Justice, but?

 

Like many of you, I breathed a sigh of relief and shed tears over the verdict of guilty in Minneapolis at the Chauvin trial. My tears were for a verdict that was long overdue–in this and many similar cases. Juries rarely convicted police officers when those in their custody die or even when there is a shooting of an unarmed person. My tears were also for the life that was taken from George Floyd, Jr. The prosecutors in the case presented the Floyd that his family members knew, a large man (6 feet 4 inches tall), an athlete, a covid survivor, a mentor to others, and, yes, a person struggling with an addiction. While the defense attempted to try the victim, the prosecution emphasized the humanity of an imperfect man, who was loved by others.

Yet this same week has shown several instances of high-profile shootings by law enforcement. I am troubled by the shooting of MaKhia Bryant, a 16-year-old girl in foster care.  The police were called for trouble at a foster care home and the videos apparently show them arriving at an altercation on the sidewalk where Bryant throws one girl to the ground and lunges with an upturned knife toward another girl whom she pins against a car. After calling ‘get down!’, the police officer shoots and kills Bryant. Everyone should mourn the death of a teenager, just as we decried the death of Adam Toledo, a 13-year-old Chicago boy.  But, in his case also, he was seen to be holding a weapon shortly before shots were heard in the neighborhood; although he was not armed when shot, a gun was found nearby. Once again these two cases and the Floyd case were quite different. Police have to make snap decisions; I do not believe that any police officer wishes to kill a teenager, but they also cannot easily disarm frightened children. Despite the protests and the marches, although I empathize with the families, I also do not think that children should be carrying weapons.  Somewhere society has failed these children.

I do not have the slow-motion videos and I will not second guess here, all lives lost are tragic in my mind.  But these two instances differ from those of 20-year-old Daunte Wright and the man shot by sheriff's deputies in North Carolina where there was no evidence of resistance, just an attempt to flee. Wright’s offense was apparently expired tags and a deodorizing card hanging from his mirror. The claim of a warrant for his arrest was for failure to appear in court over fines when a notice to appear had been sent to an incorrect address. Due to Covid – tags have been allowed to expire in Minnesota until the MVA gets back to more regular hours.

Traffic stops and subsequent fines were seen in many towns as money raisers and they hit poor people more disproportionately.  How many of you know that a person placed on home detention with an ankle bracelet has to pay the costs of monitoring that bracelet?  If, they then cannot get a job, due to the restrictions for the bracelet, then how are they to pay the fees associated with it.  The costs of traffic stops and subsequent fines often pay the salaries of small-town police forces; these issues were brought out in the investigations after the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson. In Ferguson, 67% of the residents are Black with white residents comprising 29%.

In 2017 the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a report of more than 200 pages titled: Targeted Fees and Fines Against Communities of Color. You can read it here.

They studied practices in Ferguson and elsewhere. They described finding disproportionate policing of African Americans in that community and described these practices as intentional racism. The report also indicated that studies have shown that 60 percent of American families could not come up with $500 for an urgent car repair, health care cost, or appliance purchase, let alone traffic fees which can easily exceed that amount with court costs or subsequent collection actions. The following is a quote from the executive summary:

“Cash register justice,” “policing for profit,” and “two-tiered criminal justice system” are terms that have been used to describe the excessive use of fines and fees.10 The rise in the use of fines as the primary enforcement tool against low-level offenses can be attributed to multiple factors. Generally speaking, fines and fees are easier to administer than other forms of punishment and can generate revenue. An increase in policing tactics that focus on low-level violations (such as jaywalking, littering, disorderly conduct, trespassing, or truancy), that might otherwise have gone unenforced, has also resulted in individuals accumulating court debt. Jurisdictions have also become loath to enact new taxes, which along with the recession has resulted in reduced local and state budgets for court systems.

Systems in other states were reviewed and recommendations were made to split the fines from supporting the system or as they called in using the fines to generate a revenue stream, much as property taxes are used, just another assessment. However, that is not what justice is meant to be. The report went on to advise 16 specific recommendations, some of which will require legislation, others will ask cities and municipalities to make changes in their standards of behavior regarding fines and revenues. The DOJ will enter into consent decrees in instances where this is felt to be necessary to halt such activities. In the Ferguson situation, the DOJ and the city agreed in 2016 to specific changes which must occur in the city.  But local newspapers reported in 2020 that the city was still dragging its feet on the issues of concern to many residents.  In July 2020 the residents elected a Black woman, Ella Jones, as the first person of color to run the city of Ferguson.  A former city council member, Jones was defeated in a previous run for Mayor but succeeded with 54% of the vote last year. Although the city claimed to be making progress, the new Mayor notes more changes are needed.

So as long ago as 1968, the Kerner Commission Report noted that we have separate societies for white people and persons of color and if changes were not implemented that these differences would continue to grow. The political will was not there at that time to do more than had been done with the Civil Rights and Voting Rights legislation. As I have mentioned in previous posts, the poverty level has decreased in Black communities, and the middle class and college-educated numbers have increased, but still, problems remain.  As was pointed out in The Color of Law,  Rothstein notes, housing is still subject to redlining, poor communities are saddled with pollution, and lack of access to transportation and adequate healthcare. Meanwhile, center cities have mostly segregated schools in states with significant populations of color.

There needs to be political will to make changes.  With the Republicans trying to disenfranchise many people who vote in cities across this country, we need good citizens to start to speak up and speak out against these injustices.  We cannot continue to have children shot for misdemeanors and adult men shot while unarmed or unhinged; good police practices are known they need to be implemented. Children should not be pepper-sprayed or handcuffed to teach them a lesson. Certainly, mental health calls need to have therapists accompany the officers who respond to such calls.

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Even as vaccines continue to be given, cases continue to rise.  The latest world hot spot is in India, which had been doing well until thousands attended a major religious festival recently. Now cases are soaring, as are deaths.  Many believe that thousands of deaths have been under-counted, but even so, India has reported 16.5 million cases with over 192 thousand deaths.  Currently, the hospitals are overrun, oxygen supplies are depleted, and Remdesivir is selling on the black market for $1,000.00 per dose.  India so far has given 127 million vaccine doses, but it has 1.366 Billion residents, many of whom are young, poor, and live in distant rural areas. The US is being criticized by some for not sharing its surplus vaccines with countries such as India and those in the poorly vaccinated third world. Those moves are under review currently since world leaders understand that if these catastrophic numbers are not restrained, the rest of the world may be in danger from unrestricted variants in India and third world countries.

This week the Johnson and Johnson single-dose vaccine was approved after a pause and evaluation of adverse reactions, which were minuscule.  The pause, however, has given those who are vaccine-hesitant more reason to hold back. So far, the US is reporting that 29% of the population (94.8 million) has been fully vaccinated and 42% (140 million) have received at least one dose. Currently, 3.25 million vaccines are being administered each day. So far, Maryland has vaccinated 31% of its population.

CIVID stats: NY Times: 4/25/21

Total US cases: 32,103,720. Total new cases: 58,353. Total US Deaths: 571,753. Total new deaths: 707.

Total MD stats: Total cases: 442,351. New cases:1,196. Total deaths: 8,648. New deaths: 15.

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This week marked the 51^st anniversary of Earth Day.  President Biden and other world leaders took part virtually in a climate summit and made promises about what emissions might be in another generation.  All well and good, but I fear it is too modest a goal.  We need stronger commitments to carbon capture, pollution, and control of refuse. We are seeing ocean birds, fish, and mammals harmed by ingestion of some of the tons of plastic pellets polluting the oceans and camels becoming emaciated by clogged digestive systems from eating plastic bags found in the deserts of the world. I remember that first Earth Day in 1970 – we thought if we just pooled our efforts and started to reuse, recycle and repurpose, that we would be closer to a better and safer planet by now. But the use of coal and other fossil fuels continues and countries such as China and India continue to pollute widely.  Alternative fuels are not yet in robust development, although electric vehicles are in the pipeline. So, as I celebrate Earth Day, I do wish I could do it with more joy.

‘Til next week – peace!