Two Recent Articles: Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice System

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I saw two news articles on my Facebook newsfeed today. The articles outraged me, independently of one another because I think they both speak to failures on the part of our criminal justice system. However, what outraged me even further was the ABSURD disparity between the treatment of these two men. 

"Unarmed man shot at by NYPD has been charged with assault because bullets hit bystanders"

"Ethan Couch Sentenced to Probation In Crash That Killed 4 After Defense Argued He Had 'Affluenza'"

Take a wild guess at which man is white, and which is black.

Glenn Broadnax, unnamed in his headline, is a 35 year old man from Brooklyn, where the incident occurred. The article states:  "Instead of apologizing, the New York Times reports that the city has charged Broadnax 'with assault, on the theory that he was responsible for bullet wounds suffered by two bystanders.'" (http://raniakhalek.com/2013/12/05/unarmed-man-shot-at-by-nypd-has-been-charged-with-assault-because-bullets-hit-bystanders/)

In stark contrast, Ethan Couch is very privileged, white teenager. Couch was driving with a BAC of .24, three times the legal limit for an adult. I am going to quote from the article directly, because I simply have no words for this.

"As part of his sentence, Couch will be sent to a private counseling center that costs $450,000, which will be paid for by his father.

Money and privilege has helped defendants avoid serious prison time for violent crimes before.

In a particularly clear example, cited by journalist Glenn Greenwald, hedge fund manager Martin Joel Erzinger served just 90 days in jail after driving the car that seriously injured a bicyclist and fled the scene of the accident in 2010.

The district attorney in the case charged Erzlinger with two misdemeanors instead of a felony, noting that "felony convictions have some pretty serious job implications for someone in Mr. Erzinger's profession."" (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/11/ethan-couch-sentenced_n_4426722.html?utm_hp_ref=tw)

We know, from reading The New Jim Crow, how being poor and black is practically a crime in the eyes of the law, however to see these two headlines nearly side by side on my newsfeed illuminated this disparity in a way I never could have imagined. I can't believe this shit actually happens in our world. 

Reflections on being fingerprinted

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I am studying abroad in the Spring, and for part of my Visa application I have to get an FBI background check. This required me to get fingerprinted, which I did today at the Collegeville Police Dept. When I arrived at the building I was told by the secretary to knock on the police door. Inside there was a detective, in plainclothes and an officer in uniform. I explained that I needed to be fingerprinted. The detective was on the phone, and told me to have a seat in the waiting room. I wasn't sitting for more than 30 seconds, when the officer came out and told me to come with him, he said that I didn't need to wait, he would fingerprint me. 

We went into the room, and the detective reappeared. He said that he would do my fingerprints, and the officer agreed, saying that the detective was better at it anyway. I have two tattoos on my left hand (ring and middle finger), and the detective asked me what they were. Without thinking, I replied, "prison tattoos". As soon it came out of my mouth I realized how inappropriate that is to say while getting fingerprinted, but the detective was already cracking up, he thought it was hysterical. 

Throughout the process, he remarked and kept remarking that my hands were sweating (they were--I had my winter coat on, and I was nervous too; I'd never been fingerprinted). He also made some comment about how I must be an alright kid since I'm a junior and have never met him. He also confessed to being the "bad cop". You know--cop humor. 

After the fingerprinting, we went pack into the room with the officer. I noticed that he was watching something that looked like an instructional video about testing and bagging drug evidence. A pair of gloved hands were shown sealing a joint in a small plastic bag. As the detective made a photo copy of my fingerprint card. He told the officer,"Look how much she was sweating! Look at her, she's nervous... I'll bet she's carrying dope!" They both laughed raucously like it was the funniest thing they'd heard all day.

Leaving the station, all I could think was: He never would have made that comment if I was a black man.

I reflected on the whole experience. The fact that I walked in there with a backpack, and the fact that I was sweating were all potentially suspect things.

I COULD have had "dope" in my backpack-- but since I am a white woman, this possibility seemed so ludicrous to the officers, so hysterically funny, that they did not even entertain it.