10 May 2 - 8, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents ▼ COLLEGES CIVIL DISCOURSE 101 LOCAL STUDENTS JOIN PRO- PALESTINE PROTESTS. BY EMMA RUBY N orth Texas college students in sup- port of Palestine took part in campus protests last week, joining a move- ment that’s taken place at university cam- puses nationwide. Over 100 students at the University of Texas at Dallas staged a sit-in in the admin- istration building on April 24 to raise aware- ness for the Gaza conflict and encourage the university to divest from companies in- volved in weapons manufacturing. The pro- test and sit-in lasted around nine hours, and over 1,000 emails were sent to UTD admin- istrators by students protesting the school’s “complacency in genocide,” a press release from UTD’s chapter of the Students for Jus- tice in Palestine read. The next day, social media videos showed dozens of students associated with the SJP chapter at the University of Texas at Arlington gathering in front of the campus library after walking out of class. An email sent to students from administrators said the university’s Divi- sion of Student Affairs was in communication with those planning the protest. “One of UTA’s institutional responsibilities is to provide opportunities for civil discourse, regardless of how controversial, uncomfort- able, or emotional a topic may be,” the email said. “This University expects that our free- dom of speech policy and our Student Code of Conduct will be followed.” UT Arlington, the university police and the campus SJP chapter did not respond to requests for comment. According to Fatima Tulkeram, a third- year student at UTD and member of the SJP chapter, the group has repeatedly attempted to meet with administrators throughout the academic year to discuss the role university investment funding has played in “the geno- cide in Gaza.” “Our administration has continued to ig- nore us, ignore our demands and failed to listen to their students,” Tulkeram said. “It’s clear that the students stand with Palestin- ians and stand with Palestine.” Last spring, the UTD student govern- ment passed a resolution asking the univer- sity to “divest from death” by divesting its shares in the University of Texas Investment Management Company, or UTIMCO, which manages investments and endowment funds for the UT and A&M university systems. SJP is protesting five companies involved in weapons manufacturing where UTD cur- rently has investments: Raytheon Technolo- gies, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics. “We’re seeing those weapons being used currently,” Tulkeram said. Students also sent emails encouraging the UTD administration to issue a call for an im- mediate permanent ceasefire in Gaza and to reject an executive order from Governor Greg Abbott that students believe is anti-Palestin- ian and a threat to first amendment rights. The local sit-in ended when UTD Presi- dent Richard Benson agreed to meet with students from SJP to discuss their concerns. That meeting is scheduled for this week, Tulkeram said. Benson is also planning to meet with a Jewish student group, a state- ment from the university said. While last week’s protest at UTD ended peacefully, other university protests across the country have resulted in arrests, suspen- sions, faculty walkouts and allegations of an- tisemitism. In New York City, over 100 pro-Palestine Columbia and Barnard stu- dents were arrested and charged with tres- passing after setting up an encampment on Columbia’s campus in support of Gaza. The daughter of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar was one of the students arrested in New York. She said on the social media platform X that she was suspended from Barnard for “standing in solidarity with Palestinians fac- ing a genocide.” An unconfirmed number of students asso- ciated with the University of Texas at Austin were arrested last week after hundreds walked out of class in protest of the war in Gaza and UTIMCO’s investments. State police wearing riot gear responded to the demonstration, which a letter from UT’s dean of students called disruptive to campus operations. The letter, sent to students Tuesday, forbade the planned protest and said students who failed to comply would be subject to student disci- pline. “Right now we are seeing student orga- nizers stepping it up because of Columbia,” Tulkeram said. “Especially in Texas, stu- dents are heeding those calls and they are escalating.” ▼ COURTS LATE FEE MAN HELD TOO LONG IN DALLAS COUNTY JAIL AWARDED $100,000 . BY JACOB VAUGHN C hristopher McDowell tried telling every officer and jail staffer about his situation, but no one would listen when he said he, like some others, had been at the Dallas County jail for too long. It wasn’t until McDowell’s brother intervened that he was finally able to get out, but that was nearly two months after he should have been released. Now, McDowell is being awarded a $100,000 settlement from Dallas County for being kept in jail longer than he should have been. The Dallas County Commissioners Court voted to pay the settlement on April 2. “We don’t think there’s any excuse for what happened to Mr. McDowell,” his attor- ney Dean Malone said. “The problem here is systemic.” The county didn’t respond to a request for comment about the suit. McDowell was placed on six months community supervision on May 9, 2022, af- ter being charged with theft of property val- ued under $100 in Dallas County. On June 30, 2023, McDowell admitted to violating certain terms of his community supervision for the theft offense in Dallas County. He was unable to report to his probation officer in Dallas County during June, July and Au- gust of 2022 to complete community service hours and pay delinquent supervision fees because he was incarcerated in Ellis County at the time on separate drug charges. As a re- sult, he was sentenced to five days confine- ment in the Dallas County jail. But because he was supposed to receive 10 days credit for time served, he should have been released immediately, no later than June 30, 2023. But that didn’t happen. Instead, he was held until Aug. 21, 2023, nearly two months later. “Plaintiff was illegally and unconstitu- tionally held past the terms of his sentence even though he notified officers and jail staffers of the error and asked to be re- leased,” the lawsuit says. McDowell’s brother also made attempts to get him released by contacting Ellis County, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and Dallas County to no avail. Mc- Dowell filed a umber of grievances in the Dallas County jail explaining his situation and referencing documents that supported his claims but to no avail. “They just ignored the complaints based on what we know and that’s just insuffi- cient,” Malone said. “They need to have a policy and a procedure in place such that when somebody is saying they shouldn’t be incarcerated any longer that it can easily be checked out.” McDowell’s brother made phone calls daily and continued visiting the jail. His brother was eventually able to convince a jail supervisor to call Ellis County or the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which led to McDowell’s release a few days later. The suit claims that the county has strug- gled for years to release inmates in a timely fashion. The process has long been flawed and was exacerbated by technological issues when the county began migrating case files to a new jail management system called Od- yssey from the old system called Forvus. “Compounding these issues, the county re- tired Forvus before Odyssey was fully opera- tional,” the lawsuit says. “This led to more time in jail for inmates after they had al- ready served their sentences.” This all resulted in the “significant depri- vation of inmates’ constitutional right to lib- erty,” according to the suit. It also led the jail’s population to swell to at least 88% ca- pacity. The jail population had been trend- ing down before the implementation of Odyssey, the suit says. The transition to the new software also prevented some from accessing the Adult Information System, which made it difficult for county clerks to get information from the county sheriffs regarding the amount of backtime detainees had served. This infor- mation is required to accurately calculate an inmate’s release date. “The county knew all of this information and it likewise knew to a certainty that these occurrences would result in people being in- carcerated with no legal authority to incar- cerate them,” the lawsuit says. The suit mentions other inmates who were also held past their sentences at the county jail. “Any wrongful incarceration, whether it’s a day or two or longer, is too long,” Malone said. “We should not be incarcerating people if we don’t have any legal authority to do so.” Malone said he hopes the settlement will encourage the county to resolve these issues so no one else is held longer in jail than they should be. “One can imagine how frustrating it is, or was, rather, for Mr. McDowell to know that he shouldn’t be there, wanting to get out and work,” Malone said. “I mean, he was gain- fully employed and had done fairly well in his occupation and nobody would listen to him, so it was beyond frustration.” ▼ CANNABIS GOT A RECIEPT FOR THAT? HERE’S WHAT YOU SHOULD DO IF YOU’RE PULLED OVER WITH HEMP. BY JACOB VAUGHN W e’ve published stories about peo- ple getting in trouble with the law for simply having hemp products in their possession. On trips home from the shop with our own hemp products, we’ve of- ten wondered what we’d do if we got pulled over. Is there anything we can do or say that might help our odds in that situation? We spoke to a couple of Texas cannabis attorneys to find out. They offered some pretty helpful, and simple, advice. Hemp was legalized federally in 2018 with the Farm Bill. Texas followed suit with its House Bill 1325. Both pieces of legislation de- fined hemp identically. Under the laws, canna- bis with 0.3% delta-9 THC or less is considered legal hemp. Cannabis with more than 0.3% delta-9 THC is considered illegal marijuana. Delta-9 THC is the chief psychoac- tive component in weed that gets users high. Since these laws were passed, an industry of psychoactive hemp products has sprouted across the country. These products include delta-8 and delta-10, different forms of THC, and THCa, all of which can be found on store shelves all throughout Texas. First of all, make sure you’re not driving under the influence, cannabis attorney Da- vid Sergi said. As mentioned earlier, some of the best advice is painfully simple. You’re not exactly ready to build the best defense for yourself if you’re drunk or high behind the wheel. You’ll also want to be sure to grab your receipt from the cashier at the hemp shop before you leave – this way, your pur- chase is documented. Every hemp product you buy should come with a QR Unfair Park from p08 FatimaTulkeram >> p12 Fatima Tulkeram Students at UT Dallas demonstrate in support of Palestine
