AR-15. . .Second Amendment rights, market profits and community

Did you hear the news report about the effect of the Presidential election on the price and sales of AR-15 assault rifles?

It seems that people feel that Barack Obama will be the winner in next Tuesday's election and that he will extend the ban on automatic assault weapons that President George W. Bush allowed to expire.

The rush to buy is motivated by several factors. People who want such a weapon fear that they will not be able to purchase one after Obama takes office. Others evidently are in the market feeling that the expected new policy will drive up the price of the weapons, making them a good investment.

Automatic assault weapons, military grade, designed to kill human beings. This is no sport weapon. We can debate the original intention of the Constitution's second amendment another time (for my part, I know Jefferson would be appalled!).

But, I'm thinking of my community just now.

The presence of AR-15 assault weapons on our streets doesn't make sense and cannot be justified by any argument, at least not if your goal is to improve and sustain community health, public safety and human well-being.

Why does anyone need such a weapon? How does the availability of these weapons help anyone.

Whoever is elected Tuesday, I pray the ban is extended. . .permanently.

What do you think?

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A story

Toni Lambert. . ."How it was, What happen and How it is now

I was born and raised in North Dallas Housing (Roseland Homes) with my grandmother Rosie Lambert, my brother Lloyd and oldest sister Lisa. I had a pretty good life. I was the youngest in the family, granny’s pride and joy, so I got what I wanted most of the time. I was raised in church, an “A” student in school and happy at home. Growing up in the projects (as we called it) was not bad for me. My granny had a nice and comfortable home for us. We always ate very well, many gifts for Christmas, new clothes for Easter and a host of friends, but something was missing.

When I went to the third grade it was brought to my attention that my granny was not my mother. My mother was not around until I turned 7 or 8 years old. I didn’t have a relationship with her (my mother) growing up and didn’t know my father. My granny was my everything and she gave me all the love I needed so I didn’t question my parents whereabouts.

When I got in my early teens the community started to change with drugs and violence becoming more prevalent and accessible. I started to visit my mother periodically and her lifestyle was totally different from what my grandmother had taught me.

At the age of eleven my mother introduced me to marijuana. Since she smoked it I figured it was alright. Marijuana made me feel mellow and laid back. I even started to steal it from my mother when I got the chance. I smoked more and more until one day I was introduced to crack. It took me fast and I had to have it daily.

My grandmother saw the change in my attitude and behavior but there was nothing she could do. I dropped out of high school and my life started spiraling downward. I found myself stuck in the dope game.

I began to spend more time with my mother because this was the type of lifestyle she lived. For fifteen years, I wondered the streets aimless with no direction. I began to participate in activities that were against everything taught to me as a child, activities that were against the law.

I made a lot of bad decisions that follow me to this very day. Through everything that was going on in my life I got pregnant and had a son, Jeremiah. I took him to my grandmother to raise, the same way my mother did me and I kept moving.

There were a few helpful organizations that came through the community from time to time but they faded fast.

Central Dallas Ministries came into the community at my lowest point. I had hit a bottom emotionally, physically and spiritually. There was a lady by the name of Marva that reached out to me. She saw something in me that I didn’t. She made me feel that there was hope and that change in my life was still possible. Central Dallas Ministries Cyber Spot had a program that helped people get jobs and Marva referred me to them. She told me that when I was ready to do something different with my life to let her know and she would help me.

I knew deep inside that I could do better but the shame and guilt kept me roaming. My family loved me and my grandmother prayed for me all the time. I was so tried of using drugs but I had lived this way for so long until I didn’t know any way else to live. I had no skills and no education because I dropped out of school in the 9th grade. I was so sick & tired of being sick & tired that I went and signed up for the Job Readiness program through the Cyber Spot. I also signed up for the computer course they had available at the time. I volunteered at the Roseland Food Pantry and started on the road to change. The seed had been planted!

I had a few set backs or relapses but I kept striving to be a better person. I was pregnant with my second child and I didn’t want to follow my mother’s footsteps by not raising my own children. I needed to find a stable place to live. I could have stayed with my grandmother but that was the area I used drugs in and I needed a fresh start. I remembered a place I had gone to for refuge before, so I went back to them and they took me in.

Due to the information learned in the computer class taken at Central Dallas Ministries Cyber Spot I went and enrolled in community college to get more skills. When I needed help in any area, the services available through Central Dallas Ministries was there. I was able to do my home work in the computer lab and take my sons with me. Food was available for me and my sons through Roseland Food Pantry.

I moved from Roseland into an apartment first and now I am a home owner with a 3 bedroom with 2 full baths. I have been clean and sober for 8 years and the mother of 3 sons, ages 10, 8 and 22mo. and we have 2 puppies. Currently working on my Bachelors Degree at UNT, I have continued to do volunteer work with Central Dallas Ministries in Roseland Town Homes. Through my association with Central Dallas and Marva Epperson-Brown I am now working with them through the AmeriCorps Program.

AmeriCorps has allowed me to give back to a community that I love so dearly. Now seeing the community from another angle, I have the privilege of knowing and sharing first hand the needs of this community. Marva and Central Dallas Ministries has been one of the inspirations for me working to obtain my degree and reaching for the stars. My major is in Human Service and Non Profit Management.

The mission statement & the philosophy of Central Dallas Ministries are truly exhibited through their employee (Marva Epperson-Brown) and through the actions and attitude of the organization as a whole.

I am forever grateful to CDM for being a part of my life.

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

Prison

Are you ready for this?

By 2011 the U. S. will have more than 1.7 million men and women in prison.

The cost to taxpayers will be $27.5 billion more than what is currently spent to operate the nation’s prisons.

Unless something changes, by 2011 one out of every 178 U. S. residents will be incarcerated.

Some states anticipate seeing their prison populations grow by 25% to 33%. This growth is due to stricter mandatory minimum sentencing regulations, reductions in parole rates and high recidivism.

Over the next five years, inmates will cost an additional $15 billion. Construction costs will add $12.5 billion.

Many states are questioning whether or not prisons offer the wisest use of limited public funds when they look at return on investment.

Good move, I’d say!

Far too many men and women are sent to prison in the U. S. and in Texas. Many who end up behind bars would make more progress in treatment centers where they could be guided and assisted in overcoming the addictions nesting behind their unlawful behavior.

Poor people go to prison more frequently than those who can afford the best counsel.

There are better ways to deal with the misbehavior of large numbers of people who land in prison every year than the current still popular “lock ‘em up and through away the key” approach.

One consequence (I hope "unintended," but at times I have to wonder) of our current policy is the systematic "harvesting" of male leadership from inner city neighborhoods. The resulting social impact on families and their traditions and expectations is devastating.

We need better results. Our communities deserve better and so do many inmates.

[For more details see “Public Safety, Public Spending: Forecasting America’s Prison Population 2007-2011,” Pew Charitable Trusts]