Second Chances!

Several months ago members of the Dallas Community Prosecutors team met with us here at CitySquare to discuss a revolutionary new program for Dallas.  The "Top Offenders Program" included several key components. 

First, law enforcement identified the really "bad guys" in the target neighborhood.  In the community we focused on there were 5 hardened, violent criminals that ran the drug trade.  The police arrested them.  All five are under federal indictment and on their way to long prison terms.  Since their arrest, crime in the neighborhood has decreased by 63%!

Second, the community prosecutors organized a "call in."  Functioning much like an intervention on an alcoholic or drug addict, the meeting involved parents, grandparents, friends, teachers, ministers, children and others.  Invited to these "call in" sessions are the underlings of the really bad actors.  These are young people who have assisted the hardened criminals in their enterprise. 

The message conveyed clearly and by multiple persons in the community during the meeting, to the invite list is very simple:  "You are done ruining our neighborhood.  And, tonight you have a choice and a chance."

On one side of the room the police stand with a fist full of warrants for the arrest of the beneficiaries of the intervention--the underlings to the bad guys. 

On the other side of the room stand case managers from CitySquare who are present to begin a relationship of renewal and second chances. 

The choice is forced, but must be made.  Go with the police or go with caring people who are devoted to seeing you rebound and experience a fresh start, including the clearing of all criminal records to date. The entire process is overseen and managed by a criminal court and the judges who sit at these benches of justice and order.

So far the numbers are still small, but it's working as these photos of recent "graduate" of the program, Uniqua Johnson reflect!

Crushing injustice!

This in from The New York Times, Sunday, March 17, 2013 by Paul Butler, "Gideon's Muted Trumpet."

A poor person has a much greater chance of being incarcerated now than when Gideon was decided, 50 years ago today. This is not because of increased criminality — violent crime has plunged from its peak in the early 1990s — but because of prosecutorial policies that essentially target the poor and relegate their lawyers to negotiating guilty pleas, rather than mounting a defense.

After Gideon, things got better for poor defendants in the short term. Thousands who had not had lawyers at trial were released from jail. Many states and localities created public defenders’ offices. But political and legal developments soon eroded those achievements.

Read the entire report here. 

Disparity

Black Americans Given 60% Longer Sentences than White Americans for Same Crimes submitted by Amanda Lang

A new academic study of 58,000 federal criminal cases has found significant disparities in sentencing for blacks and whites arrested for the same crimes. The research led to the conclusion that African-Americans' jail time was almost 60% longer than white sentences... The report concludes that sentence disparities 'can be almost completely explained by three factors: the original arrest offense, the defendant's criminal history, and the prosecutor's initial choice of charges.'

Read the entire report here.

Prison and after: the New Jim Crow

The U. S. prison system contributes to the deterioration of our urban communities. The manner in which our criminal justice system treats minority citizens sets them, their families and their neighborhoods on a downward spiral into deep personal and social decline. The prison systems appears to be designed to make sure the majority of those involved return to prison again and again.

Listen to Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow, describe the awful reality that we confront every day. Things need to change.

Drug enforcement: something I've observed for years

Leonard Pitts speaks the truth.  I read what's beneath his by-line whenever I see it. 

In an Op-Ed essay that appeared in The Dallas Morning News recently, Pitts "unpacks" Michelle Alexander's book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (2010).

Below you'll find a short sample of Pitt's analysis. 

Disturbing stuff. 

But, my experience in the city over the past 16 years confirms it. 

Read the sample: 

Leonard Pitts: Disturbing 'Jim Crow' book is a must read

According to federal figures, blacks and whites use drugs at a roughly equal rate in percentage terms. In terms of raw numbers, whites are far and away the biggest users – and dealers – of illegal drugs.

So why aren't cops kicking their doors in? Why aren't their sons pulled over a dozen times in nine months? Why are black men 12 times as likely to be jailed for drugs as white ones? Why aren't white communities robbed of their fathers, brothers, sons?

To read the entire Pitts essay click here.

To order Michelle Anderson's book go here. 

Reactions?

Justice denied, justice affirmed

When things go terribly wrong in a community, steps must be taken to ensure that the same mistakes and misjudgments are never made again. When systems are found to be broken or inadequate, they must be repaired or discarded altogether and replaced.

Take the matter of wrongly convicted, innocent persons who suffer incarceration at the hands of the State of Texas because of flawed and often intentionally misleading interrogation methods.

This week, The Dallas Morning News reported on the latest Dallas County man who has been cleared of all charges against him related to the rape of a co-ed at Southern Methodist University in 1986. The report makes it clear that forces were at work in the investigation that assured a wrongful conviction. Obviously, when tried, Jerry Lee Evans did not receive the benefit of the assumption of innocence until proven guilty in a court of law.

Consider the report by Jennifer Emily:

Dallas County's 20th DNA exoneration expected

Jerry Lee Evans matched the description of the man who abducted and raped a woman in Deep Ellum in 1986. He even had a similar speech impediment.

But today Evans, 47, is expected to walk out of the courtroom a free man because DNA testing shows he is not the man who raped an 18-year-old Southern Methodist University freshman at knifepoint.

Dallas County prosecutors Tuesday pointed to questionable witness identification procedures as a leading reason for his wrongful conviction.

When the woman looked at a six-picture photo spread, Dallas police officers "were leading and encouraging" her to pick Evans out of the photo lineup, said Mike Ware, who oversees the DA's conviction integrity unit. Officers were also "enthusiastically encouraging" after the woman selected Evans.

You'll find the full report here.

Whenever a community's basic systems of justice, fairness and discovery break down this badly, intervention seems necessary. Again, we should be grateful for the leadership of Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins. Where would Mr. Evans be without him and his leadership?

But, I'm wondering if more needs to be done to speed up ongoing investigations of other cases that need review?

We have seen now 20 individuals in Dallas County alone who have been freed after serving hundreds of years in prison for crimes committed by others, many of whom remain at large and a danger to us all. Dallas County should consider the formation of a special citizen's commission, a public "justice review board" of sorts, to consider, not individual cases as such, but the processes and patterns that have led to such terrible, unthinkable failure on the part of our criminal justice system.

It is time for systemic change.

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DMagazine Cover Story: Dallas DA Craig Watkins

Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins turns up on the cover of this month's issue of D Magazine.

Mr. Watkins will serve as our keynote speaker at Central Dallas Ministries' 14th Annual Urban Ministries Prayer Breakfast on Tuesday, April 21 at the Hilton Anatole Hotel. Start time is set for 7:15 a.m.

It will be a great morning of inspiration, challenge and conversation concerning justice and faith.

Read the article about Mr. Watkins here.

For information about the prayer breakfast contact Lisa Goolsby at lgoolsby@CentralDallasMinistries.org.

Plan now to join us!

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Our district attorney

Gerald Britt has a way with words. He's also good at analysis and subject selection. Let me hasten to add, Central Dallas Ministries is more than fortunate to have him as our Vice-President of Public Policy and Community Program Development.

These days, the Dallas Morning News has him writing a regular opinion column for the paper. Smart move on their part. Smart words from Rev. Britt.

Did you read his recent comments on Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins in the November 17 edition of the paper?

As usual, Gerald was right on in his nomination of Watkins for "Texan of the Year." We are fortunate to have Mr. Watkins as our DA.

Here's how Gerald begins:

Jan.1, 2007, the day Craig Watkins was sworn in as Dallas' first African-American district attorney, marked a seismic shift in local politics. Perhaps even more significant than the election of Ron Kirk, our first black mayor, Mr. Watkins' first two years in office illustrate a commitment to just and effective enforcement of the law; citizens expect as much and rightly so.

Mr. Watkins has taken his charge one step further – an equal commitment to justice. The Dallas D.A.'s office is as committed to seeing the innocent go free as it is in seeing the guilty prosecuted – and Mr. Watkins has redoubled those efforts in 2008.

For that reason, Craig Watkins is my nominee for Dallas Morning News Texan of the Year.

Read on here.

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Exonerated prisoners raise many questions

At last count I believe that Dallas County has reversed erroneous judgments resulting in the liberation of 18 previously wrongly convicted men.

No, make that 19. Just last week Patrick Waller was released after spending 15 years in a Texas prison for a crime he did not commit.

Waller is the 19th man in Dallas County since 2001 shown by DNA evidence to be innocent of the crime for which he was convicted. That's more than any county in the nation, according to The Innocence Project in New York, a legal center specializing in wrongful-conviction cases.

Four former inmates who collectively served nearly 100 years in prison before being exonerated lined the back wall of the crowded courtroom during Waller's final hearing. The men freed by DNA testing in Dallas County have made a habit of showing up in court for exoneration hearings, and on Thursday they presented Waller with a prepaid cell phone as a gift.

Thank God for advances in DNA technology!

For an interesting research exercise do a Google search on "exonerated prisoners in Dallas, Texas. " The stories you can read there are amazing and, at times, very sad.

The reports make you wonder how many more decisions need to be re-opened and challenged.

Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins should be commended for his leadership in overseeing and pushing forward the entire process. I know he won't be letting up anytime soon. Another reason to give thanks.

How would you feel if you spent 15 years of your life behind bars for a crime you didn't commit?

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Prisons and the Destruction of Life and Community

Too many of our men and women, especially African Americans, end up in prison. Too often innocent people land in prison without relief for years and years. Thanks to advances in DNA technology, a number of people enjoy freedom today. But, their release doesn't return the years lost locked up unjustly.

The entire question of prisons and inner city communities is one we face again and again.

On Monday, our own Gerald Britt (VP of Public Policy and Community Program Development) published a strong Op-Ed piece in The Dallas Morning News.

Here's a bit of what he said:

Gerald Britt: Prisoners of the streets At the risk of overstating the obvious, the world was a different place 27 years ago.

There were no cellphones, DVDs were unknown, and VCRs were budget-busting toys. "Green" was just a primary color, the Cold War was still raging, and the Reagan era had just begun. And Charles Allen Chatman was sentenced to 99 years for rape.

On Jan. 3, Mr. Chatman became the 15th man in Dallas County to be released from prison, exonerated by DNA evidence. This will probably be categorized as old news by some readers; others won't even recognize the name or the case. And, for me, that's troubling.

Follow the link above to read the entire essay. Gerald's works are on target, as usual.

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Facing Racism

Mention racism on this site and immediately I get negative reactions from a few white folks.

It seems we are eager for everyone to understand that we "get it" and that we are no longer racist in our view of the world, and neither are any of the systems or institutions with which we have anything to do.

Usually those who respond as innocent of my charge will catalog the proof of the absence of personal prejudice in their lives. Many go on to argue that we are in a new day in the U. S., that racism has been overcome, and that to continue to discuss it is counterproductive at best.

On Monday the U. S. Supreme Court, in a case involving the very obvious disparities in mandatory sentencing rules imposed on courts by the Congress for offenses involving the use of powdered cocaine compared to crack cocaine, ruled that judges can use their traditional discretionary authority to impose reasonable sentences, even if federal guidelines direct some other verdict. In essence the court ruled that judges can ignore the sentencing requirements that make the use of crack cocaine more legally objectionable than the use of the powered variety.

So?

So, sentences against African American crack cocaine users have been much harsher than those rendered against more affluent, white users of cocaine in powered form. In short, blacks have not received equal treatment under the law in thousands of cases.

My point?

Systemic racism often works against black Americans in a manner that often devastates families and communities. This racism may have nothing to do with the way some individual white people feel about their black neighbors. But, the power of the racism embedded in the Congressional mandate for mandatory sentences for certain crimes is blatantly racist and affects the African American community in a disproportionately negative manner.

For years I've watched crack users receive much stiffer sentences than those who used powdered cocaine. Both are devastating. Most users need lots of help.

What black folks don't need are stiffer sentences for the same violation of the law as whites.

The same kind of systemic racism can be observed when looking carefully at the administration of death penalty sentencing. Black who are convicted of capital crimes against whites receive death sentences at a significantly higher rate than do whites who kill blacks or blacks who kill other blacks.

Racism is insidious. It is still very much alive in our culture. Unfortunately, the fact that you really aren't personally prejudiced is simply not enough.

Thankfulness

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday.

A special meal with extended family, and sometimes others.

Football before and after lunch!

Laughter. Great conversation and storytelling.

None of the anxiety or stress of Christmas. . .though I must acknowledge that I've never been responsible for the meal or much of the preparation that goes along with making the day special.
And, a time of personal reflection about the quality of life and its many blessings, no matter what its troubles, challenges or worries.

Working with and among folks who make a life with only a fraction of my wealth and opportunity has taught me so much about gratitude. I've watched my poorest friends and acquaintances express almost unbounded gratitude for the simplest things. It is humbling and convicting to observe the penniless celebrate what appears to be so little.

All week we've seen people preparing for their special family meals, as they have come in and out of our centers, carrying away our canned food. Expressions of gratitude have filled our week already.

It is cold this morning. Thousands will come in out of this weather to share a meal with strangers, prepared by strangers. There is a bitter sweet dimension to this day, isn't there? Joy will fill the industrial-size dining halls where the urban poor will consume their mass meals. Gratitude will abound, along with some fear, well-founded anger, frustration and laughter.

I'm grateful for much today.

I'm also mindful and aware that, if I am truly grateful, I have much to do to make things more acceptable to those who have so little.

SCHIP support needed

Julia Easley, our good friend and partner at Children's Medical Center Dallas, sent the following our way last week after President Bush vetoed the SCHIP legilation. This message comes to us from one of our best hospitals in Dallas. Read on!
______________________________

Last week, President Bush vetoed the SCHIP Reauthorization Act.

Your help is needed again to ask the House of Representatives to override the President's veto.

Background
Congress must reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) this fall. Called CHIP in Texas, the program insures more than 300,000 low-income children including 43,000 Dallas area children.

The SCHIP Reauthorization Act will provide $35 billion over five years to fund an expansion of SCHIP. An additional four million children are expected to be covered under this bill.

Both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate passed the bill by wide, bipartisan majorities last week and sent it to the President. He vetoed the bill.

The next step is for the U.S. House of Representatives to attempt to override the president’s veto, which will require a two-thirds majority vote. Our representatives need to hear loud and clear that we want them to pass the bill and override the veto.

You can help!
Please take just three minutes to write your member of the U.S. House of Representatives and urge them to override the president’s veto and support this vital program for children’s health.

Here's a simple way to write your members of Congress: Go to http://capwiz.com/nach/issues/alert/?alertid=10377536&type=CO.

This link is provided by the National Association of Children's Hospitals.

Follow these steps:
1. Click on the link
2. Enter your zipcode and click Go
3. You will see a prepared message that you can edit if you'd like.
4. Add your name at the bottom and enter your contact information
5. Under hospital affiliation, choose TX-Children's Medical Center Dallas
6. Send your message
7. Share this with others if you'd like

The choice to participate is yours alone.

If you do participate, thank you for volunteering to speak up for the hospital and the children we serve.

For additional information about SCHIP go to: http://www.childrenshospitals.net/nach/schip .

If you would like more information about this campaign, please contact Julia Easley, director of Advocacy at Julia.Easley@Childrens.com.

Work in my world

Across America Labor Day means. . .

. . .for most a holiday for working people, including students.

. . .for some a time to celebrate the American Labor Movement.

. . .for others a time to reflect on the challenges facing laboring people in this nation.

In my neighborhood, on this Labor Day, work . . .

. . .means needing more than one job to make the household even marginally functional and secure.

. . .is a very valuable resource that is in short supply--when work disappears, neighborhoods suffer and decline.

. . .means lots of people need more training, more education to move up and to do better.

. . .is something many people are looking for without much success in terms of livable wage opportunities.

. . .is a job a guy I met last week hopes to land this week.

. . .is a job a woman with two children wishes she could get out of, but can't until she gets a line on a better one.

. . .is something just about everyone really wants to do.

. . .is something lots of people, in spite of their best efforts, just can't seem to find.

. . .is a reality that many find most discouraging.

. . .is what every family needs for parents and other adults to secure.

. . .is the means by which people stay off the streets of Dallas.

. . .is what prison took away.

. . .is all about dignity, self-respect and making a contribution.

. . .is a tough issue.

Shameful poverty grows in America

A good number of readers "tune in" here to debate and debunk much of what I write and believe.

That's welcomed, actually.

Part of the genius of the blogging is that it gets people "talking" who otherwise might not have the opportunity. At times it grows frustrating and tedious, but I continue to believe in the process.

With all of this in mind, I couldn't help myself yesterday. I caught myself wishing (more than once) that some of my fiercest antagonists were with me.

Our main Resource Center was completely overwhelmed with people seeking assistance. I expect the final tally for the day came close to 400 families, maybe more.

People were literally crammed into our interview room. They wound their way down every hallway and stood in every open space and room. They sat up and down our staircase and we made room for them upstairs in our already overcrowded office area.

The crowded conditions were compounded by the stifling heat. People were lined up outside in the terrible sun. Our volunteers were running about distributing ice water, chilled down in bottles for ease of consumption.

I roamed through the crowd making apologies for the overcrowded conditions, our inadequate seating and the long wait for attention.

People were so very gracious and kind, so grateful for everything we offered.

So poor.

So patient and gracious to one another.

There was talk everywhere about work. . .

"Do you have something I can do?"

"I could help you with this crowd, I could make things go faster" an old man on crutches told me--he was asking for a job!

He must have been 80.

The entire experience was overwhelming, to say the least.

While all of this was going on, we had a tour underway--well actually, we had two tours underway. An early tour involved local folks with an interest in what we are doing. And then, a bit later in the day, we provided a tour to a group from the Mental Health Association and Bank of America from Tulsa, Oklahoma. This group is working very hard to develop permanent supportive housing for the homeless in Tulsa and had an interest in our efforts here.

What an "intersection" experience!

All kinds of people. Hundreds of poor, very poor people, mostly elderly; many families. All looking for food. All coming to our grossly overcrowded space.

No one can tell me that such "bread lines" ought still exist in the richest nation on the earth.

The day was beyond bitter sweet.

We need change.

We all need to work for it.

All who have voice need to speak up as never before.

We are failing one another badly in this country today.




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Monica

We were back in federal immigration court again yesterday. This time with Monica. [Read her complete story from my archives by typing "Monica" in my search line above.]

The judge granted a continuance until November 28, 2007.

So, we have some time to continue our work to see the "Dream Act" passed in the U. S. Congress.

If you don't know about this very positive piece of legislation, search this site. Then, go deeper by doing a Google search.

When you are convinced it is a great idea, please write your two U. S. Senators and your U. S. Representative in support of the legislation that would provide documentation for young people who have been in this country since they were children and who desire to continue their education in college or join the U. S. Armed Forces.

The fact is, the passage of the Dream Act is likely the only legal relief that Moncia and others like her could discover.

Please care enough to investigate and to act, today!

"True Notebooks" reveal real heart

Mark Salzman spent a year teaching young men how to write. His students were extraordinary. Each was locked up in a juvenile prison. Most had created very serious crimes. Many were convicted murderers.

One result of his work turned out to be the book he wrote reporting on his own experience with the young men and sharing the words they recorded in their own notebooks as he taught them. True Notebooks: A Writer's Year at Juvenile Hall (2003) is worth a read.

Randy Mayeux provided a moving synopsis of the book during the July meeting of our Urban Engagement Book Club. The group meets at noon on the first Thursday of every month, rain or shine, to discuss some important book related to the work we are attempting in urban Dallas.

The book is filled with quotes like these:

Sister Janet explained that she'd been Catholic chaplain at the all for years, but the increasingly punitive trend in the juvenile justice system made her feel that ministry was not enough; she stepped away from her role as spiritual adviser to dedicate herself full-time to advocacy work and coordinating volunteer activities. "The goal is. . .to give these young people a chance to express themselves, and feel that someone is listening." (page 24)

It all boils down to one thing, really: the kids want to feel that they matter to someone. They want to please adults, they want to fit in, they want to model themselves after someone they respect. It's just that most of them have been brainwashed into thinking that they aren't capable of it. (Sister Janet, page 27)

These children have been abandoned. (Sister Janet, page 43)

When you are locked up, you think about your mother all the time. That's true of everyone here. (Jimmy Wu, one of the students, page 75)

Writing also helps me feel free. I can create anything with my imagination, pencil and paper, and before I know it I've created something that was in me the whole time, my pencil and paper just helped me let it out freely. (Kevin, one of the students, page 98)

My students were violent criminals, but I no longer thought of them as bad people. In fact, I felt almost no curiosity at all about what they had done to get arrested; all I cared about was what they wrote and what happened during our meetings. Was that healthy? Was that fair? (Mark Salzman, page 104)

Our world cannot be complete without you, and without hearing what you have to say. True justice cannot exist without compassion; compassion cannot exist without understanding. But no one will understand you unless you speak, and are able to speak clearly. And that's exactly what you have been doing in your classes. (Sister Janet to all the students, page 155)

I had to say goodbye to my roommate just now and all we could do was shake hands. It makes me wonder--if I'm like that now, not even able to hug my friend on the worst day of my life, what am I gonna be like after fifteen years in the pen? (Jimmy Wu, page 197)

Although I don't touch on this subject in the text of my book, I'll say it now: they made me decide to have children of my own. It's a debt I can never repay. (Mark Salzman in a note of thanks at the end of the book, page 330)

The book is composed largely of the essays of the students. If you want to experience the thoughts of children without options who continue to display real soul, read this book.

In reflecting on the book, it occurred to me again that far too often we tend to judge and regard people from a-single-point-in-time perspective.

The fact is these kids grew up with neglect, poverty, abuse and abandonment. Their life stories, their histories ushered them through very bad choices and into juvenile hall. In my case, I grew up with attention, guidance, abundance, love and discipline. My life story, my history has ushered me through mostly good choices (thanks to all the people constantly watching and "getting my back" and sometimes my back end!) and into a satisfying and mostly productive life.
For some reason I know that, at the soul level, my journal or notebook probably reads a lot like the ones they composed.

The life and circumstantial outcomes have been much different. But, one thing is very clear to me: I can't sit in judgment, nor can I claim any credit for my own good fortune. This is a good thing to remember.

Are you kidding me, Mr. President?

On Tuesday, July 10, President Bush addressed a crowd in Cleveland, Ohio at the Intercontinental Hotel Cleveland.

The White House website characterized the address as a call "on Congress to Act to fund Vital Priorities" (see the link to the site and the text of the entire speech--bottom of this post).

Here is what the President said, in part, about health care:

“Let me talk about health care, since it's fresh on my mind. The objective has got to be to make sure America is the best place in the world to get health care, that we're the most innovative country, that we encourage doctors to stay in practice, that we are robust in the funding of research, and that patients get good, quality care at a reasonable cost. The immediate goal is to make sure there are more people on private insurance plans. I mean, people have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room” [emphasis mine, LJ].

In his speech, the President goes on to argue against expanding almost any version of our public health care system that might eventually lead to a comprehensive, national health coverage plan, including coverage for children just above the national poverty line. This is understandable given his political ideology.

Now, we can legitimately debate the particulars of universal coverage and how to achieve that goal. The President's comments in the speech provide several "jumping off" points for such a debate. I respect the fact that the subject is complex and that numerous special interests are involved and have combined to make the entire issue a political quagmire for everyone. Future posts here will likely get at some of those issues and points for debate, as have several of my previous posts.

For today though, my attention is riveted on the remark the President made that actually reveals his perspective on what health care actually means, what it entails.

"I mean, people have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room.”

I expect that any physician, hospital administrator or public health official who heard that statement must have been shocked, stunned, terrified and thoroughly amazed all at once!

For the President of the United States to equate health care with a visit to an emergency room demonstrates just how serious our national public health crisis really is. No wonder we are now spending over 15% of our annual Gross Domestic Product on health care related costs, while achieving so little return on our investment in quality public health outcomes when compared to other industrialized nations.

One of the President's major concerns as expressed later in the Cleveland address is how to best use our funds to achieve the maximum in public health quality and benefit. How such a concern squares with his placing the ERs of America in the default position for the nation's uninsured escapes me. Everyone knows that the emergency department is one of the most expensive health care venues available and is designed to be a station of last resort, or the first stop in an acute emergency situation.

Scroll back on this site to just last Thursday, July 12 ("A Medical Home"). That brief essay pointed out the extremely positive impact of a reliable medical home on minority health outcomes and clearly documented racially informed disparities.

In the same speech in Cleveland, the President vowed to veto a bipartisan plan to expand the Children's Health Insurance Program to more adequately care for the health of all of America's children. Members of his own party expressed shock at his threat, given the fact that the President had not had a chance to review the legislation.

There is a lot wrong here.

But, in my view, we can trace it all back to the simple-minded misconception that everyone already has health care. I mean, after all, anyone can go to the emergency room when they need to see a doctor.

[http://www.whitehouse.
gov/news/releases/2007/07/20070710-6.html]

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Crack vs Coke--Justice Denied; Injustice Codified

As terrible as racism can be when expressed through individuals, we discover the more virulent and deadly variety embedded in public systems.

Consider sentencing policies for the use of crack cocaine versus powdered cocaine.

A year ago the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy published a "white paper" report by Nkechi Taifa that gets at this systemic, racist reality at work in our criminal justice system ("The 'Crack/Powder' Disparity: Can the International Race Convention Provide a Basis for Relief?";May 16, 2006; http://www.acslaw.org/node/2859).

Consider this helpful executive summary of the findings:

The federal criminal penalty structure for the possession and distribution of crack cocaine is one hundred times more severe than the penalty structure relating to powder cocaine. Blacks comprise the vast majority of those convicted of crack cocaine offenses while the majority of those convicted of powder cocaine offenses are white. This disparity has led to inordinately harsh sentences disproportionately meted out to African American defendants that are far more severe than sentences for comparable activity by white defendants.

Indeed, the U.S. Sentencing Commission reported that revising this one sentencing rule would do more to reduce the sentencing gap between blacks and whites "than any other single policy change," and would "dramatically improve the fairness of the federal sentencing system."

Notwithstanding widespread recognition of the inequity of the current sentencing scheme, courts have found that domestic law affords no remedy. In this white paper, Nkechi Taifa examines that failure of U.S. law to address this disparity and explores ways that principles from the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination could form a basis for relief.

People who continue to argue that racism is no longer a factor in American politics, culture, law or community relations are simply blind to a continuing reality. Systemic racism like that found in our sentencing practices remains unaddressed in our nation. The fact that these findings have been recognized for many years and that no remedial action to establish justice has been taken should be of urgent concern to everyone who desires fairness and justice in our nation.

I witness the devastating impact of this unjust system on a daily basis, as our young men and women are "harvested" from our neighborhoods and sent to prison, rather than to treatment centers. All the while, white offenders, whose drug of choice is the powdered form of the same narcotic, recieve very different treatment under the law based on race and/or economic status, power and privilege.

Isaiah 10:1-4

Kurt Vonnegut's last book

Kurt Vonnegut died recently.

Author of 25 books, at least by my count, including Slaughterhouse-Five, Jailbird and God Bless you, Dr. Kevorkian, Vonnegut's last book, A Man Without a Country, turned out to be thoroughly autobiographical. I read it while on a plane a couple of weeks ago.

Typically, it tends toward the profane at points. If you can live with that, it is worth reading, even if you don't agree with him and I expect some readers here will find much with which to differ! But, that's okay, isn't it? Only reading what confirms my bias is not healthy.

I found it hilarious at points (what does that say about me???). And, I agreed with his consistent emphasis on kindness and the "Golden Rule."

Here's just a snippet to give you a feel for his direction.

Enjoy!?
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Quoting Eugene V. Debs as he begins. . .

"'As long as there is a lower class, I am in it. As long as there is a criminal element, I'm of it. As long as there is a soul in prison, I am not free.' . . .

"How about Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes?. . .

"For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes. But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course that's Moses, not Jesus. I haven't heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere.

"'Blessed are the merciful,' in a courtroom? 'Blessed are the peacemakers in the Pentagon? Give me a break!" (pages 96-98).

"But if Christ hadn't delivered the Sermon on the Mount, with its language of mercy and pity, I wouldn't want to be a human being.

"I'd just as soon be a rattlesnake." (page 81)