Denise leaned back.
"I've heard that sentence before."
Carla opened her folder.
"I found something else."
She placed six case files on the table.
"All of these involved clients of mine."
Denise looked through them.
"Resisting arrest."
Another.
"Assault on an officer."
Another.
"Disorderly conduct."
She noticed the same name.
James Reigns.
"How many cases?"
"These are only my clients."
Carla leaned forward.
"I think your arrest belongs to a pattern."
Denise stared at the files.
"Then we find the pattern."
Forty-Seven Names
The following morning, Denise and Carla began searching public court records.
By noon, they had identified forty-seven cases involving Greenwood Mall and similar allegations.
Nearly all involved Black defendants.
Most began with something minor.
A disagreement.
A suspected shoplifting incident.
A security complaint.
A refusal to consent to a search.
Then the allegations escalated.
Resisting.
Interfering.
Disorderly conduct.
Assault.
And then came plea agreements.
Most defendants accepted them.
Why?
Because fighting a police case was expensive.
Because lawyers cost money.
Because missing work cost money.
Because prosecutors offered deals.
Because people were afraid.
Carla tapped the screen.
"There."
Denise looked.
Every plea agreement seemed to lead toward the same private probation provider.
New Horizon Supervision Services.
"Private probation?"
"Yes."
"Who owns it?"
Carla rotated the laptop.
Greenwood Holdings LLC.
Denise stared at the name.