Jury: Black neighborhood was denied water service By JULIE CARR SMYTH, Associated Press Writer
17 minutes ago



COLUMBUS, Ohio - Residents of a mostly black neighborhood were awarded nearly $11 million Thursday by a federal jury that found local authorities denied them public water service for decades out of racial discrimination.

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Each of the 67 plaintiffs was awarded $15,000 to $300,000, depending on how long they had lived in the Coal Run neighborhood, about 5 miles east of Zanesville in Muskingum County in east-central Ohio.

The money covers both monetary losses and the residents' pain and suffering between 1956, when water lines were first laid in the area, and 2003, when Coal Run got public water.

Ohio Attorney General Nancy H. Rogers said she was pleased.

"This decision speaks firmly about the importance of treating citizens with equal respect, regardless of race," she said in a statement.

The city, county and East Muskingum Water Authority all denied discrimination. The city plans to appeal.

Coal Run residents either paid to have wells dug, hauled water for cisterns or collected rain water so they could drink, cook and bathe.

"As a child, I thought it was normal because everyone done it in my neighborhood," said one of the plaintiffs, Cynthia Hale Hairston, 47. "But I realized as an adult it was wrong."

Plaintiffs' attorney Reed Colfax described the verdict as unique among civil rights cases nationally, both in the nature of the ruling and the size of the award.

Zanesville attorney Michael Valentine said in court that he intended to appeal but declined to comment further.

Attorney Mark Landes, who represented the county and water district, called the verdict disappointing. He said jurors were not allowed to hear defendants' testimony that neighborhood residents were offered water service years ago and refused it.

"This was a case that was started and fired by out-of-town lawyers who saw an opportunity for a cash settlement," Landes said.

John Relman, a civil rights attorney based in Washington, D.C., who represented the residents, said the jury heard hours of testimony and saw hundreds of pages of documentation over the seven-week trial.

"This verdict vindicates that this (treatment) was because of their race," he said. "The jury agreed with that and issued a verdict based on a full airing of the facts."

Plaintiff Frederick Martin said the long wait was worth it.

He and his nine siblings shared two tubs of water between them on bath nights when he was growing up. He left Coal Run, built on a former coal mine, in 1970 so his children wouldn't have to endure the same living conditions, he said.

"Today I feel that we are really blessed, to know and to see justice being met," Martin said. "And to see, regardless of who we are, there is a price to pay if you discriminate against people."

The plaintiffs' attorneys successfully argued that the decision not to pipe water to the plaintiffs was racially motivated, painting a picture of a community with a history of segregation. Black residents of Coal Run Road were denied water over the years while nearby white neighbors were provided it, they said.

Landes countered that about half of Muskingum County residents are not tied into the public water system even today. Among those without it are county commissioners, judges and other prominent officials, he said.

In their complaint, plaintiffs' lawyers detailed a trip to the county commission by resident Jerry Kennedy, whose mother lived on Coal Run for 70 years.

When Kennedy asked for public water service, according to the court filing, Muskingum County Commissioner Dorothy Montgomery said there would be no water on Coal Run "until President Bush drops spiral bombs in the holler." County attorneys were unable to verify the account.

Montgomery's husband, John, said Thursday that the statement about his wife is "absolutely not the truth."

A founding member of the water authority, who served for 11 years, John Montgomery said he was flabbergasted at the verdicts. He said the authority "walked up and down Coal Run Road to get people signed up and nobody would do it."

"It's just not right," he said. "This whole thing is a farce as far as I'm concerned."

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