Memphis, TN. Is this what American politics has brought on us?

[Integrityrespec]

The past week has been wrought with two local stories that have been all over the national media. First, a kidnapping and murder of a young mother while out on a morning run near Memphis State University in Memphis, TN. Then just last night, a 19 year old man car jacked several vehicles in a shooting spree that stretched across 8 different locations in and around Memphis. During the nearly 8 hour rampage, he shot 7 and killed 4. Both of the alleged suspects had extensive criminal records and were only recently released from prison.
This morning the democrat Mayor of Memphis laid much of the blame at the feet of a justice system that does not properly prosecute and incarcerate violent felons.

What are the answers to curbing the violence in America? It appears soft on crime stances haven't done anything but make the situation worse and a large portion of one of the major party's in this country are consistently pointing the fault to the LEO's in America. Is that fair?

 

[anatta]

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland revealed during a press conference that
Kelly was charged with attempted first-degree murder but pled guilty to a downgraded aggravated assault charge in April 2021.

Kelly was sentenced to three years in prison, but was released in March 2022 after serving just 11 months of his sentence.

Memphis shooting: Teen accused of killing 4, injuring 3 others in rampage streamed on Facebook

Repeat offender Ezekiel Kelly, 19, was arrested Wednesday in connection with livestreamed shootings in Memphis, Tennessee, that killed four people and injured at least three others.

www.foxnews.com

 

[SNOWFLAKE]

The answer is far more complex than simply platitudes can solve. The "soft" on crime mantra sounds impressive, but WHAT are the solutions?
Many believe that "lock em up" for a long long time is the ONLY solution. Yet, the U.S. has THE HIGHEST incarceration rate in the world, and you all still get all this violence (which is also among the highest in the world)

The solutions are complex, and what makes them even MORE complex, is the partisan slants everyone has on the solutions. Get tough on crime cries the Right. Show tolerance cries the Left. And where oh where is the nuance?

Many European countries use their prison system as genuine rehabilitation centers, and as a result, have very low recidivism rates. Other countries believe in more social spending (including my country) so there is less poverty and impetus for violent crime.

Add the gun culture and the intolerance many Americans have for each other, and you are bound to have a powder keg.

NO ONE ever discusses HOW to fix violent crime trends, other than to say "lock em all up" without consideration of WHO foots the bill (tax payers) and what the consequences will be when those who have been long locked up come into the real world with no skills and no opportunities.

Truly violent criminals DO need to be locked up for a long long time, but not those who are locked up for simple possession or a first time non-violent offense. Creating an atmosphere of tolerance, creating programs to help those in danger of becoming violent, and rehabilitation instead of just punishment all are ideas that should be explored.

But I already know that is a liberal snowflake view and many of you will resort to suggesting only a commie would think up ideas like that. So, do it YOUR way, and see if it helps (it hasn't so far).

 

[Grandpappy]

There is a way to fix this issue. Vote the damn deluded commies out of office in November.

 

[Channe79]

The problem is our decaying culture and low wages.

 

[SNOWFLAKE]

There is a way to fix this issue. Vote the damn deluded commies out of office in November.

Considering my more level headed thoughts in #3, right on cue, you come in at #4 with more of your inane views. I predicted it, and you walked right into it. SHEESH!

 

[Grandpappy]

Considering my more level headed thoughts in #3, right on cue, you come in at #4 with more of your inane views. I predicted it, and you walked right into it. SHEESH!

Sorry, but that's the fix. You know it as well as I do.

 

[Davin]

The past week has been wrought with two local stories that have been all over the national media. First, a kidnapping and murder of a young mother while out on a morning run near Memphis State University in Memphis, TN. Then just last night, a 19 year old man car jacked several vehicles in a shooting spree that stretched across 8 different locations in and around Memphis. During the nearly 8 hour rampage, he shot 7 and killed 4. Both of the alleged suspects had extensive criminal records and were only recently released from prison.
This morning the democrat Mayor of Memphis laid much of the blame at the feet of a justice system that does not properly prosecute and incarcerate violent felons.

What are the answers to curbing the violence in America? It appears soft on crime stances haven't done anything but make the situation worse and a large portion of one of the major party's in this country are consistently pointing the fault to the LEO's in America. Is that fair?

Bullshit your favorite hero Trump has said he wants to pardon all the criminals from 1/6, that is being soft on crime. I’m sure the capitol police who were beaten by these MAGA thugs are happy with trump doing that . Biden was 100% right that MAGA is nothing but a bunch of terrorists and lawlessness.

 

[Lutherf]

The answer is far more complex than simply platitudes can solve. The "soft" on crime mantra sounds impressive, but WHAT are the solutions?
Many believe that "lock em up" for a long long time is the ONLY solution. Yet, the U.S. has THE HIGHEST incarceration rate in the world, and you all still get all this violence (which is also among the highest in the world)

The solutions are complex, and what makes them even MORE complex, is the partisan slants everyone has on the solutions. Get tough on crime cries the Right. Show tolerance cries the Left. And where oh where is the nuance?

Many European countries use their prison system as genuine rehabilitation centers, and as a result, have very low recidivism rates. Other countries believe in more social spending (including my country) so there is less poverty and impetus for violent crime.

Add the gun culture and the intolerance many Americans have for each other, and you are bound to have a powder keg.

NO ONE ever discusses HOW to fix violent crime trends, other than to say "lock em all up" without consideration of WHO foots the bill (tax payers) and what the consequences will be when those who have been long locked up come into the real world with no skills and no opportunities.

Truly violent criminals DO need to be locked up for a long long time, but not those who are locked up for simple possession or a first time non-violent offense. Creating an atmosphere of tolerance, creating programs to help those in danger of becoming violent, and rehabilitation instead of just punishment all are ideas that should be explored.

But I already know that is a liberal snowflake view and many of you will resort to suggesting only a commie would think up ideas like that. So, do it YOUR way, and see if it helps (it hasn't so far).

Why is the answer "complex" here when in every other case the answer is simple...ban guns?

 

[mrjurrs]

The past week has been wrought with two local stories that have been all over the national media. First, a kidnapping and murder of a young mother while out on a morning run near Memphis State University in Memphis, TN. Then just last night, a 19 year old man car jacked several vehicles in a shooting spree that stretched across 8 different locations in and around Memphis. During the nearly 8 hour rampage, he shot 7 and killed 4. Both of the alleged suspects had extensive criminal records and were only recently released from prison.
This morning the democrat Mayor of Memphis laid much of the blame at the feet of a justice system that does not properly prosecute and incarcerate violent felons.

What are the answers to curbing the violence in America? It appears soft on crime stances haven't done anything but make the situation worse and a large portion of one of the major party's in this country are consistently pointing the fault to the LEO's in America. Is that fair?

If incarceration stopped crime we'd have the lowest crime rate on Earth.

 

[Grandpappy]

The reality? The no bail/cut 'em loose progressive stance is BS.
It's killing decent people.
There is a fix.

 

[Lutherf]

Bullshit your favorite hero Trump has said he wants to pardon all the criminals from 1/6, that is being soft on crime. I’m sure the capitol police who were beaten by these MAGA thugs are happy with trump doing that . Biden was 100% right that MAGA is nothing but a bunch of terrorists and lawlessness.

Right. I forgot to address this in my last post to someone else. The solution to crime is simple, ban guns AND throw Trump in jail.

 

[SNOWFLAKE]

Why is the answer "complex" here when in every other case the answer is simple...ban guns?

And right on cue, you didn't even TRY to address a single one of the suggestions I made, but resorted to a whataboutism:

Whataboutism is an argumentative tactic where a person or group responds to an accusation or difficult question by deflection. Instead of addressing the point made, they counter it with “but what about X?”.

Whataboutism: Behind the Deflecting Tactic in Arguments | FlaglerLive

Whataboutism is an argumentative tactic where a person or group responds to an accusation or difficult question by deflection. Instead of addressing the point made, they counter it with “but what about X?”

flaglerlive.com

 

[jonny5]

The past week has been wrought with two local stories that have been all over the national media. First, a kidnapping and murder of a young mother while out on a morning run near Memphis State University in Memphis, TN. Then just last night, a 19 year old man car jacked several vehicles in a shooting spree that stretched across 8 different locations in and around Memphis. During the nearly 8 hour rampage, he shot 7 and killed 4. Both of the alleged suspects had extensive criminal records and were only recently released from prison.
This morning the democrat Mayor of Memphis laid much of the blame at the feet of a justice system that does not properly prosecute and incarcerate violent felons.

What are the answers to curbing the violence in America? It appears soft on crime stances haven't done anything but make the situation worse and a large portion of one of the major party's in this country are consistently pointing the fault to the LEO's in America. Is that fair?

No, this has little to do with politics. Violence has been around since human #1. Curbing violence means changing the culture. The police cant really do much but deter some of it and punish later.

 

[TheParser]

It appears soft on crime stances haven't done anything but make the situation worse and a large portion of one of the major party's in this country are consistently pointing the fault to the LEO's in America. Is that fair?

Of course, not!

I am so old (85) that I can remember when the Los Angeles Police Department was so out of control that the chief openly refused to even talk with the elected mayor, and City Council members suspected that the LAPD was keeping files on them.

Today the pendulum has swung the other way. The cops are afraid to take vigorous action because (a) woke prosecutors will not prosecute anyway and (b) the cops could easily be labeled with the dreaded R-word.

 

[reinaert]

"Why all the gun murders, pappy?"

"It ain't the guns, I yells ya. It must be the socialists..."

 

[post]

The past week has been wrought with two local stories that have been all over the national media. First, a kidnapping and murder of a young mother while out on a morning run near Memphis State University in Memphis, TN. Then just last night, a 19 year old man car jacked several vehicles in a shooting spree that stretched across 8 different locations in and around Memphis. During the nearly 8 hour rampage, he shot 7 and killed 4. Both of the alleged suspects had extensive criminal records and were only recently released from prison.
This morning the democrat Mayor of Memphis laid much of the blame at the feet of a justice system that does not properly prosecute and incarcerate violent felons.

What are the answers to curbing the violence in America? It appears soft on crime stances haven't done anything but make the situation worse and a large portion of one of the major party's in this country are consistently pointing the fault to the LEO's in America. Is that fair?

Education, obviously.... toning down RWE authoritarianism, and voting A.L.E.C.-G.O.P. state legislators and governors out of office.
IOW, the opposite of your and Tennessee's POV and majority politics. You're so radicalized, you've altered the name in your post of the political party
you are opposed to.

Midterms: Poorest states have Republican legislatures, and richest have Democratic ones​

Heading into midterms, Republicans are the party of the poor and Democrats a the party of the rich. Look at state legislatures in the poorest states.
www.usatoday.com
October 21, 2018
"On Oct. 4, USA TODAY published a breathtaking economic profile of all 50 states, ranked by household income. Embedded within it is arguably the greatest unseen political truth of our time.
...
What you see is exactly the reverse of our cultural mythology: Heading into midterms, Republicans are very much the party of the poor and Democrats are the party of the rich. This seemingly sounds nuts. It isn’t. Thirty-two states have Republican-controlled legislatures. Eighteen of the 19 poorest states have legislatures where both chambers are Republican controlled. ... All the states in between (such as Tennessee and Florida) are Republican, both chambers..."

My reply above is thoroughly supported in this post,

Is this material appropriate for 3rd and 4th grade children?

It's called Looking for Alaska. They have no evidence the book has had an ill effect on anyone. Quite the contrary, it alarms sexually repressed parents that their kids might like the book. Looking For Alaska? The John Green book? That’s the book? Seriously? I’ve read it personally...

debatepolitics.com

Samples presented at the link above...

America’s Richest and Poorest States – Page 11 – 24/7 Wall St.

Source: choness / Getty Images5. California > Median household income: $80,440 > Adults with at least a bachelor’s degree: 35.0% (13th highest) > Poverty rate: 11.8% (25th highest) > Median home value: $568,500 (2nd highest) > Population: 39,512,223Source: Adam-Springer / Getty Images4. Hawaii >...

247wallst.com

2. Massachusetts (Only 3% of the pop. is uninsured for healthcare)
> Median household income: $85,843
> Adults with at least a bachelor’s degree: 45.0% (the highest)
> Poverty rate: 9.4% (8th lowest)
> Median home value: $418,600 (3rd highest)
> Population: 6,892,503

How Boston escaped the national spike in homicides​

https://commonwealthmagazine.org › criminal-justice
Jan 10, 2022 — IT'S BEEN A grim companion to the death toll of COVID-19: While the virus has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans, homicide rates have ...

Shootings and homicides are down in Boston this year ...​

https://www.bostonglobe.com › 2021/12/07 › metro › sho...
Dec 7, 2021 — Total shooting incidents also were down, from 224 last year to 163 this year. Overall, what police refer to as Part 1 crime, which includes ...

 

[Grandpappy]

"Why all the gun murders, pappy?"

"It ain't the guns, I yells ya. It must be the socialists..."

Actually, some of the insanity is the fault of the welfare system.
It's setup to discourage two parent families.
Young men don't have a positive male role model. This causes serious mental problems.

 

[post]

Actually, some of the insanity is the fault of the welfare system.
It's setup to discourage two parent families.
Young men don't have a positive male role model. This causes serious mental problems.

"Welfare system" ended in 1996, after Reagan eliminated "strapping young bucks"....

Finally, what on earth are working-class voters (of any skin color) doing in a party whose flagship publication talks about them like this?

https://balloon-juice.com/2016/03/15/we-are-all-strapping-young-bucks-now-2/

 

[Roadvirus]

The past week has been wrought with two local stories that have been all over the national media. First, a kidnapping and murder of a young mother while out on a morning run near Memphis State University in Memphis, TN. Then just last night, a 19 year old man car jacked several vehicles in a shooting spree that stretched across 8 different locations in and around Memphis. During the nearly 8 hour rampage, he shot 7 and killed 4. Both of the alleged suspects had extensive criminal records and were only recently released from prison.
This morning the democrat Mayor of Memphis laid much of the blame at the feet of a justice system that does not properly prosecute and incarcerate violent felons.

What are the answers to curbing the violence in America? It appears soft on crime stances haven't done anything but make the situation worse and a large portion of one of the major party's in this country are consistently pointing the fault to the LEO's in America. Is that fair?

Memphis is the "Chicago" of Tennessee.

 

[Ishm]

Actually, some of the insanity is the fault of the welfare system.
It's setup to discourage two parent families.
Young men don't have a positive male role model. This causes serious mental problems.

So why don't all those nasty commie central euro and scandanavian countries with their crazy liberal welfare systems have much bigger problems than the US? In fact, they have much less of a problem with violent crime. Explain that to us please.

 

[j brown's body]

The answer is far more complex than simply platitudes can solve. The "soft" on crime mantra sounds impressive, but WHAT are the solutions?
Many believe that "lock em up" for a long long time is the ONLY solution. Yet, the U.S. has THE HIGHEST incarceration rate in the world, and you all still get all this violence (which is also among the highest in the world)

The solutions are complex, and what makes them even MORE complex, is the partisan slants everyone has on the solutions. Get tough on crime cries the Right. Show tolerance cries the Left. And where oh where is the nuance?

Many European countries use their prison system as genuine rehabilitation centers, and as a result, have very low recidivism rates. Other countries believe in more social spending (including my country) so there is less poverty and impetus for violent crime.

Add the gun culture and the intolerance many Americans have for each other, and you are bound to have a powder keg.

NO ONE ever discusses HOW to fix violent crime trends, other than to say "lock em all up" without consideration of WHO foots the bill (tax payers) and what the consequences will be when those who have been long locked up come into the real world with no skills and no opportunities.

Truly violent criminals DO need to be locked up for a long long time, but not those who are locked up for simple possession or a first time non-violent offense. Creating an atmosphere of tolerance, creating programs to help those in danger of becoming violent, and rehabilitation instead of just punishment all are ideas that should be explored.

But I already know that is a liberal snowflake view and many of you will resort to suggesting only a commie would think up ideas like that. So, do it YOUR way, and see if it helps (it hasn't so far).

Our prisoners create criminals and harfen criminals. It's a terrible system. Plus, they're warehouses for those who suffer for mental illness.

 

[Lovebug]

So what's the answer? Kelly, correct me if I'm wrong, was convicted as a teen. Did they/should have convicted him as an adult? I am reading different stories about him. Local news, what can I say.

 

[Roadvirus]

So what's the answer? Kelly, correct me if I'm wrong, was convicted as a teen. Did they/should have convicted him as an adult? I am reading different stories about him. Local news, what can I say.

He's a crumb of society that needs to be locked away for life. That's all that really needs to be said.

 

[Lovebug]

The answer is far more complex than simply platitudes can solve. The "soft" on crime mantra sounds impressive, but WHAT are the solutions?
Many believe that "lock em up" for a long long time is the ONLY solution. Yet, the U.S. has THE HIGHEST incarceration rate in the world, and you all still get all this violence (which is also among the highest in the world)

The solutions are complex, and what makes them even MORE complex, is the partisan slants everyone has on the solutions. Get tough on crime cries the Right. Show tolerance cries the Left. And where oh where is the nuance?

Many European countries use their prison system as genuine rehabilitation centers, and as a result, have very low recidivism rates. Other countries believe in more social spending (including my country) so there is less poverty and impetus for violent crime.

Add the gun culture and the intolerance many Americans have for each other, and you are bound to have a powder keg.

NO ONE ever discusses HOW to fix violent crime trends, other than to say "lock em all up" without consideration of WHO foots the bill (tax payers) and what the consequences will be when those who have been long locked up come into the real world with no skills and no opportunities.

Truly violent criminals DO need to be locked up for a long long time, but not those who are locked up for simple possession or a first time non-violent offense. Creating an atmosphere of tolerance, creating programs to help those in danger of becoming violent, and rehabilitation instead of just punishment all are ideas that should be explored.

But I already know that is a liberal snowflake view and many of you will resort to suggesting only a commie would think up ideas like that. So, do it YOUR way, and see if it helps (it hasn't so far).

What to do in Kelly's case though? I find the following article interesting, esp

“For those who are afraid in the community: all of us are,” said Sugarmon. “All of us realize the rise in crime, especially the rise in youth crime, is an issue but we’ve got to change the way we address it.”

https://www.actionnews5.com/2022/09...cords-show-neglect-then-criminal-delinquency/
It is a start.
When young people are robbed of all hope, what else is left for them? I dunno, perhaps we should discuss family again, a safety net for those who don't have one?
We can address guns, gun laws, red flag warnings and all that, but what about going deeper, what about addressing the Kelly's around us?