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Caltex · 03-23-2008, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prrriiide

Let's start with the criminal justice system.

Justice On Trial

Racial profiling:

One study in Maryland showed that 70% of drivers stopped on I-95 were black, when blacks constituted only 17.5% of drivers, as well as speeders overall.

Volusia Co., FL: Again, 70% of the traffic stops on the interstate were either black or hispanic, while only 5% of the drivers on that road were black or hispanic. Furthermore, those minority stops accounted for 80% of the vehicle searches, and minorities were detained for longer periods than whites.

In sworn testimony, DEA agents have stated their belief that most drug couriers are black females, and that being Hispanic or black was part of the profile they used to identify drug traffikers. DEA: that's federal racism.

A Demember 1999 report by the New York State Attorney General found that of 175,000 "stop and frisk" searches conducted by the NYPD from January of 1998 through March of 1999, almost 84% were of blacks and Hispanics, despite the fact that those groups constitute less than 1/2 of the city's population. By contrast, only 13% of the stops were of white New Yorkers, who comprise 43% of the city's population.

The rationale for profiling that blacks use drugs at a higher rate than whites is false: According the US Department of Health and Human Services National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, Preliminary Results from 1997, for the last 20 years, drug use rates among black youths have consistently been lower per capita than drug use rates among white youths.

Now I don't know about you, but if I am a law-abiding citizen, and I knew that every time I was stopped and questioned by the police while minding my own business, it was becasue of my skin color, don't you think I'd be seeing the country's racial values and the racial divide through a completely different set of lenses? You and I can go pretty much where we please, when we want. The same cannot be said for blacks and minorities of color in the US. The studies and facts bear it out. Just 11 days ago, a Geneva-based UN rights body strongly criticized the Bush administration for failing to meet international standards on racial justice and equality.

From 1988-1994, the US Attorney's Office with jurisdiction over Los Angeles prosecuted hundreds of blacks and Hispanics for Federal crack cocaine charges, but failed to prosecute a single white person on those same charges, while several hundred whites were prosecuted at the same time for crack charges in the state court system. A 1992 US Sentencing Commission Report determined that only minorities were prosecuted for crack offenses in over half of the federal judicial districts that handled crack cases. From 1992-1994, in New York, Texas, California, and Pennsylvania combined, only 8 whites were convicted on crack charges. Over that same two-year period, none were convicted in Denver, Boston, Miami, Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles. Meanwhile, thousands of minorities were sentenced to mandatory sentences averaging 84 months, with no possibility of parole.

Read the study I link at the beginning. You will see a consistent and methodic pattern of racial discrimination in the judicial system in the US.

The judicial system is but one area. If you want more, it's just a google search away.

Profiling is not racism, it's smart policing. Find out what type of person (Be it age, location, etc.) that is most likely to be an offender of the crime you are looking for, and focus efforts so that the most possible amount of crime is stopped. A good example would be at an airport, if you could screen at most 10 of 200 passengers, would you screen the 10 30 year old Saudi Arabian nationals or 10 elderly women. Obviously screening the Arab guys will be far more efficient for catching a potential suicide bomber, as ~30 year old Muslim men are more likely than any other group to be hijackers.

Obviously there should always be probably cause before making the police stop. I'm not advocating a police state where one can be pulled over for their characteristics. But if probable cause exists, and a choice must be made, the person who fits the crime's demographic is probably the best bet, regardless of what those characteristics are. (Racial, age, car type, etc.)

As for the crack cocaine issue, it's largely because you don't find too many whites using crack cocaine. Those that do use cocaine seem to prefer powder cocaine. The prosecution rates are obviously because the Federal government can't afford to waste it's time fighting small time drug users in court if they hire themselves a big time lawyer. Previous criminal record also plays a big role. If someone already has a record and goes in for a drug use offense, are far less likely to receive leniency.

The drug used also matters. Crack Cocaine is a whole hell of a lot moire dangerous than Marijuana, so the drug use rates don't matter, what matters is what drug is used. I'm personally for decriminalization of all drug use, but that's another subject. Why Crack Cocaine punishment is harsher than Powder cocaine is another subject, that I believe has actually been changed by the congress rather recently..

Why blacks are incarcerated at higher rates than the usage may be worth looking into, but it absolutely does not prove racism by the justice department. There are many reasons that this could be occurring. Possibly whites are better for some reason at concealing usage, really I can't say. All of this really is irrelevant, because in order for the incarceration to occur, a crime must have been committed in the first place (Bar the very rare wrongful convictions). Thus they deserve none of our sympathy.

As a side note, this will be my last post about the justice departments policies, as this is a totally different subject, which someone can start a new thread if they wish to debate further.