Linn County Attorney responds to calls for him to resign

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Interesting

Linn County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden is responding to criticisms including calls for him to resign.

Those calls center on two key issues that critics say show Vander Sanden is out of touch on racial justice. One is an editorial he wrote in the Gazette arguing disparities in arrests and convictions of Black people compared to White people for marijuana crimes do not show the justice system is racist.

The other is the officer involved shooting of Jerime Mitchell in November of 2016. A grand jury cleared the officer, Lucas Jones without hearing Mitchell’s side of the story. Mitchell, and his attorney, Larry Rogers Jr. spoke on the incident in a TV-9 exclusive on Monday.

The calls for police and criminal justice reforms are being heard all across the country, including here in Iowa. Some activist say Vander Sanden has been a topic at some of the local protest in Cedar Rapids.