400 SUPPORT FAMILY OF CHARLES PLINTON

Community Members Sing, Pray, Speak Out

The fight isn't nearly over, and they say the towel won't be thrown in.

Instead, about 400 community members vowed to jump in the ring Sunday
at a rally to honor former University of Akron student Charles
Plinton, whose arrest and acquittal on questionable drug charges
fueled his suspension from the school and ended with his suicide last year.

From the pews of Mount Calvary Baptist Church, people of all ages
praised God and sang spirited hymns, standing when so moved, and
demanded further investigation into Plinton's case.

Front and center, Plinton's mother and brother sometimes joined them in song.

But for most of the two-hour rally, the New Jersey family just
absorbed the words, nodding and applauding as numerous pastors took
turns honoring "Chuck," a former graduate student who took his own
life Dec. 12 after drug trafficking charges ended his aspirations to
enter law enforcement.

"Even in the untimely demise of your son, we are not fighting for
victory. We are fighting from victory," said the Rev. William V.
Green, pastor of Galilee Baptist Church. "We're going to declare a
new heavy-weight champion.... We're going to do what's right."

Those in attendance did not hold another funeral for the 25-year-old.
They instead spoke about change. What happened to Plinton could have
happened to anyone's child, they said.

Public response to last month's Beacon Journal article on Plinton's
case led to an independent commission to review the university's law
enforcement and student disciplinary policies.

A private investigation financed by local pastors found policy,
procedural and decision-making irregularities within the Summit
County Sheriff's Office, which oversaw the Plinton case with the help
of a paid informant housed on the UA campus.

The Rev. John Hosea of North Hill Community Baptist Church said the
private eye located confidential informants "that the prosecutor's
and sheriff's offices said they couldn't find."

Plinton's case "opened our eyes," he said. "Now we can see clearly."

The coalition of clergy Sunday also requested a grand jury to
investigate the case after an April 4 meeting with Summit County
Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh, whose office brought the charges to
court. Walsh's office is also investigating.

"Had this not been the wake-up call, the incident that set us on
fire, it would have been any other day at the office -- another young
brother shuffled along the justice system, another broken dream,"
said the Rev. Bruce Butcher of St. Paul AME Church. "But this wasn't
another day. Somebody got tired of being sick and tired."

In Plinton's August 2004 trial, a Summit County jury took 40 minutes
to find him not guilty of trafficking marijuana. The university
disciplinary panel, however, later found him "responsible" and
suspended him from student housing and from attending classes for one semester.

In his last phone conversation with his mother, he mourned his
inability to earn his master's degree and the debt accrued while he
defended himself in court.

Officials who attended Sunday's rally included Akron City Council
members Renee Greene and Jim Shealey, County Councilman Cazell Smith,
Akron schools Superintendent Sylvester Small and Democratic
congressional candidate Tom Sawyer.

Travel expenses for Plinton's family were covered by Akron's NAACP
chapter and a coalition of pastors.

A written statement from Plinton's father, Charles Allen Plinton,
asked the community to hold schools to a higher standard of justice.

Then Plinton's mother, Frances Parker Robinson, took the pulpit.
Robinson said she had no room in her heart for vindictiveness.

"But I am hurt," she said. "It happened just a few months ago. I miss
my baby. Thank you all for crying aloud, and don't stop."

A lecture by Plinton's brother, David Sanders, moved the Rev. Green to tears.

Plinton often argued with his family about the presence of a fair and
impartial justice system. On Sunday, Sanders warned young black men
and women not to be duped by the system that failed his brother.

"Just know this: Every time you go to the library to study... you
better believe someone, somebody is feeling threatened," Sanders said.

Still, "this is not just a black folk fight," Butcher reminded
audience members, who ultimately took turns hugging an emotional
Robinson. "Injustice doesn't know any color."