Breaking the law: How the state weaponizes an unjust criminal justice system

[chuckChuck]

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-state-is-kneeling-on-the-job/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-state-is-kneeling-on-the-job/

Breaking the law: How the state weaponizes an unjust criminal justice system
Marie Henein
Contributed to The Globe and Mail
Published 4 hours ago
Updated June 13, 2020

Marie Henein is a lawyer and senior partner with Henein Hutchison.

On June 6, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took a knee during the Black Lives Matter demonstration on Parliament Hill. It was the correct show of support required of a political leader, acknowledging undeniable facts: a history, a present and – without change – a future of racism.

But if the Prime Minister is going to stop at a bended knee, then that is as ineffectual as sending out a “thoughts and prayers” tweet. To quote Shakespeare, it is sound and fury signifying nothing. A bended-knee photo-op is not enough. Not even close.

The history of racism, in the United States and Canada, manifests in an endless list of ways. I want to talk about the one I’ve known intimately: the criminal justice system. Its history and present is central to our understanding of how criminal justice, from police powers to sentencing, is part of the web that directly oppresses Black and Indigenous lives. Knowing this reveals the hollowness of Mr. Trudeau’s camera-ready genuflection.

Let’s start here. There is a rational reason that Black Lives Matter marches have been accompanied by demands to defund police, enforce police oversight and decrease the epidemic of mass incarceration. It is because the state’s weaponization of the criminal justice system for the purpose of racial marginalization has a long, well-documented history. Using the criminal law is a dependable and effective method to double down on marginalizing the marginalized and sidelining the racialized. Historically, criminalizing others, locking them up, is a weapon deployed to maintain social dominance. Drug laws, three-strikes rules, minimum sentences – much of it has been born from racism masquerading as law and order. That is just a plain, undeniable fact. It is and always has been the case.

Let me give you just one example of how this political three-card monte is played. One of the most notorious was U.S. president Richard Nixon’s declaration of a War on Drugs. While entrenched by president Ronald Reagan, it was in fact Mr. Nixon who first inspired it when, in 1971, he announced at a press conference that drug abuse was “public enemy number one in the United States.” But the declaration of war wasn’t really on drugs at all. John Ehrlichman, counsel and assistant to Mr. Nixon and a Watergate co-conspirator, later revealed the truth: “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the anti-war left and Black people. … We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or Blacks, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and Blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course, we did.”

[jazz]

Have you considered a vacation to the newly formed republic of CHAZ? They are trying everything you want. Lets see how it goes. So far they have kicked out the police, let an unelected person assume warlord status and are busy shaking down local business for cash.

Sounds like hippie heaven.

Lawyers and activist judges and weak kneed idiots in politics are the ones who draft and legislate amd enforce those laws so dont tell us about who the apparent racists are.

[chuckChuck]

When you have time watch "13th" a Netflix Documentary on racism, the history of slavery and the modern day prison labour system in the USA.

https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/80091741 https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/80091741

https://www.cjpcenter.org/13th-a-lesson-on-race-justice-and-mass-incarceration/ https://www.cjpcenter.org/13th-a-lesson-on-race-justice-and-mass-incarceration/

Here are some of the main points that come out in the film:

According to University of Connecticut professor Jelani Cobb, the drafters of the Constitution left “a loophole that was immediately exploited” in the 13th Amendment. Ava DuVernay’s documentary, 13th, connects this ambiguous clause to mass incarceration in America. The amendment abolished slavery, but the clause turned incarceration into the modern-day slavery. Here are ten things I learned from DuVernay’s film:



When slavery was abolished, the millions of people responsible for the economic productivity in the south were freed. The south was left with the question: how do we rebuild? The answer was in the 13th African-Americans were arrested and imprisoned for minor crimes, then forced to provide the labor needed to rebuild the economy.



In the land of the free, it’s ironic that we have the highest incarceration rates in the world. The documentary starts off with some striking statistics – the United States makes up 5% of the world’s population, but has 25% of the world’s prisoners.



Let’s look at the numbers. In 1970, the prison population was 357,292. In 2014, the prison population was 2,306,200. Clearly, incarceration is not just a trend – it’s become a part of American culture.



To break it down even further, African-American men have a significantly higher percentage of lifetime likelihood of imprisonment – one in 17 white males will do prison time, compared to only one in three African-American males.



Following the civil war and the turn of the twentieth century, the film, ‘Birth of a Nation’ portrayed the African-American male as violent, animal-like, and evil. The film is widely known for being a catalyst to the rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan.



The film examines the effect of the various presidencies on criminalization. It starts with Nixon’s southern strategy – he recruits southern, poor, working-class whites into the Republican fold and criminalizes Blacks. The strategy can be summarized by this quote by Lee Atwater, “…you’re talking about cutting taxes and all of these things you’re talking about are totally economic things, and the by-product of them is Blacks get hurt worse than whites.”



Nixon was the first to coin the term “war on drugs,” but Reagan was the first to turn the term into a literal war. In the Reagan era, the war on drugs became a part of our modern culture, andBblack people became overrepresented in the news as criminals. The Nixon and Reagan administrations are responsible for the cycle of criminalizing African-Americans suffering from drug addictions, rather than increasing resources for treatment or rehabilitation.



The 1994 Federal Crime Bill, created under Bill Clinton, deployed the latest technology and tactics to make communities safer. It basically led to the massive expansion of the prison system – it increased state funding for prisons, put 100,000 police officers on the street, and contributed to the exploding prison population. Clinton now realizes that this bill led to hyper-incarceration and was a mistake.



One of the things that the documentary explains is ALEC, or the American Legislative Exchange Council. This private club is made up of people who are both politicians and members of corporations. The council writes laws for the Republican Party, including Florida’s “Stand your Ground” law. They also are responsible for SB 1070, which gave the police the right to stop anyone they thought to be an immigrant. This kept CCA prisons overflowing with immigrant detainees. Oh, and – CCA is one of the corporations that helped ALEC write the immigration law.



Not everyone goes to trial. If every single person had a trial, the entire system would shut down. It often comes down to: you can take this plea deal and go to jail for three years, or you can go to trial and go to jail for 30 years if you lose. As a result, 97% of people do not go to trial and instead take a plea bargain.

[chuckChuck]

Have you considered a vacation to the newly formed republic of CHAZ? They are trying everything you want. Lets see how it goes. So far they have kicked out the police, let an unelected person assume warlord status and are busy shaking down local business for cash.

Sounds like hippie heaven.

Lawyers and activist judges and weak kneed idiots in politics are the ones who draft and legislate amd enforce those laws so dont tell us about who the apparent racists are.

Here is the source for many of the corporate friendly laws written by corporations more or less and adopted by many Conservative states. It is all explained in the 13th.

"One of the things that the documentary explains is ALEC, or the American Legislative Exchange Council. This private club is made up of people who are both politicians and members of corporations. The council writes laws for the Republican Party, including Florida’s “Stand your Ground” law. They also are responsible for SB 1070, which gave the police the right to stop anyone they thought to be an immigrant. This kept CCA prisons overflowing with immigrant detainees. Oh, and – CCA is one of the corporations that helped ALEC write the immigration law."

[AlbertaFarmer5]

And what does this have to do with racism in Canada? We don't have for profit prisons. Incarceration costs us all, with no benefits, so why would Canadians have a racist criminal justice system?
The article starts out referring to alleged problems in Canada , Then goes off on an irrelevant tangent with the history of united states. I failed to see the connection between the two. This is called bait and switch.

[chuckChuck]

And what does this have to do with racism in Canada? We don't have for profit prisons. Incarceration costs us all, with no benefits, so why would Canadians have a racist criminal justice system?
The article starts out referring to alleged problems in Canada , Then goes off on an irrelevant tangent with the history of united states. I failed to see the connection between the two. This is called bait and switch.

True, Canada’s history is different and we don’t have for profit prisons. But First Nations are over represented in the prison population. We have just heard from the RCMP Commissioner that we do have systemic racism in Canada. Black people along with First Nations have been telling us they are regularly discriminated against and are often subject to police harassment and violence. There have been many references to the US protests and Canadian protests that are focussed on racism against minorities especially black people. So this is not an irrelevant tangent at all. We share some similar problems with the US don’t we? We also had the KKK in Canada at one time. We still have white supremicist organizations active. Are you going to deny that we don’t have a racism problem?

[flea beetle]

Funny we never hear you talk about the new black panther party chuck.

[chuckChuck]

Funny you never bring up The Proud Boys! LOL

[fjlip]

WE don't all have a PROBLEM, those who do CRIMES have a problem, do stupid stuff...get a stupid prize. I can not fathom how a thinking human would NOT get the fact society has laws? Obey the laws, respect the police and you have NO ISSUES!

[flea beetle]

I’m not the one preaching to the crowd that whitey is to blame for everything.

[chuckChuck]

WE don't all have a PROBLEM, those who do CRIMES have a problem, do stupid stuff...get a stupid prize. I can not fathom how a thinking human would NOT get the fact society has laws? Obey the laws, respect the police and you have NO ISSUES!

No issue? Tell that to the black and indigenous people who are often stopped and harassed by police for little reason except they are a visible minority.
It all sounds so simple. If there was no crime then there would be no racism. And the police never break the law or commit crimes against minorities. We just saw it in several videos! There will be more and more videos.

[chuckChuck]

I’m not the one preaching to the crowd that whitey is to blame for everything.

I didn’t say that, but you seemed convinced racism is not a problem and blacks and indigenous people must be the cause of their own problems?

There are racists and haters of all types all around the world. Denying it is an issue is pretty stupid!

[SASKFARMER]

Last time I checked Regina has 6000 black individual. Or less 2§ of popultation. Most arrived last few year so explain black lives matter in Saskatchewan.

Yes Trudeau should take. Aimee for native rights and change the Indian act.

Make a deal and say that’s is it its over.

But chuck you like to make us believe you really care. Move to Cuba it’s nice and you should fit in. Zero police I will be able to deal with any thing I’m locked and loaded. Other might not do as good.

Any one have a Gatling gun.

[furrowtickler]

Hmmm look who is bailing out criminals , huh who woulda thunk . Leftists loudmouths from Hollywood. Never seen that coming lol

[Kevinglyfos]

Obama

I didn’t say that, but you seemed convinced racism is not a problem and blacks and indigenous people must be the cause of their own problems?

There are racists and haters of all types all around the world. Denying it is an issue is pretty stupid!

So what did eight years of Obama do to fix all the problems with Racism.