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Dio you want to discuss the use of the court system to enforce racist social policies? Did you vote for Tom Cotton? -You have any evidence he has done so?
As long as we have crime we need prison cells for those who commit those crimes.
- In a two year period in the U.S. state of Maryland, blacks constituted 79.2 percent of the drivers stopped and searched by the police on Interstate 95, even though they constituted only 17.5 percent of the drivers who were violating traffic laws.2
- The war on drugs in the U.S. is waged overwhelmingly against black Americans. For example, although there are more white drug offenders than black in the United States, blacks constitute 62.7 percent of all drug offenders sent to state prison and black men are sent to prison on drug charges at 13.4 times the rate of white men.3
Race influences death penalty decisions.
- A study of the federal death penalty by the U.S. Department of Justice released in September, 2000 found 80 percent of federal defendants who faced capital charges were members of racial minorities, as were 74 percent of convicted defendants for whom prosecutors recommended the death penalty.5
- The death penalty is also more likely to be sought and imposed in the U.S. for killing a white person than a person of a different race: 82 percent of capital cases involve a white victim, although nationwide only 50% percent of homicide victims are white.6
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Nineteen years ago, in 1991, a study was released by the 17-member New York State Judicial Commission on Minorities. The report’s panel comprised judges, law professors, lawyers, a Surrogate’s Court clerk, and an official from the State Education Department. It made dozens of recommendations, including cross-cultural sensitivity training for judges and other court workers. Chief Judge Sol Wachtler of the New York Court of Appeals praised the report, while it was criticized by some of its own panel members and members of the union that represented court employees.
The crux of the report was that whites often fare better than blacks or people of color in the same circumstances—particularly as plaintiffs in civil cases.
“It is not pleasant to talk about the need for a court system that is treating everyone equally and the conclusion that our current system is not,” said Cyrus R. Vance, then a commission member and former US Secretary of State (and also the father of Cyrus Vance, Jr, the current attorney general of New York). “That’s a terrible condemnation of our society.”
Fast forward to today. We have protests in every state and countries worldwide, calling for justice for Black peoples and other people of color. That justice will be meted out by court systems that, in many cases, are not known for being truly just. Some who sit in judgment in those court systems are reacting and responding to the voices of protest. Some are speaking out themselves, and some remain silent or let their actions from the bench speak for them.
Courts Speak Out against Racism in the Justice System
A statement from Washington’s Supreme Court says that where its members bear the title of “Justice,” that must be justified by collective commitment to end racism.
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