A substitute mediator will join negotiations this week in the effort to settle a racial profiling lawsuit filed against the city of Cincinnati.

        When negotiators reconvene Thursday, they'll be joined by U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael R. Merz of Dayton. He'll sit in for Jay Rothman, president of Aria Group, the Yellow Springs-based conflict resolution firm leading settlement talks.

        In a federal court order Mon day, U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott — who is overseeing the profiling case — named Judge Merz as a “special master,” who will direct the parties at these end stages of negotiations.

        “Rothman was unavailable because it is a religious holiday,” Judge Dlott said. “And therefore, I appointed a magistrate as a replacement mediator for Thursday and Friday.

        “It's not a passing of the baton. It's just a substitute.”

        Settlement talks are reaching a critical point as the anniversary of Cincinnati's 2001 riots approaches. Judge Dlott has set April 5 as the date for negotiations to end. By then, the parties will either come to an agreement or go back to court.

        “I've been able to bring the agenda from the bottom up,” Mr. Rothman said. “But as we work on the details of an agreement, it's essential that we have someone to work with the lawyers on the lawyerly terms.”

        Judge Merz will be able to do that, he said.

        These negotiations are the final act of an unprecedented process that put Cincinnati in the national spotlight. A year ago, the American Civil Liberties Union and a group of local black activists agreed to put the racial profiling lawsuit — and their motion to certify the case as a class-action — on hold in an effort to settle the case.

        Through community outreach, 3,500 citizens gave input that developed into five goals, which became the foundation of the proposed settlement. Negotiators will debate the details this week.

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