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Law and Justice in Real Time Race and the CJ System

War on Drugs…War on (some) Drugs (possessed by certain individuals)

When I first arrived at this institution, the class sizes and the amount of reading that was assigned did little to concern me. The biggest culture shock was the normalization of drug use. A time before the legalization of cannabis in the state of Washington. I was surrounded by students who spoke of their drug habit with no fear, voicing annoyance that they had to figure out who to get it from, smoking in dorm rooms and right outside of dorm room buildings. Confusion mixed with anger flowed through my mind. I spent all of my youth being conscious of stereotypes and the need to stay clear from the slightest hint of misconduct while still being suspected. Making sure to stay far away from drugs, spending my school years constantly being monitored; banning clothing with too many pockets, limiting backpack and locker usage and being ‘cautioned’ -threatened with sporadic drug dog visits. It felt as if they were sure we would mess up and we always had to prove otherwise.

A constant fear of making a wrong decision that would ruin your life was far from the minds of all these new faces I had encountered in college. In the same months I hear those of a higher social status voice their love of cannabis I hear the tear inducing frustration of a student that spent her youth constantly battling the stigma of her peers. Since she was Mexican and her family had property their success was automatically assumed as having been a result of narcotic involvement.  The stereotype that racial minorities are the root of our drug problem is something that is still being believed as we have noted with uproar of candidate approval to a certain individual. This fear no matter how misinformed is the voice that is being heard creating an enforcement of policies reflective of the misinformed belief.

The early seventies proclaimed drug abuse public enemy number one. Giving birth to the War on Drugs and thus enhancing law enforcement and judicial practices. It has cost one trillion dollars after millions of arrest and has resulted in no changes to illegal drug use. Instead we have 500,000 people incarcerated for nonviolent drug crimes.  This call for action against drugs have resulted in hyperactive policing of poor persons and minorities even though drug usage is similar across the board and  federal studies show more drug use among white youths. Disproportionate arrests that have created horrifying circumstances where white Americans, the majority of this country use crack cocaine more than African Americans but African Americans account for 85% of crack cocaine arrests. A new focus point since the 90s being the arrest of easily targeted poor whites for use of methamphetamine. Not a war on drugs but a war on poverty as displayed by glorified drug arrests.

Early 2000s we have “Pot Princess” Julia Diaco from New York who after multiple drug sales to an undercover narcotics officer facing up to 25 years in prison was sentenced to 5 years on probation. An injustice heightened in this article http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/2006/03/nyu-pot-princess-sentenced-treatment-and-probation-despite-multiple-drug-sales at the comparison of Ashley O’Donoghue, a black man who was also arrested as a first time nonviolent drug offender who is serving seven to twenty one years. Now nearing the end of  2015 we have Sarah Furay an “adorable drug kingpin” of Texas http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/01/when-white-girls-deal-drugs-they-walk.html the daughter of a DEA agent possessing five different narcotics along with packing materials and two digital scales.

After learning about the woman from Texas, her privilege and her narcotic possessions, justice would be that she would get served the life ending consequences that come to racial minorities and those living in poverty. But her arrest does little to the fact that the war on drugs has created a target of brown and black bodies and those who live in poor neighborhoods as the worst and ONLY enemy. These stereotypes have created hyper action to one that grant invisibility to another. So long as we keep drug users and dealers in our minds to a certain stereotype we keep the Sarah Furays of this country profitable in their markets and safe from incarceration and public scrutiny. If this policy were really about protecting our children by confiscating drugs that can hurt them, there would be a lot more drug raids on and around college campuses. Furthermore if the war on drugs is truly about keeping people safe which can be interpreted as keeping people healthy we should address the root of why people are seeking narcotics.

 

illegal-drug-demand

 

 

 

References

Giordani, E. (2015). Criminal Justice. In Latino stats: American Hispanics by the numbers. New York, New York: The New Press.

Haglage, A. (2015, December 1). When Whtie Girls Deal Drugs, They Walk. Retrieved December 17, 2015, from http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/01/when-white-girls-deal-drugs-they-walk.html

Jarecki, E. (Director). (2013). The House I Live In [Motion picture on DVD]. Virgil Films.

Mohamed, A., & Fritsvold, E. (2012). Dorm room dealers: Drugs and the privileges of race and class (Paperback ed.). Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner.
Newman, T. (2006, March 22). NYU “Pot Princess” Sentenced to Treatment and Probation Despite Multiple Drug Sales. Retrieved December 17, 2015, from http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/2006/03/nyu-pot-princess-sentenced-treatment-and-probation-despite-multiple-drug-sales

“Supply Demand” Graphic. Mike Keefe. (2009).The Denver Post. www.eaglecartoons.com http://www.ldjackson.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/illegal-drug-demand.jpg

“War on Drugs Message” Graphic. Kirk. Kanderson@pioneerpress.com http://greenwellness.org/wp-content/uploads/war_on_drugs_is_bw_kirk_anderson_20.jpg

 

 

Mental Health Concerns in the Administration of Criminal Justice

mental health img

The issue of mental health in our criminal justice system is severely under-represented. We have individuals both taking advantage of and getting lost in the system which gives neither the help they need. The issue of misdiagnosing is where the problem begins; we lack the research we need to complement the diagnosing methods of physicians. Stigma concerning individuals with intellectual disabilities, especially offenders, is also causing conflict in putting them through the system. Minority standing is, of course, the underlying factor in all of this, considering the majority of individuals with mental disabilities in the criminal justice system are part of a minority group.

The plea of temporary insanity (if successful) can prove little to no consequences from the criminal justice system, yet rarely is it truly insanity that drives these offenders to offend. People that are part of the majority, wealthy and white that have the resources to put together a team of excellent lawyers are more likely to use this defence than those that are obviously actually psychotic. The problem with this is it leaves criminals who only claimed insanity, out of the streets to re-offend. Many legitimate psychotic individuals do not even know what is best for them, yet they still have to decide their own fate and many refuse to allow their lawyer to mount an insanity case for them. As a result, they get stuck in the system without proper services to give them the assistance they need that would be provided in mental health facilities. This is one of the many issues with pleas such as these; the wrong people use them and the right people don’t know how to use them and aren’t receiving aid on their behalf.

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The stigma we place upon individuals with mental disorders leads many people to brush them under the rug so to speak, because what can they contribute to society? What will it hurt me to accidently put them in jail instead of a mental health facility? It hurts them, it hurts their families and it hurts the community around them when mentally disabled offenders don’t get the treatment they need to not offend again. Jail is not the equivalent of therapy or medication, which is the only thing proven to keep these offenders from re-offending.

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In order to stop this problem we need to conduct more research, continue to make better and more assistance programs available to minority groups and change the way people with mental disabilities are tried. Research will make diagnosing more accurate and valid, programs will prevent minorities from ending up in the criminal justice system to begin with and could also contribute to getting rid of prejudicial bias within the system. Changing the way people with Intellectual disabilities are tried is the most important way to stop them from being improperly put in the general jail population. If they cannot make proper judgements they should not and can not make proper decisions on these judgements and should not be forced to.

To close, here are a few last words about mental illness:

1. So how do we fix this problem besides more research and better methods for diagnosis?

2. How much of a factor is race, sex and/or social status in deciding where/how an offender is sentenced?

3. Do you know someone with a mental disability who has had to go through the criminal justice system? How did it work out for them?

 

 

 

Final Blog: Race and Social class in the Criminal Justice System

 

The debate of whether or not race and class plays a significant role in the criminal justice system still remains a big question. You will get different answers from different people.  For example, if you talk to people who have been to prison or has been  part of the criminal justice system you will get a different answer than someone who just relies on the media and what they see. I am one of those who has experience in the criminal justice system. Not only because I am majoring in it, but because I have actually worked at a prosecutor’s office.  I would say yes. This is simply based on the patterns that I saw with in my time with the prosecutor’s office and some research. As for the question of whether or not class place a role in criminal justice system, I think the answer to that is it depends. I don’t think that the social class matters too much, but I think if you are a celebrity or a famous person you will get out of anything. . This question  is harder to answer, but at the end of the day, I think that it does not matter at all.

It is kind of unfortunate that this is even a subject that we have to study. It really kills me to say this, but the answer to this question is yes. Yes, race does play a huge role in the criminal justice system. The first time that the question arose for me was when I found out about few of my colleagues. Long story short, my white American colleagues got less time in prison for the same crime that was committed by my African-American colleagues. After doing some research, I found out that This occurs outside of the courtroom too. According to statistics. “Once convicted, black offenders receive longer sentences compared to white offenders. The U.S. Sentencing Commission stated that in the federal system black offenders receive sentences that are 10 percent longer than white offenders for the same crimes. To be more specific, 1 in every 12 African Americans in their 20’s are in the criminal justice system as prisoners (Morris, 1). The Sentencing Project reports that African Americans are 21 percent more likely to get arrested than their white counterparts. Students of color face harsher punishments in school than their white peers, leading to a higher number of youth of color incarcerated. Black and Hispanic students represent more than 70 percent of those involved in school-related arrests or referrals to law enforcement. Currently, African Americans make up two-fifths and Hispanics one-fifth of confined youth today. to be sentenced to prison.” the main argument here is that people of color get longer sentences than their white counterparts.

 

Social class plays a role in the criminal justice system. A  key reason why whether or not the social class in the criminal justice system is so hard is because it seems like the only rich people that get away crimes are the celebrities. This includes Wall street CEOs, Professional athletes, politicians and even Actors/Actresses. There are a lot of celebrities that get away with crimes. One example is the Donte Stallworth incident. Donte Stallworth was an ex-nfl player who played for Cleveland Browns. On March 14, 2009 Donte Stallworth got in a car accident which ended up killing a pedestrian. Mr. Stallworth did admit that he was drinking the night before. Three weeks later, Mr. Stallworth was charged with DUI manslaughter.His sentence was that he got 30 days in jail and 2 years of probation. This basically means that he cannot leave his residence without permission. That is a really short sentence as is, but what was even stranger was that Mr. Stallworth was supposed to pay the Reyes’ (Mario Reyes’ family) $2,500. The Reyes’ did not want the money. Instead, they wanted him to donated the $2,500 to the charity group Mother Against Drunk Driving (Philips, cnn.com).  A lot of people argue that on the other we have Aaron Hernandez’s case which is literally resulted in the exact opposite of how Donte Stallworth’s did. Mr. Hernandez got life in prison.

One issue that is probably not that important, but still kind of important enough is the body structure. Study shows that wealthier people tend to be slimmer because they tend to like running more than lifting weights and playing sports.  According to Lisa McIntyre’s book The Practical Skeptic: Core Concepts in Sociology, she describes 3 different body types. the first one is ectomorphs which is basically when someone is thin and fragile. The second body type is endomorphs which is when someone is short and fat. The final type of body type is mesomorphs which is muscular and athletic (McIntyre, 172). Normally people of higher social classes are ectomorphs and look pretty innocent while people who are poorer are either endomorphs or mesomorphs and look like they committed a crime.

 

Donte Stallworth at his trial

The question about whether or not the race plays a key role in the criminal justice system is still a debatable topic. This will always be one of the most debatable topics ever. There is really no one answer to this question. You can ask anyone you want, but you will get different answers from people. I maybe a little biased because as a  colored individual has who had their fair share of run ins with the criminal justice system. Not only that, but I have had experience in observing the criminal justice system. After doing a little research, I found that it is very common for race to play a key role in the criminal justice system. This also includes in the “criminal justice system” for schools. Meaning that colored students tend to get suspended or even expelled more than their white counterparts, leading to a higher number of youth of color incarcerated. Black and Hispanic students represent more than 70 percent of those involved in school-related arrests or referrals to law enforcement. It is obvious these numbers differ by state, county and even cities, but even working within the criminal justice system I saw similar numbers. I did notice the pattern at my place of work.

Another issue that should be addressed is whether or not social class plays a key role in the criminal justice system. After doing some research, I found a common theme. That theme was that the only time social class plays a role in the criminal justice system is if they are a celebrity/ famous person. Other than that. people who are wealthier do have a slight advantage because they can pay themselves out, but other than that, it does not play a big  role in the criminal justice system. Even on occasions, their celebrity status does not matter. An example of this is the Aaron Hernandez case. He was a former NFL receiver who got life in prison. Although, like i said earlier, most celebrities get off pretty easy.

 

Reference:

  • Cole, D. (1999). No Equal Justice. New York, New York: W.W. Norton and Company.
  • Mauer, M. (2007). Uneven justice:states rates by incarceration by race and ethnicity. The Sentencing Project.
  • Stallworth Charged in man’s Death. (2009, April 1). Retrieved December 14, 2015, from http://espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4033632
  • McIntyre, L. (2006). The practical skeptic: Core concepts in sociology (3rd ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Domestic Terrorism: Implications of a Label

Disclaimer: I pose a number of open-ended questions throughout this post, but I have included my main discussion questions at the end.

In light of recent events, I think it is important we take the time to discuss the concept of domestic terrorism and the roles that race, religion, ethnocentrism and media coverage play in forming public perception. Domestic terrorism is defined separately from International terrorism, according to the FBI:

“‘Domestic terrorism’ means activities with the following three characteristics:

 1. Involve acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law;

2. Appear intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination. or kidnapping; and

3. Occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S.” (fbi.gov)

The ambiguity of this definition lies in the skillful use of the word “intended.” Intent can be incredibly hard to prove, it leaves a lot of room for interpretation on behalf of the FBI, the government, and the media. It leaves the incredibly popular “mental health” loophole available. But, that loophole only seems to apply white men who carry out mass shootings. When the media puts the focus on not knowing the intent is when they use race to fill in the story, as demonstrated by the responses to the attack at Planned Parenthood. Additionally, whether or not the assailants “intent” was to specifically influence government policy, the recent shootings have brought the topic of gun control to the forefront of debates that have major implications for future legislation. In that respect, should the intent really matter?

Hopefully at this point everyone is familiar with the shooting that occurred last Friday at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado in which three people were killed and nine were wounded.(Broomfield, Brown & Simon, 2015). The following is an alert from the New York Times that popped up on my phone on Tuesday: “Special Report: The suspect in the Colorado rampage was a recluse who longed for women, and mixed religion with rage.” (Faussett, 2015).They describe him as an outcast, of course we would not want to associate him with all Christians… he was just a random fanatic with an anger problem. I find it incredibly hard to believe that if Robert Lewis Dear was not white or christian, the media would be as hesitant to call it domestic terrorism. The media would hear “anti-government” and run with it.

What I find particularly fascinating is a news story published by the FBI on their website in September of 2009 titled Domestic Terrorism: In the Post 9/11 Era. Here is a short excerpt from the article:

“One particularly insidious concern that touches all forms of domestic extremism is the lone offender—a single individual driven to hateful attacks based on a particular set of beliefs without a larger group’s knowledge or support…We believe most domestic attacks are carried out by lone offenders to promote their own grievances and agendas.” (fib.gov)

Does this not describe Robert Lewis Dear? In 2009 the FBI openly acknowledged that lone offenders could not only be considered domestic extremism or terrorism but was a particularly insidious threat. Does this not include those who carry out these mass shootings and massacres? Even still, the majority of the american public would not acknowledge that threat of lone offenders could apply to races or religions besides white people or christians, the majority response to the refugee crisis makes that very clear. Here is what CNN had to say about the recent planned parenthood shooting: “Dear, 57, told them he has anti-abortion and anti-government views, but that doesn’t mean those opinions were his motive for allegedly shooting up the Colorado Springs clinic on Friday, the official said. It’s too early to tell, as investigators are still processing evidence” (Broomfield et. al, 2015).

As I’m writing this I am listening to live coverage on CNN about the massacre that occurred today. Fourteen people were killed today in San Bernadino, California when as many as three men and women opened fire at a center for people with disabilities. In the broadcast, one of the men on Anderson Coopers panel, (which included Art Roderick, a CNN law enforcement analyst; Lenny Depaul, a member of the US marshall fugitive task force for New jersey and New York; Chris Swecker, former assistant director for the FBI; and Harry Hauck, a former NYPD detective) said the following:

“I will say that we oughta get our terminology straight here, just because it happened domestically doesn’t make it domestic terrorism. 9/11 was an attack on US soil, so was World Trade Center one. If it is internationally inspired, if there is some international inspiration or facilitation that turns it in to international terrorism so I think have to keep an open mind…”

To which Anderson Cooper agreed. The only difference between the FBI definitions for international and domestic terrorism is the final characteristic, for something to be International terrorism it must “Occur primarily outside the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S., or transcend national boundaries in terms of the means by which they are accomplished, the persons they appear intended to intimidate or coerce, or the locale in which their perpetrators operate or seek asylum.”(fbi.gov) So even when we have a perpetrator from a recent shooting confirm his anti-government sentiments, it is too soon to tell if it can be considered domestic terrorism. But when there is an ongoing situation that we know was weaponized, calculated and fatal, we still cannot consider it domestic terrorism, but we should also keep in mind that international terrorism is a totally viable option. I’m really not sure I understand the logic there. Today, multiple men and women wearing tactical gear who were in possession of assault rifles, handguns and pipe bombs entered a building and opened fire on innocent people, very possibly people with disabilities. If that is not an act of terrorism, I don’t know what is.

Q1: Do you think the recent shootings/attacks should be considered domestic terrorism? Does it fit within the FBI’s definition? If not, should the FBI’s definition be more widely applied?

Q2: Are there benefits to not labeling these shootings as domestic terrorism?

Q3: What roles do religion and race play in the media coverage of attacks like these?

Q4: With one of the perpetrators of the San Bernardino shootings being a women, do you think gender will influence media coverage in the coming days?

Q5: Do you think domestic terrorism events instill as much fear in the american public as international terrorism?

Q6: We recently discussed some of the pros and cons of militarization of the police here in the US. If American media and society started to classify these attacks as domestic terrorist attacks, what sort of policy/legal implications would that have, if any?

 

References:

Broomfield, B., Brown, P., & Simon, D. (2015, November 29). Source: Colorado shooting suspect spoke of ‘baby parts’ – CNN.com. Retrieved December 3, 2015, from http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/29/us/colorado-planned-parenthood-shooting/

In the Post-9/11 Era. (2009, September 7). Retrieved December 3, 2015, from https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2009/september/domterror_090709

Fausset, R. (2015, December 1). For Robert Dear, Religion and Rage Before Planned Parenthood Attack. Retrieved December 3, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/02/us/robert-dear-planned-parenthood-shooting.html?_r=0

San Bernardino Live Coverage [Television series episode]. (2015, December 3). In 360 with Anderson Cooper. New York City: Anderson Cooper.

https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/terrorism/terrorism-definition

 

 

The Increasing Militarization of America’s Police Forces: Form of Oppression or a Protection for Society?

In the year 1997, two heavily armed men entered a Southern California bank and began their reign of terror. Armed with automatic weapons, body armor, and ski masks, the two individuals forced their way into the bank and created a chaotic scene in order to get their money. As Los Angeles Police Officers responded, many of them were outgunned as they didn’t have the proper resistance (weaponry) to take on the suspects at large and protect the civilians around them (Orlov, 2012). With responding patrol officers only armed with semi-automatic rifles and 12 gauge shotguns, they were for a long time losing the battle that ended in dozens of officers and civilians injured. From this day that put all of North Hollywood, California in panic mode, police departments started providing semi-automatic rifles (M-16’s) to patrol officers, as well as increasing their use of Special Weapons and Tactics Teams (SWAT) (Orlov, 2012). This sense of ramping up increases in military like models has somewhat divided the country regarding whether to militarize our nations police forces or to demilitarize them. Some argue that equipping police across the country with military graded equipment leads to a totalitarian state with too much power and control of the government/ authorities, while others argue that equipping our police force with whatever they need is essential for the safety and protection of our communities; especially faced with an ever changing threat from those who wish to cause harm to civilians. Despite the appropriate increase of militarization to the combat criminals who pose as lot of risk, paramilitary group been seen to cause a lot of harm with their aggressive tactics; often leading to frustration within the community they are meant to serve. Thus, the militarization of police should not be used immediately, but rather only be used in dire situations.

Ever since the Drug War era and the War on Terror, America’s law enforcement agencies have ramped up militaristic approaches and have led to a warrior ethos philosophy for officers. With a moral panic spreading across cities looking to put a stop to the selling and use of illicit drugs, the government stepped up its funding towards law enforcement hoping to create a deterrence. With many of these law enforcement agencies stepping up its presence in communities across the country, they created more specialized units; trained to handle the problems with strict guidelines of power and enforcement. The Drug Enforcement Agency and many other federal and local agencies put more funding and focus towards units that would rely on a forceful tactic of element and surprise to counter-act crimes (mostly dealing with drug offenses). These specialized unites (SWAT) would often force their way into homes (with body armor, assault rifles, flash-bangs, and a determined mindset to ravage these houses) of suspected drug users and dealers. More communities across the country (mostly poor minority communities) are experiencing heavily armed SWAT teams raiding people’s homes in the middle of the night, often just to search for drugs (ACLU). These police officer’s mindsets of a warrior mentality are often linked with the governments philosophy of “tough on crime.” However, for a lot of these cases the offender didn’t even present a violent offense. Last year (nationwide) police arrested 1.6 million nonviolent drug offenders (Stamper, 2011).  Some of these non-violent drug offenders were taken into custody from SWAT teams assaulting their homes. The mere fact that these people presented no danger (based on intelligence gathering) make these dramatic invasions of the home unnecessary, as well as creates a traumatic experience for the people inside. In very shocking cases of SWAT team raids gone wrong, communities see that wrong houses are hit, as well as innocent people and family pets are shot and killed by the police raiding the homes. (Stamper, 2015). Problems like these where you have non violent offenders facing up against heavily armed men breaking down their doors, along with innocent people/pets getting killed creates an image of a public-safety institution (the authorities/police) at war with it’s own people.

The year 1997 also brought along an updated program, known as the 1033 program (created under the National Defense Authorization Act). This program essentially allowed for the United States Department of Defense to transfer military-grade gear to civilian law enforcement agencies across the country because of the Iraq and Afghanistan war winding down. Through this program, agencies (including ferguson-area authorities) were able to acquire heavy body armor, semi-automatic rifles, armored vehicles (MRAPS and BearCats), grenade launchers, riot gear, tear gas, wet weather gear, and blankets (Fox & Cook, 2014). Through this increase in military style equipment, law enforcement agencies starting using them on a daily basis in order to maintain law and order on city streets. Even though officers use a lot of the equipment for their own safety (officer safety), they have been seen to use it incorrectly and inappropriately. As the Ferguson events were unfolding, the whole area had been on high alert which prompted authorities to shown in force. However, the only problem was many of the protests at the beginning were peaceful and really only needed a uniformed police presence (without the military gear and warrior mindset) to monitor their constitutional rights of free speech, as well as the right to assemble peacefully. After this chaotic scene of what seemed like the people vs. the police, the Department of Justice released their report on the Ferguson Police Department. The DOJ expressed that the police agency had handled the situation in the wrong manner (Reilly, 2015). They described that scene where police snipers were on top of armored vehicles, pointing their weapons at the crowds of peaceful protesters (Reilly, 2015). Many in the community saw these officers as attempting to intimidate and threaten the public they are meant to serve (Reilly, 2015). It’s very hard to understand that the men and women who swore to protect and serve are the same one’s seen on images and video’s already in confrontational tactical positions, as if they are ready to strike protesters (who want to freely express their opinions so that society can advance) at a moments notice. Police are meant to diffuse situations and have taken on the role of solving problems that get in the way of peace. However, recently in our history we have seen those in police uniforms escalating confrontations with their equipment, tactics, and demeanor (Baker, 2011). By playing the role of a warrior in the streets, it really hinders the chance to build ties with the communities they are meant to serve.

America’s law enforcement agencies have such an essential role in protecting and serving the people of the United States. Along with their role of making sure communities feel safe, they are also meant to facilitate protesters who have the right to the freedom of speech, and to assemble peacefully (Library of Congress). However, recently we have seen an increase of the militarization of our police departments, that have infringed people’s rights and civil liberties (especially those who are protesting). When you have peaceful protesters lined up, the officers job should be to dress in non-riot gear, but should instead have it in their cars on hand (in case things get out of hand and escalate). The image of officers lined up in heavy gear with assault rifles presents an extreme intimidation (especially to the majority of protesters who are there peacefully) and causes an escalation of the protests to become violent. Even though officers claim that the paramilitary style tactics and military model help with deterrence and officer safety, it doesn’t help with building community ties; especially when those paramilitary groups seem to be up against the majority of the community. This is not to say that we shouldn’t have paramilitary groups (heavily armed officers) since those special units are needed for emergencies. The men and women who are placed into these specialized groups should be trained well to balance stability and order, along with respecting the rights of individuals. These paramilitary groups should be used as the last resort (when situations escalate) so that the community knows police diplomacy was tried; but failed.

  1. At what point in situations do police need to resort to militaristic approaches? Should tear gas and rubber bullets be used to disperse crowds?
  2. From the events of Ferguson, do you think the police in the area infringed upon the masses civil liberties and constitutional rights?
  3. How does a police officer balance officer safety while not infringing upon individual’s civil liberties and individual’s rights?
  4. At what point does an assembly of protesters become unlawful? Do police departments have too much discretion at declaring an unlawful assembly?
  5. Do you think the police are seen as more of oppressors or people looking out for public safety?
  6. After thinking about Ferguson, Occupy Wall Street, and other movements, should police departments keep military gear/ vehicles on hand? Should this military gear be made visible to act as a deterrent to those wanting to cause harm? Do you think we should have the 1033 program still in place (considering police agencies get the proper training)?
  7. Do you think America’s police force (local, state, and federal) has the most militaristic approach towards crime compared to other countries?
  8. Do you think there is any situation where you believe the militarization of police should be used immediately; as an immediate force of action (EX- Martial Law)?

Sources:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/30/ferguson-protests-police-response_n_7698548.html

http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20120227/north-hollywood-shootout-15-years-later

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/sunday-review/have-american-police-become-militarized.html

http://www.thenation.com/article/paramilitary-policing-seattle-occupy-wall-street/

http://www.loc.gov/law/help/peaceful-assembly/us.php

https://www.aclu.org/issues/criminal-law-reform/reforming-police-practices/police-militarization

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/09/17/pentagon-1033-program-sends-surplus-military-gear-to-us-borders

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/4f/77/22/4f7722ee1d6cf8afd9477356d5daf2f4.jpg

http://blackbarth.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/militarization-of-police.jpeg

http://www.motorcycleprofilingproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/police-militarization-585×350.jpg

http://www.davidicke.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/get-attachment-154-587×410.jpg

The Rich White Man’s Burden: House Arrest In a Mansion

Many people know Oscar Pistorius as the first double leg amputee to perform at the Olympics. However, on February 14, 2013, Pistorius fatally shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in the bathroom of his estate in Pretoria, South Africa. There has been some controversy over whether Pistorius knew that Steenkamp was in the bathroom, which determines whether this was pre-meditated murder (after a domestic dispute on Valentine’s Day) or if he truly thought that there was an intruder in the house; the location where Steenkamp was sitting/standing/crouching in the bathroom; and whether he took the time to put his prosthetics on or if he was just on his “stumps.” The entirety of the facts of this case will probably never be known, because this all happened in the privacy of his own home.

(Source: memegenerator.net "Paranoid Parrot Oscar Pistorius Meme")
(Source: memegenerator.net “Paranoid Parrot Oscar Pistorius Meme”)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the trial, Oscar Pistorius showed a lot of emotion, including crying, or more like sobbing, as well as puking when he saw a picture of Steenkamp’s remains. However, he also seemed very confident that he would be released and be back on the track shortly.

Q: Were the emotions that Pistorius showed helpful or hurtful in his trial? Was he able to cry because he is an athlete who is confident in his masculinity? Was the perception of his masculinity, or lack thereof, misconstrued by him crying? Did his emotions thwart the outcome of his trial?

This case is very similar to the OJ Simpson case. Both OJ Simpson and Oscar Pistorius were athletes and were both accused of murdering their significant others. Being athletes, they are famous around the world and are also of a higher socioeconomic status. They are also more confident individuals in that they play sports at a highly competitive level. Therefore, they can be seen as dominant to their female significant others, especially with the use of a weapon.

Q: Which social construct is most important in this case: socioeconomic status, race, sexual orientation, or gender, or do all of them work together?

(Source: Times Live http://www.timeslive.co.za/incoming/2014/03/15/roses.png/ALTERNATES/crop_630x432/Roses.png "Pistorius Roses are Red Meme")
(Source: Times Live http://www.timeslive.co.za/incoming/2014/03/15/roses.png/ALTERNATES/crop_630x432/Roses.png “Pistorius Roses are Red Meme”)

After 49 days in trial over a course of seven months, Oscar Pistorius was charged with culpable homicide. Culpable homicide is a lesser sentence than pre-meditated murder in South Africa, which is the rough equivalent of involuntary manslaughter in Anglo-American law, or the unlawful negligent killing of a human being.

Q: Do you think that Oscar Pistorius was charged with culpable homicide because of the fact that he was a well-known athlete? If he was an average human being, do you think that he would have received the same punishment?

Although he was sentenced to five years in prison, since both of his legs are amputated, he is expected to be staying in the hospital wing of the prison while he is in prison, away from most of the other prisoners. South Africa also has a law stating that for sentences of five years or less, you only have to be in prison for one-sixth of the time that you are sentenced; in his case, he is required to stay in prison for 10 months out of the five years that he was sentenced and then he can petition for house arrest for the remainder of the sentence. He was sentenced on October 21, 2014 and released on October 19, 2015 after spending just less than one year in prison and will now spend the next four years on house arrest at his uncle’s mansion (pictured below).

(Source: The Telegraph, 2015, "Oscar Pistorius will live in luxury after his release under house arrest")
(Source: The Telegraph, 2015, “Oscar Pistorius will live in luxury after his release under house arrest”)

I chose to discuss Oscar Pistorius’ murder case, because he was just released from prison last week and is now on house arrest. Also, this case encompasses race, class, gender, and privacy. Steenkamp is a victim of homicide as a result of her being in a heterosexual relationship with Pistorius. Regardless of whether the act was purposeful or accidental, Steenkamp would not have died that night if she was not in a relationship with Pistorius. Although Steenkamp was a white victim, Pistorius, as a white man, did not receive as harsh of a sentence, in my opinion, as a black man would have received. However, Pistorius’ fame and social class also contributed to the lenient sentencing. A person living in a poverty also would not have received the same sentencing as Pistorius had. Finally, the fact that Pistorius did this in his own home and that there were no reliable witnesses, also contributed to this being sort of up in the air, not knowing the whole truth about the sequence of events that happened that night.

Q: Do you think that Pistorius’ lessened sentence (culpable homicide vs. murder) as well as the fact that he was released from prison to be sentenced to house arrest in a mansion devalues the life of Reeva Steenkamp? Should Pistorius be required to compensate the Steenkamp family for what he did?

 

Sources:

(2015). Q&A: What House Arrest Means For Oscar Pistorius. Sky News. Retrieved from http://news.sky.com/story/1572812/q-and-a-what-house-arrest-means-for-oscar-pistorius

(2014). Oscar Pistorius Trial: Evidence. BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26417240

Phipps, C. (2014). Oscar Pistorius Trial: The Full Story, Day By Day. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/21/oscar-pistorius-trial-full-story-reeva-steenkamp

 

Black Women’s Lives Matter Too: the challenges of violence African American women face in home and in society

BLM-13

[http://sgmain.theseattleglobal.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/BLM-13.jpg]

Being a woman of color in the United States is a challenging position for the fact that not only do these women experience racial discrimination by society but discrimination for their gender as a female. African American women make up eight percent of the U.S. population, yet they are over represented in American jails and prisons as well as over resented in statistics of violence and abuse.

As we know, racism is the systematic discrimination of those outside the majority group believing that they are less than the majority due to certain characteristics. Sexism is the systematic discrimination of women based on their sex. Mix the two together and being an African American woman in American culture results in unreasonable amounts of harm, which we can evidently see today.

Earlier this year in June [2015] a video taken in McKinney, Texas of a police officer using excessive and inappropriate force on a fifteen year African American girl at a pool party went viral. In the video you hear the young girl crying for her mother and her begging him to “leave her alone”. What started all this was when a group of African American youths at a pool party were being called degrading terms by the white adults who were using the pool that day too. After much defense from several of the African American girls, an older white woman smacked one of the girls and the police were called to the scene. What happens when the McKinney Police respond can be seen in this uncensored video:

[http://www.attn.com/stories/1939/mckinney-pool-party-officer-casebolt-resigns]

As it can be seen, Officer Casebolt makes all the African American males drop to the ground with their hands in the air or out where he can see them, even to those who talked back to the officer. He then proceeds to fulfill his ego by using excessive and inappropriate force on a fifteen year old girl in her bikini. As it can be seen in the video, she is standing there and he grabs her, throws her to the ground, pulls a out his gun, and victoriously mounts her with his knee. Did he use that kind of force on the males who based on their height, age, and weight in comparison to the fifteen year old girl would clearly oppose a more serious threat? No. He dominated her because he could. By doing so he showed her and everyone his power, just to fulfill the image of masculinity and as the superior race.

black-women-lives-matter

[http://thesexysinglemommy.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/black-women-lives-matter.jpg]

The term violence toward women is fairly broad. What comes to mind for most people is sexual violence and assault, which is a fairly large aspect to the concept, but violence toward women can physical, verbal, emotional, psychological—anything that is meant to degrade a woman and make her feel less than a man just to hype up his ego and feel powerful is a form of violence toward women. The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) reported that more than a third of the African American women report cases of violence at some point in their life. In the book, “Arrested Justice: Black Women, Violence, and America’s Prison Nation” by Beth E. Riche (2012), it displays the issue of violence toward African American women where we are not only seeing excessive force and borderline sexual assaults by police officers on these women but we see a large numbers of domestic violence/ intimate partner violence (DV/IPV) cases reported by African American women. It is reported that the second leading cause of death for African American women, ages fifteen to thirty-five, is homicide by an intimate partner (25-26). Time magazine mentions that African American women are an easy target for discrimination due to their racial status and gender. What makes them more susceptible for intimate partner violence is the fact that on average African American women make less money than white men and women, and African American men leading them to sometimes stay in bad relationship for financial stability and providing them with a sense of inferiority. And for those who do seek help, some are not granted the help they need. According to the ACLU, it was noticed that a high number of DV/IPV cases went reported in Detroit but not a thing was done by the  Detroit Police Department to help the victims; most of which were African American women. The complete lack of care the police have for cases of DV/IPV, especially when an African American woman is involved, is saddening. This theory is even further cemented in another case presented by the ACLU from Pennsylvania where an African American woman by the name of Lakisha Briggs was mandated an eviction notice by the police because her case of “domestic violence” was a best fit for a “public nuisance”. She was even stabbed by her intimate partner! If the police, the protectors of the people and followers of the law, cannot value the importance of violence toward women regardless of their race, it is impossible to see change and a better future for African American women and women everywhere.

Question Concerning Violence toward African American Women:

  1. What makes African American women more susceptible to discrimination by police? What threat do they pose? Is it a race thing, a gender thing, or both?
  2. Why do men use violence against women in general? What are the motives? Why do African American women experience such high levels of violence in comparison to their white counter parts?
  3. Do you think race plays into whether police respond to DV/IPV cases?

 

Sources:

Jones, F. (2014, September 10). Why Black Women Struggle More With Domestic Violence. TIME Magazine.

Leveille, V., & Park, S. (2015, August 7). Black Women and Black Lives Matter: Fighting Police Misconduct in Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Cases. Retrieved September 28, 2015.

Richie, B. (2012). The Problem of Male Violence against Black Women. In Arrested justice black women, violence, and America’s prison nation. New York: New York University Press.

Race as it Pertains to Police Brutality in the United States

Increasing public awareness of police misconduct, primarily the use of excessive force or “police brutality” against unarmed Blacks, has sparked outrage amongst many communities throughout the United States. Reinvigorated in the early 1990s by the ferocious beating of Rodney King and perpetuated by the fatal shootings of unarmed teenagers Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida and Michael Brown in Ferguson Missouri, activist movements such as “Black Lives Matter” have been established throughout the United States. These movements campaign against police brutality; specifically what they perceive to be the wanton use of excessive physical force against Black citizens. Compiling the total number of fatal shootings by police since May 30th, 2015, The Washington Post found that although Blacks represent only 14% of the total U.S. population, Blacks accounted for more than 27% of victims fatally shot by police so far in 2015. Victim over-representation was not found for Hispanics or Asians, although the 31 “unknown” race victims could sway results. Whites are especially underrepresented as victims of fatal police shootings relative to their percentage of the population, as Whites constitute around 63% of the U.S. population but only account for 46% of victims of fatal police shootings in 2015 so far. Considerably more striking when looking at the data from a racial perspective is that of the 62 victims or 16% of the victim total who were unarmed or found to be carrying a toy gun, around 66% were Black or Hispanic. Based on the data, Blacks seem to be perceived as more dangerous than Whites regardless of whether they have a gun or not pointing to a history of prejudice and racism. This could not have been expressed more clearly than in the Tamir Rice case. Cleveland police on November 22nd, 2014 shot and killed 12-year old Tamir Rice after a 9-1-1 caller reported a juvenile was playing with a gun that was “probably fake” in a nearby park. The gun did actually end up being a toy gun that his friend had given him to play with only minutes before he was pronounced dead.  After absorbing this data, consider this question:

cjones11292014

Picture Source: http://claytoonz.com/tag/cleveland/

  • What do you believe to be the cause of Black over-representation in victim data regarding fatal police shootings? (e.g., Blacks being targeted by their race, Blacks committing more crimes than other races).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/fatal-police-shootings-in-2015-approaching-400-nationwide/2015/05/30/d322256a-058e-11e5-a428-c984eb077d4e_story.html

A statistic Blacks are not over-represented in, however, and considered by many BLM activists as one of the leading causes of police brutality is their overall representation in law enforcement. According to a survey by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Black officers constitute just 12% of local police officers. Even more troubling is the fact that many police departments do not reflect the demographics of the jurisdiction in which they operate. For example, Ferguson, Missouri where Michael Brown was shot and killed has a 29% white population and a 67% Black population yet only three of the 53-officer department or 5% are Black. There is a clear disparity between minorities in the community and minorities working in law enforcement, especially for Blacks. Such a disparity could be due to a lack of trust towards law enforcement by the black community. Blacks with criminal records also find it difficult to pass backgrounds checks and application tests required to join the police force. There is, therefore, disconnect between law enforcement and the communities in which they work as differences in culture between primarily white law enforcement and Black communities, more than likely suffering through poverty and its adverse effects, creates a divide between the two.

  • What types of policies or prerequisites should the Criminal Justice System enforce to substantially diminish the occurrence of police misconduct, especially towards minorities? What has already been done? Can anything effective be done?

http://www.wsj.com/articles/percentage-of-african-americans-in-u-s-police-departments-remains-flat-since-2007-1431628990

What could be considered even more bizarre is how these fatal police shootings typically begin as minor traffic violations such as traffic stops or domestic disturbances. Below are two cases that exemplify these occurrences.

  • Samuel Dubose:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/07/29/prosecutors-to-announce-conclusion-of-probe-into-cincinnati-campus-police-shooting/

  • Eric Garner:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/14/nyregion/eric-garner-police-chokehold-staten-island.html?_r=0

Question to ponder:

  • Do you believe that police brutality, especially towards minorities, in the United States is on the rise or are advancements in technology over the past decade (cellphone camcorders, police cameras, etc.) contributing to the increasing number of police misconduct reports.
    • Fact: More than 60% of Americans now carry video enabled mobile devices.

dontshoot_590_447

Picture Source: http://www.truthdig.com/cartoon/item/ferguson_police_20140826

Race and Class in the Criminal Justice System.

Does race play a role in the criminal justice system?

This issue is very important to me because I have experienced this on a personal level. I am not going to talk too much about that though. That is for another day, but the answer to that first question is that it is unanswerable. The reason why I said this is because every criminal justice system is different. The media only shows what they want to show. This makes it seem like the Criminal Justice system is cruel. Which it can be sometimes. For example, some of the most popular stories in the past 2 years or so include the Ferguson story, the riots in Baltimore, the “I can’t breathe” campaign. More recently, the shooting on the African-American church in South Carolina, Another major event that everyone is talking about is the case of Ahmed the 14 year old engineer. All these cases that I stated bring up the question on race. For example, If Michael Brown (Ferguson) was white would he have been dead right now? This question may never be answered. I can say  from experience that no one will truly know if race plays a role in the criminal justice system unless they actually go to court and observe a few cases. The cases that I listed above are just few of the thousands and thousands of cases heard in courts all over the United States per day. While i was interning at the Prosecutor’s office in Olympia, I observed only 1 case were I felt like race was an issue. All others were fairly fair and was based on their crimes.

justice

 

Picture Source: http://www.cagle.com/2014/08/lady-autopsy/

This picture describes what happened in the Ferguson case. This picture depicts what the justice system was thinking during the trial. On the other hand in the recent case with Ahmed Mohammad, he was let go after being arrested. Given that ‘he should not have been arrested in the first place.

gr-race-earnings-624

Picture Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125998232

The picture above depicts the average amount of earnings per race. Not only that, but it also depicts the difference between women and men. Just based on this, I did some more research and found some surprising or I guess not so surprising. The paragraph below describes my findings.

 

How about social class? Does race matter if an individual is in a higher social class? After spending 2 hours on this subject, I came to the conclusion that there is a small relationship. I say this because according to NPR.COM, the only racial group that earns more than whites is the Asian demographic. According to NPR.com the White demographic earns $825 for every $1,000 while the Asian demographic is at $966 for every $1,000. It is much lower for African-Americans and the Hispanic/Latinos. For example, the African-American demographic earns $620 for every $1,000 while the Hispanics/Latinos are making $559 for every $1,000. Ironically, The top two demographics who are in prison are the African-Americans and the Hispanic/Latinos. 1 in every 15 African American men and 1 in every 36 Hispanic men are incarcerated in comparison to 1 in every 106 white men.As for the Asians, they have 3,188 inmates in prison which makes up 1.8% of all inmates. This is according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Judging by this, Social Class does have a little bit of influence on this subject. Also, one thing that I noticed was that the crime rate was a lot lower in areas where the income was higher. It works the other way around too. Lower the income, the higher the crime rate.

Fun, but terrifying facts:

  •  Students of color face harsher punishments in school than their white peers, leading to a higher number of youth of color incarcerated 

 

  • According to recent data by the Department of Education, African American students are arrested far more often than their white classmates 

 

  • The war on drugs has been waged primarily in communities of color where people of color are more likely to receive higher offenses 

 

Question:

1.) Does race take part in the criminal justice system?

2.) Why does the media only show one side of the story.

Is Racial Discrimination a National Problem in the Criminal Justice System?

 

  Politics requires us to take a look at the big picture of current issues in order to solve them. Politics also considers similar historical evidence in much of its decision-making. In order to answer the question; is discrimination by race a national problem in the U.S., we need to look at some research. In Whitewashing Race, the Myth of a Color-Blind Society, Michael K. Brown and his associates presented three waves of social research that have been executed regarding discrimination in the Criminal Justice system. The first wave was implemented prior to the Civil Rights Movement, the results were that race did indeed have an impact in the system, such as in the courts and the police force. The second wave of research was completed throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s and was led by Alfred Blumstein of Carnegie-Melon University. Blumstein conducted research (with controlled variables) which compared African American rates of arrest for violent crimes with the imprisonment of African Americans. The results were this: “Blumstein found that about 80% of the difference between black and white imprisonment rates for crimes of violence had disappeared” (Brown, et al., 2004). The third and final wave mentioned in Brown’s article was done in the 1990’s and found that discrimination exists in the criminal justice system but in more indirect, complicated and sometimes subconscious forms. Why the sudden difference between wave 2 and wave 3? Robert Crutchfield can answer that question. Crutchfield pointed out that Blumstein’s national level of discrimination in the system did not accurately depict state rates (Brown, et al., 2004). There have since been several studies/research articles that confirm the theory that racial discrimination in the Criminal Justice system is a state-to-state problem, not a nationally universal one. This, of course, makes perfect sense since slavery was rooted in the South. Longstanding customs are culturally historic and some (like slavery) have an immense impact on the future. The three waves of research presented here tell us two important facts. One; discrimination in the system is declining over time and two: the problem is concentrated at the state level. Being aware of this problem is the first step, the next would be attempting to speed up the decline of discrimination until it is no longer a factor in our Criminal Justice System. To do this, I believe we cannot change the views of the people in our Criminal Justice System who discriminate unless we attempt to educate them. Just like many if not most people who discriminate, these offenders fall under the category of ignorance. Time too, I believe will aid in the dissipation of discrimination because these offenders soon will be discriminating against the majority, immigration will soon lead to a more racially neutral America.

Questions:

  1. Do you think the problem of discrimination in the Criminal Justice system is universally national or state-wide?
  2. What could be done to rid our Criminal Justice System of racial Discrimination in our states?

 

 

 

(Source: Upper Southampton Patch, 2015, “And the Most Racist Place in America is…Closer Than You Think”)

            Brown, M., Carney, M., Currey, E., Duster, T., Oppenheimer, D., Shultz, M., & Wellman, D. (2004). Whitewashing race: The myth of a color-blind society. Choice Reviews Online.

Retrieved from: https://learn.wsu.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-1044881-dt-content-rid-4509727_1/courses/2015-FALL-PULLM-CRM_J-400-7371-LEC/Brown%20et%20al.Whitewashing%20race2.Race%20crime%20and%20justice.pdf