Will the Scales of (In)Justice Change with a Black President?
Scales of (In) Justice
An anonymous reader shared the following story and ended it with an interesting question. What are your thoughts?
I recently attended court in New Orleans and I was very surprised at the level of racial injustice. A white male had been arrested for drug possession with the intent to distribute (they called it a different term but that’s what it meant). He had cocaine, heroine, meth, and one other drug I had never heard before. Additionally, a black male was caught
trying to sell a small quantity of crack cocaine to a police officer. The white male was sentenced to 5 years probation while the black male was sentenced to ten years in prison. I don’t know much about drug crimes but the white male had four different types of drugs in comparison to the black man. They through out his intent to distribute charge and just charged him with possession.
My question is: Do you think there will be racial equality in the criminal justice system now that Barack Obama will be our next President?
No! I dont think Barack has that much power. Its clear racism and the laws allow it. They were created to imprison black peoolé especially males.
Michael
December 23, 2008
Wow. This is a strong point.
legalpolice
December 25, 2008
No. However there will be more sensitivity due to the fact that more eyes are watching. Obama has awakened Black America, while taking away one of our biggest scapegoats – “You know THEY ain’t gonna let a Black man….”
Can WE step up and reduce the number of us showing up at court for sentencing, rather than for duty? Parents, MAKE your children do their school work. Non-parents, help the parents….
Meanwhile, they “threw” out his intent. Whether that is your error or Shorty’s, phonetic spelling is hurting our children. Your misspelling does not seem to be from the uneducated. Where we cringe is when we “rite alot bout how we 8 to much @ joes b4 the nite shif.”
SuchIsLife
December 23, 2008
America changed Presidents, the judicial SYSTEM remains unchanged. Expect same things for Blacks only now they will be dipped in chocolate!
Lucius Gantt
December 23, 2008
There will be if WE help the president make changes. He is not Superman, just the president. He’s not the end, he is the beginning of change and the people are the catalyst.
David M
December 24, 2008
How can we help make changes to a system that has been wrong for years?
legalpolice
December 25, 2008
I have been working with people involved in Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ) for the last 2 years and was very surprised to find they have been working on Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) for awhile. Let us hope their work will be easier as the push forward under the new administration.
Valerie Holbrook
December 24, 2008
Please share resources so readers can keep track of progress.
legalpolice
December 25, 2008
No, I don’t think having Pres. Obama will balance the scales of justice. I do believe that we have to take responsiblity for our actions and not expect Pres. Obama to be “Captain Save Them”. We have to save ourselves. I do believe there will be more sensitivity to certain laws pertaining to race, but there will not be a huge overhaul.
Yolanda
December 29, 2008