Baltimore Burning

[SkyRider]

Is the justice system messed up?

Yes. But the (rightful) lack of conviction and dropping of charges isn't an indication of that. The REST of the justice system is an indication of that.

I don't know if they have it up in Canada, but you can find "The First 48" or "Lockup" online fairly easy. No, they're not necessarily the most representative of murder cases, but from people I know in law enforcement they're pretty damn close to being representative of the kind of murder cases that are seen.

Poor people in America, and in particular poor African Americans in America, don't know jack shit about the legal system. The number of times you see someone ADMIT TO FELONY MURDER and think they're in the clear because they're not the one who pulled the trigger is astonishing. The number of murderers who don't ask for a lawyer, who are just plain dumb enough to talk to the police when they know they've committed a murder and the number of innocent witnesses who ask for a lawyer when all that does is increase the chances of them getting scrutinized for the crime, etc. It's astonishing.

African Americans, yes terribly, live in an environment where their chance of going to prison is insanely high, yet there is little to no understanding of the legal system which puts so many into prison. It's like being a "hobbyist" and not knowing anything about STD transmission or how the birds and the bees work. It must be like living in an electrical power plant and not knowing what electricity is. All you know is that every once in a while someone gets zapped and dies, and the cause-effect relationship is utterly magical.

It's genuinely shocking.

Yes, cops get off on charges a heck of a lot more than Joe Average, the African American. Because they damn well know a little about the law, and they know the system. Can innocent people be charged? Absolutely! And if the accused doesn't know what he or she is doing, they're FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKED. And many, many are, out of pure ignorance of the system in which they live. It's shocking.

http://www.amren.com/features/2014/05/confessions-of-a-public-defender/

 

[wigglee]

The riots in the 60's were a completely different situation. The majority of these rioters were young kids as well as professional agitators (Black Bloc, Nation of Islam etc). It had less to do with Freddie Gray and police relations and more with the socio-economic despair due to Liberal failed policies and the breakdown of the family unit.

Liberal failed policies......wow, you are an imbecile. Nothing at all to do with conservative cuts to education, or failed trickle down theories, or racism, or police brutality....LOL . What a Repuglican Buttard !

 

[nuprin001]

http://www.amren.com/features/2014/05/confessions-of-a-public-defender/

I'm not a fan of Amren. I'm not saying what they write is untrue, but it is a self-selected truth that doesn't present the whole picture. Which is just another way of lying.

 

[nuprin001]

Liberal failed policies......wow, you are an imbecile. Nothing at all to do with conservative cuts to education, or failed trickle down theories, or racism, or police brutality....LOL . What a Repuglican Buttard !

Ummm... MORE is spent today on education than ever. So much for cuts.

More is spent, on a per-student and on a school district-wide basis, on students in impoverished neighborhoods than in most wealthy neighborhoods, when you follow the simple (budget/# of students) formula. OTOH, when you break down the numbers on what is actually spent per student directly, not counting the administrative costs... per student spending in many impoverished school districts suddenly plummets.

Conclusion: there isn't a lack of money in impoverished school districts. There's a problem with too many programs with too many administrators in impoverished school districts.

Racism? Let's be realistic: racism isn't as bad as it used to be. Of course, ANY racism is bad and we should all work to eliminate it, but it's considerably less a problem in 2016 when the President is African American than it was in 1916, when the President was quoted in a fabricated, lying film lauding the KKK. So why are things in the African American community getting WORSE when there's LESS racism? The logic does not hold.

Is there police brutality? Absolutely. And that should be eliminated. But look at the incidents that are drawing attention... and that's not what you're actually finding. What you're finding are two subcultures that have different expectations under the same circumstance, and one side doesn't have a clue as to what the other side is thinking and the second side doesn't give a damn because the first side's actions are interpreted as dangerous. How much risk of personal safety do you want police officers to undertake in a potentially dangerous situation? Again, there are legitimate bad cops, just as there are bad people anywhere, but generally speaking (and in most of the cases that have been brought to national and international attention) we're looking at civilians acting in ways that make sense in their neighborhoods, when dealing with other civilians, but don't make sense when dealing with the police.

There is more spent on the inner city than there ever has been. That's not working. All it has done is produce multiple generations of people whose only skill is in manipulating the welfare system.