Dimora Team Wants Trial Moved Out of Northeast Ohio

Newsmaker: Jill Rizika, executive director, Towards Employment
Cleveland has joined a growing list of cities that will no longer force ex-felons to disclose their criminal past when applying for work with city government. Mayor Jackson says it’s wrong to punish people for prior wrongs.  But the city could still bar ex-felons from holding some jobs. It’s a significant change in Cleveland which is home to more ex-convicts than any other Ohio county. Towards Employment is an organization that helps former convicts re-enter the workforce and was among the groups urging the Mayor to change the city’s hiring policy.

Roundtable: Ned Whelan, Whelan Communications; Jill Miller Zimon, blogger, Writes Like She Talks; Johnathan Holifield, Co-founder, The America21 Project.

Dimora Trial Locale
Former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora wants his federal corruption trial moved out of Akron. His lawyers claim he can’t get a fair trial in Akron because it’s become a media circus. Judge Sara Lioi disagreed, promising an orderly trial. She’ll rule later on the change of venue and related motions.

Corruption Wrap
Former Cuyahoga County Judge Steven Terry will spend more than five years in prison for fixing a foreclosure case and lying about it during his trial. Perjury was an aggravating circumstance that led to a longer sentence for Terry than for Bridget McCafferty, another former judge convicted in a recent corruption trial. Meanwhile, dozens of Cuyahoga County employees face the stark choice of giving up their county jobs or giving up partisan political posts they hold after hours. State law, heretofore ignored, forbids the practice.

Council Ponders Anti-Flash Mob Law
Cleveland City Council is taking another stab at quashing unruly flash mobs. A proposed city law would make it illegal to incite a riot using social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. It would also label cell phones and computers as potential criminal tools. Mayor Jackson vetoed an earlier flash mob measure as overbroad and unenforceable.

Inmate Sues Over Prison Food
Ohio has pulled pork from the menu at state prisons after a Muslim death row inmate sued claiming pork violates his religion. The inmate also claims the state fails to provide meals prepared according to Muslim tradition in the same way that it serves kosher meals to some Jewish inmates. The state says preparing special meals is much more expensive than standard prison fare.