“Racial equity” in the D.A. ‘s office was the subject of a press conference held by Democratic candidate Steve Mulroy outside the Shelby County office building Tuesday afternoon, and he got boosting on the point from three key supporters, two of them African-American notables.
Flanked by the Reverend LaSimba Gray and Memphis City Council members Patrice Robinson and Jeff Warren, Mulroy cited figures which, he said, showed that, under incumbent Republican D.A. Amy Weirich, “we have a district attorney’s office that is 90 percent white, roughly in attorneys, and 90 percent white in supervising attorneys. This is unacceptable. It has been unacceptable for years, and it needs to change.”
Mulroy added, “African Americans in Shelby County are disproportionately the victims of violent crime. And they’re disproportionately the victims of systemic discrimination in our criminal justice system. Therefore, it’s especially important that we have diversity among the actual prosecutors that make the charging decisions.”
Backing up Mulroy, Robinson said, “It is so important to know that you are represented by your community in a like manner. What he’s saying to us today is that currently, we do not have the representation for African-American people in the district attorney’s office, in that most of the people who are being prosecuted don’t have people to represent them ….”
Said Warren: “ I had no idea those numbers were as dramatic. And I think I am certain that Steve Mulroy will make the changes necessary to make our district attorney office look much more like our city in general, like it should.”
Rev. Gray, who in the past has made a point of backing African Americans in primaries where both blacks and whites were candidates, explained why he was supporting Mulroy against two African-American opponents in the Democratic primary:”Obviously, he’s a better candidate. See, in this race, you’re talking about experience. You got some running with no prosecutorial experience. And they are saying that all around the campaign trail.”
Asked about an accusation by state Senator Raumesh Akbari, in a TV campaign commercial, that Weirich’s office was practicing “racial profiling,” Mulroy said, “In a 30-second commercial, that was shorthand for the fact that we have disproportionate charging of African Americans, disproportionate treatment of African Americans with respect to pretrial detention, with respect to adult transfer from juvenile court to criminal court, with respect to sentences that are meted out.”
Mulroy contrasted the amount of blacks participating in the Shelby D.A.’s office with the number of those in the D.A.’s office of Davidson County (Nashville), which has far fewer African Americans in its population. “I can tell you the raw number of African-American attorneys, not just the percentage, but the raw absolute number is higher in Davidson County, even though their total attorney complement is 75 compared to our 115.”
Responding to the Mulroy press conference, Weirich issued this statement:
“The data Professor Mulroy provided is not accurate but that’s not surprising since his entire campaign is based on false data and dangerous ideas like releasing more criminals from jail. The percentage is 31 and I have 223 employees – not 148 as he stated.
“As the first female District Attorney in Shelby County, I have worked hard to hire people who best reflect the community and I’m proud to have increased the percentage of minorities in the office since I was elected. More minorities hold supervisory positions than any other time in the history of our office. It is indeed hypocritical that Professor Mulroy, a white male who chose to run against three women, is making diversity his platform. Electing him alone sends a disturbing message that women shouldn’t be in leadership roles.”