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Tell Detroit Judge to Take Hate Crimes Against Homeless Seriously
  1. Signatures
    263 out of 500
    Petitioning
    1. Chief Judge Pro Tem (+ 2 others)
      Petitioning
      close
      • Chief Judge Pro Tem (Judge Kenneth King)
      • Court Administrator, 36th District Court (J. Otis Davis)
      • 36th District Court
  2. Created By
    Becky Blanton
    Richmond, VA
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

In October 2010, police say that Steven James Diponio, 54, became so enraged at Charles Duncan, 42, who was homeless and sleeping behind a school near Diponio's house in Detroit, that the older man beat Duncan with a baseball bat, tied him to his car bumper and dragged him down the street.

Detroit Chief Judge Pro Tem Kenneth J. King didn't consider Diponio a threat, however. He set bail at $80,000, allowing Diponio to post 10 percent of that and walk out of jail until his trial. 

Detroit has a history of serious violence against the homeless, but not of harsh prosecution. Urge Judge King and the 38th District Court to take hate crimes against the homeless seriously.

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Raise Bail Amounts in Hate Crimes Against Homeless

Greetings

Charles Duncan's punishment for being homeless and sleeping in a neighborhood near Steven Diponio's home was to be beaten, tied to a car bumper and dragged down the street. By setting bail for the man accused of this horrific crime at a mere $80,000, Judge Kenneth J. King sent the message that Detroit doesn't take violence against the homeless very seriously.

There are fewer than 2,000 shelter beds for 9,500 homeless people in Detroit. Violence against the homeless grows every year.

I urge you to take these kinds of hate crimes seriously. You may not be able to end homelessness, but you can help end, and punish the violence against the most defenseless citizens of Detroit - the homeless. Please increase bail for perpetrators of crimes against the homeless.

[Your name]

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