Town meeting debate centers on criminal justice and race

A town hall meeting on race, criminal justice and the death penalty brought together an array of community leaders to address the challenges people of color face in the justice system.

Held in the new sanctuary of the Unitarian Universalists of Southern Delaware, the event's speakers addressed stark disparities in enforcement activities and prison sentences, including the death penalty, as well as economic disparities that prevent people of color from making bail or hiring an attorney, all part of a battle for civil rights they said is not over.

Don Peterson, chair of the Unitarians' social and environmental justice committee opened the Sept. 24 meeting, co-sponsored by NAACP-Delaware, Delaware Repeal Project and others. "Unitarian Universalists have a long and proud history of standing at the side of sound justice," Peterson said.

Several speakers addressed a Wilmington shooting just one day prior to the meeting, when police shot and killed a wheelchair-bound black man, Jeremy "Bam" McDole, who witnesses had reported was armed with a gun.

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