COMMENTARY Black History Month

By Preston Love Jr.

for “woe” so many years, followed by emancipation and amendments to the Constitution, a period of great reconstruction for America and the flourishing of the history and culture of African Americans, followed by strong pushbacks in the form of Jim Crow. But the push-back was met by a growing resistance and finally the Civil Rights Movement, as we know it, and then a plethora of eliminations of our Blacks and our leadership, including the thousands of named and unnamed, lynching’s of Black men, women and children; by incarcerations, by assassinations, by bullet, including many of our leaders, including Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and even Martin Luther King. Let us not forget the transformative lynching, in 1955, of Emmett Till, in Mississippi.

We don’t celebrate that part of our history, but we surely will never forget it. We surely recognize it as a part of our very complex Black History. But we do celebrate the achievements, and contributions, of Blacks in the growth and building of America, economically (through forced free labor), socially, culturally and with our lives during war times. We celebrate, inspite of it all.

African American, were not allowed to learn to read and to be recognized even as a human being, not chattel. Yet we celebrate from that beginning, the pursuits by many Black intellectuals, scholars, professionals, and more. Our Black history celebrates the first African American Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall, the intellectual pursuits of W.E.B. Dubois, the scientific pursuits of Dr. Charles Drew, the literary exploits of Langston Hughes and Lorraine Hansbury, the poetic pursuits by Maya Angelou, the humanitarian pursuits of Martin Luther King, and, may I say, to this date, there is a rich, full-bodied and complex history of African Americans, and their impact on the

What is ‘good’ tax policy?

By Loretta Fairchild, Ph.D. economist raised in the panhandle

Could it be raising the revenues needed, in the fairest possible ways, while doing the least harm?

What is the fairest way to levy taxes?

Using a base that is centered on the ability-to pay.

What is wrong with the current property tax system? The value of any piece of property rarely matches the yearly income-stream of the person who owns it.

It is true that Nebraska as a whole will benefit greatly by shifting out of the current property tax. What is the best, least harmful way, to do that? Use other taxes to generate the same revenue. This means using the income tax, and could include a new broad-based wealth tax.

Is a ‘flat tax’ for taxing income ‘fair’? No. It is a red-herring-label for helping those of us with the highest incomes among Nebraska taxpayers [including me] to pay a lot less.

Fairness would mean something like zero % income taxes up to $35,000, 2 % between 35,000 and 75,000; and raising the rates on those with income above $100,000 enough to generate the rest of the revenue needed. [It wouldn’t hurt us a bit. : ) ] state of Nebraska, before, during and after its statehood, which is soon to be chronicled in an African American in Nebraska Manuscript, that I jointly written on behalf of the Truth and Reconciliation Project out of Lincoln, soon to be published.

Nebraskans have a long heritage of using common-sense and facing tough problems squarely. Where do we look for facts to improve our income tax system? Opensky Policy Institutes’s nonpartisan reports should be used to evaluate the flat tax because they are entirely fact-based. Fun labels don’t change these grim realities.

Please join me in urging our Senators to focus on realistic cooperation in fairly raising the revenues Nebraska will need in the next two years.

In 2023, I must remind everyone that celebrating Black History Month for the wrong reasons, is analogous to celebrating Christmas without acknowledging Jesus Christ. The audacity of Florida. Their recent rejection of an Advanced Program (AP) for high school kids to learn Black History, led by its Governor DeSantis. But what about Nebraska? The nonsensical and boogey-man strategy to activate extremism and hatred, is now using Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a rallying point, against Black History. Our former Governor called for Nebraska to replace several education positions with a single office reporting to the governor and his rejection of the UNL’s Chancellor’s call for increased DEI. I challenge all of those who share those positions, not to sit in the front row of a Black History event, as if to affirm support for Black History Month, while attempts are made to dismantle the teaching of Black History under the guise of saving “our” children.

I close with a challenge, to all the readers, to consider, that going forward, we treat Black History as something that is fluid, is being created every day. By increasing our knowledge of history, we increase our understand of the world we live in. I pray, that none of us become impediments of the growth of wonderful Black History currently attempting to be made. Let us not allow disparities in healthcare, the educational gaps, an unfair criminal justice system and a lack of economic growth, to become our way of parallelizing the growth of Blacks. and therefore, their history. Celebrate Black History by celebrating blacks’ efforts to make history, today.

SHOULD A JUDGE YOU SUED FOR RACIAL DISCRIMINATION BE THE JUDGE IN YOUR CIVIL CASE?

By Timothy L. Ashford

Would you want a judge you sued for racial discrimination to be the same judge in your civil case and dismissing your civil case? Well, after I sued white Douglas County District Court Judge W. Russell Bowie for racial discrimination he became the judge in my civil case and he dismissed the case.

I sued Bowie, among other judges, in a racial discrimination case to appoint black attorneys to represent poor defendants in criminal cases. 8:15 CV 8.

As a result of my racial discrimination lawsuits approximately 10 black attorneys were appointed to represent poor defendants in felony and misdemeanor cases but none in murder cases.

I requested Bowie get off my case in my civil defamation case because I sued him. Bowie refused to remove himself in my personal defamation case and he ultimately dismissed the case. Judges James Gleason and Duane Dougherty, who were also sued in the same racial discrimination lawsuit, removed themselves as judges in my personal cases.

The Nebraska Supreme Court recused Gleason in the State v. Rice case. Duane Dougherty recused himself in the Ashford v. Donald Kleine case because of the racial discrimination lawsuit I filed against him and the Nebraska Supreme Court appointed Lincoln judge Susan Strong to replace Dougherty. In the case of Ashford v. Kleine case in 2021 Judge James Mastellar recused the entire Douglas County District Court Fourth Judicial Panel of 18 judges. The U.S. Supreme Court stated the test is whether the average judge in Bowie’s position is likely to be neutral or there is an unconstitutional potential for bias. Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co., Inc., 556 U.S. 868 (2009). Based upon Caperton, Daugherty recused himself. Bowie did not recuse himself and my constitutional rights required Bowie to recuse himself.

I could find no one with common sense who ever would want a judge they sued to be the same judge in their civil case; however, the Nebraska Supreme Court attempts to explain it is okay for Bowie to rule on my case and that angry white men such as Bowie do not hold grudges after they have been sued. They don’t explain the reason Bowie just had to stay on my case when Gleason and Dougherty were removed in my personal cases. The Nebraska Supreme Court has allowed Bowie, who is vindictive and retaliatory, to refuse to remove himself in violation of U.S. Supreme Court case law.

The Nebraska Supreme Court in an opinion believes that white judge Bowie did not hold a grudge after I sued him although he dismissed my case.

The Nebraska Supreme Court in their opinion does not follow or refer to the U.S. Supreme Court cases along with other things they omitted. Well, The Nebraska Supreme Court violated the U.S. Supreme Court case law of “Caperton” and “Rippo” which states that Bowie must recuse himself to “avoid the appearance of impropriety” and when Bowie has a “conflict.” Bowie had a conflict and I do not have to put on any evidence to have Bowie remove himself according to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Unlike Dougherty and Gleason, instead of recusing himself Bowie violated 18 U.S.C. § 242 by using his position as a judge to retaliate against me by violating my constitutional right to a fair judge because of my race and in retaliation for naming Bowie in the discrimination lawsuit 8:15 CV 8

Based upon the U.S. Supreme Court case law which has stated: recusal is required under the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause when, objectively speaking, the probability of actual bias on the part of the judge is too high to be constitutionally tolerable. Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal

Co., Inc., 556 U.S. 868 (2009). The Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause may sometimes demand recusal even when a judge has no actual bias. Rippo v. Baker, 137 S.Ct. 905 (2017).

Bowie violated my constitutional rights by refusing to recuse himself.

The reason for the retaliation is because of my lawsuit that Nebraska has refused to appoint qualified black attorneys to the Douglas County Murder Panel.

Just as 18 U.S. Code § 243 makes it a federal crime to deny Blacks a seat on a jury, 18 U.S. Code § 242 makes it a crime to deny Black attorneys court appointments to the Douglas County Murder Panel to represent criminal defendants. Just as the state can not convict a person with a “tainted” jury by excluding blacks from the jury, EVERY BLACK PERSON CONVICTED OF MURDER IN NEBRASKA MAY HAVE BEEN CONVICTED WITH A “TAINTED” POOL OF ATTORNEYS WHICH DID NOT INCLUDE BLACK ATTORNEYS ON THE DOUGLAS COUNTY MURDER PANEL!

The U.S. Supreme Court Case of Batson v. Kentucky guarantees blacks can not be excluded from juries. Therefore, QUALIFIED BLACK ATTORNEYS CAN NOT BE EXCLUDED FROM APPOINTMENTS TO THE DOUGLAS COUNTY MURDER PANEL TO REPRESENT POOR DEFENDANTS IN MURDER CASES. The only qualification to be on the murder panel is to have a law license.

So if the Nebraska Supreme Court will not follow U.S. Supreme Court case law of Caperton and Rippo in my case which states a judge must avoid the appearance of impropriety, they will not follow U.S. Supreme Court case law for criminal defendants and that is the reason the Nebraska Penitentiary is overcrowded.

After I filed my racial discrimination cases, it was racist and retaliatory for the Nebraska Supreme Court and the Office for Counsel for Discipline to launch a six year investigation against me which has been dismissed because I fought it and a three year old investigation which is still pending.

I am a civil rights attorney who sued Bowie and it is a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 242 for Bowie to retaliate against me by dismissing my case for pursuing my constitutional rights. Even U.S. Attorney Merrick Garland has recused himself in the recent cases of Joe Biden and Donald Trump. None of the attorney have assisted me. I am fighting for rights for the poor to representation which includes black attorneys so where is the Department of Justice to protect my civil rights?

Just as the racist white U.S. Supreme court violated the constitution in 1898 by the Plessy v. Ferguson which required segregation in public places, the white Nebraska Supreme Court is violating the constitution, the U.S. Supreme Court case law of Rippo and Caperton which requires judges recuse themselves in conflict cases, their prior recusal rulings in the Rice case and the Kleine case to rule that white judge Bowie can violate the federal law of 18 U.S.C. § 242 by dismissing my defamation case in retaliation for my racial discrimination lawsuit.

The reason for this advertisement is the white media will not cover this story so I will use the internet and the Omaha Star to spread this message of racism. Years from now, historians researching this time will view me, David Rice and Ed Poindexter differently just as they now view Will Brown who was lynched outside of the Douglas County Court House. I am making a historical record with this advertisement. attorneytimothyashford@gmail.com

Rev. Jacqueline Ford