Referee Charges False Arrest

By Mary Walsh

On September 25, 1981, Odessa Bradley called the police for help when her husband began to beat and choke her. She had just arrived home from work when the violence began (Mr. Bradley is not employed). During the 17 years they had been married, Mr. Bradley had often beaten his wife, but this was the first time she had called the police.

When they arrived at the Bradley home, the police saw Ms. Bradley being held down'on a couch by ner husband. She had bruises on her face and neck. Mr. Bradley, seconded by his mother, yeiled that Ms. Bradley was drunk and should be take.t away. Obligingly, the two policemen grabbed Ms. Bradley by the arms and dragged her screarning down the outside stone steps and across the street to their car. severely bruising her legs.

At approximately the same time, 6:30 p.m., Joan

LETTERS

I am writing in response to the article about Solidarity Day written by Laura Lavelle (WSW, Vol. 9, No. 4). As a union member and one of the 500,000 people participating in the AFL-CIO sponsored march, I was' somewhat confused as to Ms. Lavelle's memories and analysis of the march..

It was my understanding that the AFL-CIO sponsored and organized the march as a protest to Mr. Reagan's "mandate" of cutting programs and legislation which have an adverse effect on the working people and to thwart many activities which organized labor has worked to have implemented. Examples of this include lowering the minimum wage, dismantling OSHA, eliminating jobs, and cutting Social Security. Many other national organizations endorsed the march and participated in it because one feeling is clear: we all must unite to fight this administration or we will all sink together. It was quite clear that an overwhelming percentage of the marchers were union members and were giving Mr. Reagan a clear message: my union speaks for me and that we, as a people, are outraged at his administration's actions.

Contrary to Ms. Lavelle's article, there were a wide variety of speakers and certainly more than one female speaker. Besides Eleanor Smeal, there was Joyce Miller (President of the Coalition of Labor Union Women and an Executive Vice-President of the AFL-CIO), Coretta Scott King, and Jessica Smith (Executive Director of Frontlash). There were more male speakers (especially representing other interested groups besides labor), but the fact of the matter is that there are many more men organized in unions than women. The lack of unionization among women is significant in explaining some of the reasons why women are underpaid, mistreated, and undervalued in our socio-economic system.

Solidarity Day was an inspiring afternoon of seeing the American people tell Mr. Reagan that we are sick and tired of his phony arithmetic that seeks to balance the budget on the backs of working people, our parents, our children, the working poor, the handicapped, and the needy. The AFL-CIO should be congratulated for this initial effort of joining people together to work for those items which we feel are so important for a healthy and just society. I feel that "one of my union brothers summarized the reason for the march clearly with his picket sign, "Mr. Reagan...Here's Your Mandate" stuck in the back of his jeans with a large downward pointing arrow in case anyone missed the point.

-Susan E. Wilson Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO

Page 2/What She Wants/November, 1981

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Breland, a Cleveland attorney for 21 years and a Cleveland Municipal Court Referee, left her home next door to the Bradleys to visit a hospitalized friend. She noticed the police car and the crowd around it, and saw the Bradleys' twin 12-year-old Jaughters, friends of her daughter, crying on the edge of the crowd. Ms. Bradley was sitting on the ground by the police car in hysterics. Ms. Breland identified herself to the police as a Cleveland Municipal Court Referee and suggested that she take V、 Bradley, whom she knew to be a hardworking mother and community worker, to her home next door for a cup of tea in an attempt to quiet her. As Ms. Breland says,

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The police response to this suggestion was that hey were arresting her for disorderly conduct and i should mind my own business. At this point Mrs. Bradley was desperately clutching the bottom of my dress. She asked me would I call her mother and 1 took down her mother's name and phone. number and turned to go into my home to make the call. The younger of the two policemen positioned himself between me and my home and informed me that I wasn't going anywhere because 1 was under arrest. I replied that I lived right there and I was only going in my home to make a phone call to Mrs. Bradley's mother and if the policemen wanted me I would be right back.

"I took a step around him toward my home and he grabbed me by my arm. Though the policeman could not have been aware of it, my arm had been the subject of three cancer operations, the last in March of 1981, followed by six weeks of daily radiation treatments. He twisted my arm like a corkscrew up behind the upper part of my back and slammed me into the hood of the police car, banging my knee. He

Labyrinth/cpf

held me down with his elbow while calling on a walkietalkie for police reinforcements. Due to the pain I was screaming for my 14-year-old daughter to help.

"I was thrown into a police car, taken to the 4th District police station, booked, driven to the Justice Center, searched, fingerprinted, my pin-on hair piece and hair pins removed and my picture taken with my hair in the resultant disarray. I ended up in a concrete cell the size of a phone booth with a thick steel door that when shut, shut out the light and the only furnishing a stinking open toilet bowl. The matron who

put me there said she was really sorry but it was the rule. I ́have no idea how long I remained there as I had no watch, but eventually my 14-year-old daughter and Attorney John Benning, an old friend and former police officer, got me out.

"I indicated to the officers at the time of my arrest that he had injured my arm and my knee, and I would appreciate medical attention. Both officers seemed to find this hilarious and commented, 'Yep, we broke both of them off'. When I repeated my request to them at the police station they seemed to find it even funnier and said, 'Now we've got a case of police brutality,' and laughed even harder.

"At the explicit request of the arresting officer I was only charged with resisting arrest. At some later date before a Monday court appearanee the charge was changed to disorderly conduct."

Breland's recollections of her hours in jail are of the dehumanizing atmosphere of the place, and of the fear, anxiety, depression and terror she felt. Her worst moment was when she saw her 14-year-old daughter who had come to get her out, and thought they had arrested her too. At that point, her anger failed her and she broke down in tears. Her reduction from a person to a prisoner and a victim was conplete.

Breland and Bradley were tried jointly on October 13 before Judge Charles Fleming. They were represented by two women attorneys, Almeta Johnson, former Chief Police Prosecutor for the City of Cleveland, and Patricia Blackmon. The only witness for the prosecution was one of the police who had arrested them, Officer Martin, Badge No. 2479, a rookie; his partner John Myhand refused to testify. Myhand, coincidentally, was to achieve some measure of fame days later as Anthony Johnson's partner in the shootout in which Johnson, also a rookie, was killed. The latter incident has also raised questions of the adequacy of police training. At the close of Martin's testimony, the judge directed a verdict of acquittal of both defendants.

In his testimony, Martin never mentioned that Ms. Bradley seemed intoxicated, the ostensible reason for her arrest, or any acts on the part of Breland which would constitute disorderly conduct. In fact, as he was cross-examined by the defense attorneys, Martin kept saying that he "didn't know what to do" and that he just didn't like Bradley's attitude.

The Cleveland Women Lawyers association has filed a written protest with the Cleveland Police Department, calling attention to the sexist implica, tions of Breland's arrest; if a male attorney had been in the same situation, he would not have been ar rested, nor perhaps would Ms. Bradley. As to Bradley's arrest, the 4th District has the reputation being the worst in the city for responding to women's complaints, but to turn such a complaint into an ar rest of the woman adds a bizarre and frightening

note,

Both women plan to sue the Cleveland Police Department. Since their mutual ordeal, they have become close friends. Breland has also received tremendous support from her colleagues at the Municipal Court.

Ohio Anti-Choice Bill on Horizon

State Senate Bill 315, the Senate version of House Bill 92, the "Informed Consent" law defeated last May, is expected to be voted out of the Rules Committee and onto the floor sometime this month. The anti-abortion bill includes the following provisions:

-An unmarried minor under 16 must obtain written informed consent from a parent or other relative in order to have an abortion; otherwise she may prove in juvenile court that she is mature enough to decide for herself, or that an abortion would be in her best interest.

-Not less than 48 hours or more than 30 days before a woman consents to an abortion, her physician must orally inform her of 1) the extent of fetal

development, and 2) serious complications that could follow an abortion (but not those that could result from carrying a pregnancy to term).

-There must be a 48-hour waiting period after woman consents to an abortion.

This bill would not protect women's health, and would allow harassment of physicians and women seeking abortions.

To show your opposition to S.B. 315, write your state senator, Sen. Paul Gillmore, Senate President Sen. Larry Meshel, Minority Leader, and Northeast Ohio Republican Caucus members Gary Suhadolnik, Paul Matia and Ben Skall, at the State House, Col

umbus, Ohio 43215.