Smitty at the Other McCain posts this outstanding video
Is There A ‘George Brotherman’, A ‘Chocolate Klansman’?
What an excellent essay. I could not have said it better myself, both in terms of content quality, and I would be nailed to the wall as a three-alarm raaaaacist for laying the truth down like this:
And this essay by Walter Olson shows how the efforts to lower the standards for conviction and repeal "stand your ground" laws in the wake of the Zimmerman trial may actually not benefit
People upset at George Zimmerman's acquittal are calling for awarding various new powers to prosecutors at the expense of protections for criminal defendants.
Maybe this would make it easier to hang a rap on some future Zimmerman. But it also would have an effect that its backers probably don't intend: increasing the number of persons convicted and sent to prison. As part of that effect, more young black men -- as well as more members of other groups -- will end up behind bars
...
A key constituency seeking to roll back stand your ground in the Florida legislature is prosecutors, whose interests just might not be fully congruent with those of the people they prosecute.
Although critics insist that stand your ground leads to racially disparate effects, the Tampa Bay Times, a paper that has been highly critical of the law, concedes its in-depth investigation "found no obvious bias in how black defendants have been treated" under the law.
It also quoted Alfreda Coward, a black Fort Lauderdale lawyer "whose clients are mostly black men," as saying it had sometimes worked to the advantage of her clients facing charges over altercations. "Let's be clear," Coward told the paper, "this law was not designed for the protection of young black males, but it's benefiting them in certain cases."
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