In a historic decision, the Supreme Court decided this past Monday to give federal judges more latitude in sentencing individuals convicted of possessing or trafficking crack cocaine. For many years there has existed a disparity between the sentencing guidelines for crack and for powdered cocaine. Crack is predominantly found in black communities, while powdered cocaine is predominantly found in white communities. A clearly racist disparity was challenged by several federal judges and eventually found its way to the Supreme Court. This is a great win for civil rights and racial equity!
Friday, December 14, 2007
Crack Cocaine Sentencing
Posted by Ken Tennyson at Friday, December 14, 2007
Labels: Race, Social Justice
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3 comments:
Ironically the US Justice Department's own studies confirmed that blacks rather than being victims of "racial inequity" when it comes to the committing of various crimes were actually more likely to get lesser sentences, their hands slapped or get off completely, than folks of other skin color such as whites.
EXCEPT for one category - and that was for traffic violations. It seems that there is some truth in the racial profiling accusations when it comes to "driving while black".
But is that "driving while black" paranoia any real wonder when you have folks like Jesse Jackson making statements like (1993): "There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery, then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved."?
There is a fine line between the harsh realities of life and cultural differences and racism. If mostly Pit Bulls or Rottweilers are doing the biting in your area, would you fault somebody for largely ignoring Cockapoo's or Yorkies?
If is was found that disparities exist in crack versus powdered forms of cocaine and race then by all means start slamming the doors shut on the powder heads and give them the SAME sort of sentencing that the crack heads receive!
We can start with Barack Obama! An admitted blow artist. And then Bill Clinton, who's half-brother Roger was recorded on tape in a jail claiming "I have to get out of here and score some coke! My brother (Bill) has a nose like a vacuum cleaner"....
We need to make examples out of all of our celebrities and politicians who are in effect putting the seal of approval on such criminal acts.
What about Mayor Marion Berry of Wash DC and his crack smoking? He got off didn't he? A fine role model he made! We let a mayor go of a major city that was smoking crack with hookers in a hotel room but we want to bust and destroy a Senator for a little foot-tapping in a public restroom? Hello? That's a major "disparity" is it not?
Let's not lower the sentencing for the crack heads. Let's up the ante for the powder freaks. I am all for equal sentencing and fairness in the justice system!
The bottom line is that crack users are usually poorer. It isn't so much about race as it is about economic differences. Poorer folks cannot afford the high dollar 'better' lawyers. Let's face it money talks. And rich Mercedes driving executives with a penchant for cocaine are less likely to be kicking in my door to do a grab n' run to support their habits, or hang out in crack houses giving oral sex to all comers.
At any rate, I have my shotgun ready for either or, crack or powder heads, should they decide to pay ol' Sgt Rock a visit and trespass on my land. I assure you that color will not enter into my decision to blow either of their fool heads off with my shottie.
I live way out in the country. In the woods. The sheriff is based a very long ways away. We have crack and meth heads that do home invasions and prey on us all the time out here. And the majority of them are WHITE. In the country the roles are reversed pretty much. It's the poor white trash causing much of the problems here. The opposite of the big cities such as Houston where it's the "minorities" causing almost all of the problems, much of it gang-related.
I guarantee you that the white meth and crack heads (if they survive) are doing the same hard time as the black ones out here.
We don't worry about the executives with the Lexus or BMW's much that do a little blow like Obama. They are for the most part only a real danger to themselves. Do you see the relationship?
This nails my point home! WOULD Obama have a chance at the bid to be the Democratic nominee for President if instead of admitting to "doing a little blow" he had said "yeah, I smoke a few rocks of crack"... ? Would he? Even blacks themselves wouldn't vote for him if he had said that.
If you want to talk about "disparity" then let's talk about the incidences of white men raping black women. How often does that occur? It's so infrequent that it is a sort of statistical anomaly. It just doesn't happen enough to have enough data to compile. But switch that around and what is the rate at which black men rape white women?
Ahhh! So blacks are racists?! And they are preying on white folks especially the women! Two can play this "disparities" game and statistics can literally be used by anybody to prove their point.
Btw, blacks make up roughly 12% of society (according to our official Census data) with roughly half being men and half being women (there are actually a few more women but for the sake of simplicity). That makes only 6% of society black males.
Now out of that 6% that are black males, only roughly 3% are VIABLE black males. Young and strong, not toddlers, babies, old, infirm, sick, etc.. etc...
So how is it that 3% of society, which is only 3 out of a 100, or 30 out of a 1,000 people? How is it that they fill up 67% of our nation's prisons?
Is that because all white people are racists and the big bad boogeyman and picking on the poor black folks? OR are the majority of young black males, out of control, on virtual crime sprees and preying on white folks and their own decent 'brothers' and 'sisters' and everybody else everywhere?
Even Jesse Jackson admits that when he hears footsteps behind him at night that he is relieved when he discovers that it is only white people walking behind him.
Blacks could take a lesson from ol' Pogo the comic strip character and his famous line "We have seen the enemy and they is us!"
Cheers!
Sgt Rock
Texas
Sgt Rock, I am confused? Is the problem socio-economic, or is it "young black males, out of control, on virtual crime sprees and preying on white folks and their own decent 'brothers' and 'sisters' and everybody else everywhere?"
The second question - Have you personally ever been robbed or harmed by someone, black or otherwise? If you have, that would help me understand why you live in such fear. I have lived in both the country and inner city, where particularly meth has been prevalent, yet I have never feared violence against my person or my family.
Really? Well in the last six months, there have been two home invasions in my country neighborhood out of 13 occupied residences. One with intent to do bodily harm to an occupant, the other where a would be burglar didn't know that somebody was home. Not very good odds is it?
I have had my two air-conditioning units. High dollar Tranes stolen twice by copper thieves no doubt, who simply drove onto my property and cut the freon lines, pulled the power disconnects and loaded them on a truck and took off.
The inside of my my house was broken into twice while under construction. Once just to punch holes in the walls and destroy things and urinate. The other time was to steal all of the appliances including the air-handling units in the attic.
When I live in a pre-planned community near Houston. Driveway robberies and daytime door kick invasions were common place.
I have had three vehicles stolen over a ten year period and my home broken into once. My house vandalized at least a half-a-dozen times to various degrees and my wife's car broken into and the radio stolen while it was in our driveway.
I grew up in the city of Detroit, so the answer is YES I have been robbed, had guns and weapons pulled on me and harmed by many people both black and otherwise over the years. My uncle had his house burned to the ground during the Detroit riots of 1967 at which time most of my family fled to the suburbs to escape the racial hatred towards whites that was literally seething throughout the city. I suppose that was somehow my or my family's fault right?
On weekends we have ATV and 4-wheeler raids that come into our community without their headlights on and steal from residential construction sites. The other week somebody broke into our horse barn at our community pavilion and defecated in it.
You may not understand and be confused. But the fact of the matter is that roughly 3% of this country's black males are filing over 60$ of our nation's jail space. How do you put spin on that? The facts speak for themselves.
And one quickly learns that one cannot simply run from the cities to get away from crime and socio-economic or other problems. They exist out in the country too.
Only now it's dopers from Tarpaper City in Bedias Texas or other meth and crank hotspots in Grimes county.
Just because you live in some kind of perceived LaLaLand doesn't mean that the rest of us do.
The problem is BOTH socio-economic and cultural. Ever listen to the filth and crap coming out of rap music lyrics? Woman are whores, cops should be shot etc.. etc... Where are the positive role models for young black youth?
Personally I don't care what the root of the problems are. What I care about is fortifying my property and protecting not only my family and loved ones from harm and danger but also my property and possessions that I have slaved and worked hard for all of my life.
With only two sheriffs on-duty after midnight in Grimes County, and sometimes one of those is a female it's not like I feel totally reassured that the calvary is nearby to help rescue me. On the contrary I feel more like I am in the Alamo and totally surrounded.
You may not grok it from your comfortable position in your particular set of circumstances. But the bottom line is out here, you run "hot" and carry a handgun with you at all times. Be it for the thousands of feral hogs, coyotes or the human varmints. It's just how it is.
You either wouldn't be able to live out here, you would cower in fear or you would become hardened just like me and many others and learn to fend for yourself.
And the majority of us would not hesitate to defend our property with deadly force if neccessary.
You are smokescreening if you think that you lived near meth hotbeds and didn't fear for your safety or that of your family.
Even most of our woman are armed and carrying a piece out here. Do you think that they are doing that for some kind of macho head trip?
And to add some balance to the equation we have many skinheads and Neo-Nazis out here too. They ain't any better than the black or latino gang-bangers IMHO. They are many times even worse.
http://tinyurl.com/32bpv5
The victim was from Magnolia Texas.
The whole area is a hotbed of Aryan criminals. White punks on dope...
Semper Fi
Sgt Rock
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