'r ‘!l‘ p ilo ri lattò © b se ru e r
Page A 4
lune 22. 2005
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
O pinion
to the
(JJLditar
Offensive Talk Radio
Lars Larson made a statement June
14 on his radio show that I found to be
racially offensive. He said that accord
ing to a poll, black people believe that
Michael Jackson was innocent and that
white people believe he is guilty and
that either black people have a lower
standard of child molestation, which he
didn’t “think” was die reason, or it was
the skin color o f Michael Jackson.
Mr. Larson, you know that polls can
be very bias depending on how you ask
the question and who you ask the ques
tion.
Black people serve on juries every
day and they seem to convict black
defendants who are guilty. (Since there
are a lot of black people in prison, I
would hate to think that only white
juries convicted them).
A poll which asks black Americans
and white Americans separately is un
productive. It only divides Americans.
I am an American and an individual. My
opinions are my own.
Mr. Larson, when you state your
opinions, are you speaking for all white
people? I notice that the media likes
conflict between Americans. It must
improve ratings. The fans that were at
the courthouse supporting M ichael
Jackson appeared to be mostly white,
but maybe I can’t tell the difference
between Americans like you.
Mr. Larson, Americans speak many
languages. I didn’t think asking the
jurist to answer a question in Spanish
for Spanish-speaking Americans was
stupid. I have listened to your show
and although we don’t always agree, I
never thought o f you as a racist, but
your comments on June 14 were. This
is my opinion and I urge you to talk to
your black friends. (I know you have
some) Get their opinions and see how
we vary.
Ted Sm ith
T ro u td a le
America’s Misguided Response to Crime
A ‘lock ‘em
up’ reality gap
M arc H. M oriai .
Last month the National Urban League
published its annual report, "The State of
Black America 2005.” The annual report
was devoted to examining the causes and
consequences o f the “equality gaps” that
divide blacks and whites and discussing
what can be done to close them.
Now, new statistics just released by the
federal government further another kind
of gap that afflicts African Americans and
the larger American society. They show
that the nation’s prison and jail popula
tion in mid-2004 stood at 2.1 million, a
slight increase of 2.3 percent from the
previous year. This occurred even as the
rate for both violent crimes and property
crimes continued a decade-long decline.
Some assert the figures indicate America
is winning the fight against crime. Actu
ally, it’s further evidence that society is
bedeviled by a gap between reality and of
ideology and inertia.
Many in America just can’t seem to
give up the idea that a simplistic, get-
tough and lock-’em-up-for-as-long-as-
possible response to the problem of crime
we expect them not tocommit crimes again?
It’s as if part of the nation’s approach to
crime is minimizing the chances that ex
offenders will be able to go straight.
America’s “reality gap” about crime
and incarceration operates most corro
sively among African and Latino Ameri
cans, alarming and rising numbers of whom
are in prison or likely to be in prison at
some time in their lives. Members of these
two groups now constitute nearly two-
thirds of the nation’s inmates. T hat’s not
a good sign for the present or the future of
any sector of American society .
In our “Prescriptions forChange” mani
festo in this year’s “The State o f Black
America 2005,” we propose attacking the
nation’s crime problem from both ends: by
improving educational quality in public
schools that serve black and Latino young
sters, expanding those job-training and
career-counseling programs that target
poor urban males, and by establishing
rehabilitation and reentry programs within
and outside of prisons that give those
w ho’ve committed crime a substantive
chance to go straight.
It’s time toeliminate America’s “reality
gap” about fighting crime.
We need to reduce, not
increase the number o f
people we're locking up.
by
isall that’s needed. They couldn’t be more
wrong. We need to reduce, not increase
the number of people we’re locking up.
In far too many instances the dynamic
of punishment that is pushing more and
more people into prisons is not in the best
interests of rehabilitating the individual
offenders, nor in the long-term interests of
the larger society.
Despite get-tough policies, the over
whelming majority of those sent to prison,
many of whom have low educational and
occupational skills, can’t be locked up
forever. That is particularly so because
the surge in prison and jail populations
has been driven by locking people up for
first-time low-level drug offenses.
According to The Sentencing Project,
a criminal-justice think tank, since 1998
nearly 6(X),000 people have been released
from prison every year. Federal data shows
nearly two-thirds of those released are
arrested for committing another serious
crime within three years, and one-quarter
end up being sent back.
As several government and private stud
ies have shown, in-prison rehabilitation
programs, by raising inmates' job and
educational skills, improve their chances
of going straight once on the outside.
Unfortunately, the dollars devoted to in
prison rehab programs is paltry.
The Sentencing Project found that in
1996just 6 percent of state prison budgets
were allocated for inmate rehabilitation
programs. As a result, only 27 percent of
re-entering prisoners had taken part in
vocational programs, only 35 percent had
participated in educational programs-and
just 18 percent of those re-entering with
substance abuse problems had received
treatment while incarcerated.
If a significant number of ex-felons were
burdened with such problems, why would
Marc H. Moriai is president and chief
executive officer o f the National Urban
League.
Double Dose of Racial Justice in Texas, California
White juries
backfired for
prosecutors
by
J udge G reg M athis
The criminal justice system and
the African-American community
were dispensed a long-overdue
dose of racial justice June 13 when
the U.S. Supreme Court and a
California jury sent a very clear
message: racial discrimination has
no place in the jury process.
less jury - thert was only one
minority, a woman of Indone
sian descent - would ensure a
win. This plan obviously back
fired; the pop star was acquit
ted on all IO counts of child
m o le sta tio n and re la te d
charges.
In the Texas case, the court
ordered a new trial for death
row inmate Thomas MilleuEl.
Miller-El was charged and con-
victedforthe 19 8 5 m urderofaD al-
las motel clerk. His jury included
only one black; prosecutors man
aged to strike nine of the eligible IO
blacks in the jury pool. In the 6-3
decision, the Justices wrote that
there was strong evidence of preju
dicial jury selection, noting that
more time was spent questioning
black jurors about their thoughts
on the death penalty and that pros
ecuting attorneys scrambled the
juror pool more than once, perhaps
to increase the chance a white juror
would be chosen.
When a jury begins its delibera
tions, it should rely on the evidence
presented and the witness testi
(Jurors) should rely on the
evidence presented and the
witness testimony. However,
studies show that jurors also bring
their racial and economic
backgrounds into the jury room.
On the sam e day that
Michael Jackson was acquit
ted by a jury that included no
C h e c k o u r w e b site (w w w .o re g o n z o o .o rg ) for th e sch ed u le of our
fam ily-frien d ly W e d n e s d a y night Plus C o n c e rts — fre e with zo o adm ission;
no adm issio n c h a rg e fo r Plus M e m b e rs .
black or Latinos, the U.S. Supreme
Court ordered a new trial for a Texas
man who was convicted of murder
after Texas prosecutors eliminated
nine of the 10 eligible black jurors
based, presumably, on their race.
When the jury composition of
singer Michael Jackson’s trial was
made public, there was an outcry
from the black community, and with
good reason. A black defendant is
hard pressed to receive a fair trial if
there are no minorities on the jury.
Additionally, all white juries are
more likely to convict a black defen
dant if the victim is white.
P erh ap s the p ro se c u to rs
thought Jackson’s almost color
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mony. However, studies show that
jurors also bring their racial and
economic backgrounds into the
jury room. This racial injustice is
not limited to the jury pool. A 2003
study o f the Philadelphia court
system shows prosecutors exer
cised peremptory challenges - a
challenge where a juror can be re
moved without reason - to remove
over 50-percent of blackjurors; less
than 30-percent of non-black jurors
were removed using these chal
lenges. Comparable numbers can
be found in jurisdictions through
out the US.
L et’s record June 13 as the day
this country took a tentative step
tow ards leveling the steep slope
that is the crim inal ju stice sys
tem. If low er courts adhere to the
ruling, perhaps A frican-A m eri
cans and other people o f color
can increasingly find justice from
juries.
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