move as “necessary to protect the public safety” but critics said it was simply a way of clearing the streets. Natalie Finegar, the deputy district public defender in Baltimore City, told the Guardian that after 82 habeas corpus petitions were filed to the attorney general’s office a decision was made to release 101 detainees. Finegar said the decision to hold so many “without any respect for due process” could “further shake the confidence in the criminal justice system for those arrested”.

She said many of those detained had complained of the harsh conditions in jail. Some said they went 18 hours without food before being given inedible bread.

Baltimore police commissioner Anthony Batts conceded that a timeline had elapsed meaning police could no longer hold the group of detainees but stated he intended to revisit allegations against them at some point.

All clients were advised to return straight home and observe the 10pm citywide curfew, Finegar said.

Protests in Baltimore remained peaceful throughout Thursday. Around 2,000 people rallied around City Hall and marched to Penn Station, but dispersed well before the 10pm curfew implemented across the city.

Just across downtown from central booking, the Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago White Sox played in front of an empty stadium. This was the first game in the 140-year history of Major League Baseball where no fans were allowed to attend. The home team won 8-2 in an eerie atmosphere where foul balls clanked around empty grandstands and mammoth home runs were received in silence.

The Orioles are a beloved team in Baltimore and their logo can be seen throughout the city. As starting pitcher Chris Tillman pointed out to reporters before the game on Wednesday: “If you turn on CNN or Fox, half the people that are out in Orioles gear.” He added: “Baseball means a lot to this city.”

Adam Jones, the Orioles’ all-star African American centerfielder who grew up in a deprived neighborhood in San Diego, told reporters that “the Orioles support the city of Baltimore.” After all, he noted, that the city’s name was “across our chests”. Jones hoped that the game might provide city residents with a brief “escape from reality”.

Buck Showalter, the Orioles’ manager, echoed his star player’s comments. “I want to be a rallying force for our city” he told reporters at a press conference. “It doesn’t mean necessarily playing good baseball. It just means doing everything we can do.”