Greene County Holds Public Hearings On Proposed Bigger Jail wyso.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wyso.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
to find voice in a whisper.” Martin Luther King, “Why We Can’t Wait”
Last year, Bomani Moyenda turned down an attempt by the Yellow Springs Martin Luther King Day Planning Committee to give him a Peacemaker Award.
This week he explained to the community that he did so because he was “unable to reconcile” himself as a peacemaker. After all, past recipients have been “real sweet people,” like Andrée Bognar, Willa Dallas, Isabel Newman and Phyllis Jackson.
“[Those are] the kinda people you just want to run up on and hug on,” Moyenda said. “I mean people just don’t do that to me. Some people even cross the street when they see me.”
As of Tuesday afternoon last week, 225 people awaiting trial were being held at one of two Greene County jail facilities the downtown jail and the Adult Detention Center. Many of those individuals remained behind bars over the holidays, lacking the bail money that allows release until a scheduled court date.
More specifically, nearly 70% of the people detained in Greene County at the time of a 2018 report conducted amid exploration concerning construction of a new jail were awaiting judgment and were unable to pay bail.
That’s unacceptable, say supporters of a growing movement to change, or completely eliminate, the rules supporting cash bail. And it’s especially egregious during the COVID-19 pandemic, as congregate settings have been shown to be particularly vulnerable to spread of the disease.