NC Ruling on Race and Death Penalty the Start of 'Honest Discussion'

Writing for The Daily Beast, commentator David R. Dow says last week's landmark ruling on a racist application of the death penalty in North Carolina indicates "we’re finally beginning to have an honest discussion about how we justify legally killing people." In the first invocation of North Carolina's Racial Justice Act, a judge ordered that a death-row inmate’s sentence be reduced to life in prison, after finding that his trial had been so irreversibly tainted by racism that executing him would violate the Constitution.

Twenty-one years ago, Marcus Robinson shot and killed 17-year-old Erik Tornblom. He stole Tornblom’s car and took $27 from his wallet. But Superior Court Judge Gregory Weeks concluded that despite Robinson’s horrendous crime, there was no doubt that racism infected the state’s criminal-justice system—specifically, that prosecutors intentionally kept blacks off of capital juries—and that this same racism presumptively infected Robinson’s trial too. He ruled that even abhorrent crimes do not nullify the Constitution’s guarantee of racial equality.

CT Senate Approves Bills Concerning Police Racial Profiling, Videotaping

The Connecticut state Senate voted Thursday for two key law enforcement bills that would strengthen the state's racial profiling law and protect citizens' rights to videotape police officers in their official duties, reports the Hartford Courant. The videotaping bill was prompted by the arrest of a Roman Catholic priest in February 2009, which prompted a criminal investigation by federal prosecutors and the FBI that led to the arrest of four East Haven police officers on charges of obstructing justice and excessive force against Latino residents.

The Senate voted to strengthen the decade-old profiling law, which some senators said is not being followed by police. Only 27 of the 92 local police departments are in compliance with the law, according to Senate Democrats. The president of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association, Douglas Fuchs, does not agree that few departments are complying, adding that racial profiling data do not "accurately portray how Connecticut law enforcement across the state conducts business.'' Both bills now go to the House.

In a Colorblind Society, Did Trayvon Martin Have a Right to Stand His Ground?

By Delores Jones-Brown

Standard media analysis of this incident begins with Zimmerman’s claim of self-defense and the applicability of the “stand your ground” law to Zimmerman.  John Jay Professor Delores Jones-Brown asks if Trayvon Martin had a right to stand his, too. 

FL Teen Shooting Overstepped Neighborhood Watch Protocols

Neighborhood watch programs have long been the eyes and ears of local law enforcement, keeping tabs on suspicious behavior. The shooting death of unarmed...

Calls Grow To Reassess "Stand Your Ground" Law in Florida

Seven years after Florida enacted a landmark "stand your ground" gun rights law that became a model for other states, calls are mounting from the public and some state officials, including Gov. Rick Scott, to reassess it after the fatal shooting of unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin by a neighborhood watch captain who apparently confronted him after deeming that he looked suspicious, says the Christian Science Monitor. In another developoment yesterday, Bill Lee, police chief in Sanford, Fl., where the Martin killing occurred, said he would temporarily step aside.

The law's expansiveness could cause problems for prosecutors and law enforcement officials trying to determine the credibility of evidence and witnesses. A coalition of black Florida legislators asked House Speaker Dean Cannon to open hearings on the law, which removes any duty by an armed citizen to retreat from danger and allows the use of deadly force if there's a reasonable fear of death or grave harm. Cannon says he wants to wait until more facts are known about the incident, and until state and federal investigations are wrapped up. State Sen. Chris Smith is writing a bill that would bar a shooter from claiming self-defense if he or she is at any point the aggressor or provocateur.

Youth Violence in Latino Communities

 Violent behaviors of youths vary within various Latino ethnic subgroups such as Puerto Ricans, Cubans and Mexicans, found a new study.

Tough Federal Hate Crime Law Invoked in Houston Bus Stop Attack

A federal grand jury indicted four white men in a racially motivated attack on an African-American last summer at a bus stop, the first prosecution in the Houston area under a tough hate crime law, the Houston Chronicle reports. The 2009 federal law gives prosecutors expanded authority to go after hate crimes. With a maximum 10-year prison term, the penalties are more severe than state law.

The men are accused of viciously assaulting Yondell Johnson, 29, who was waiting for a bus when they allegedly approached him and asked if he had the time. They quickly began to use racial epithets and pummeled him as he lay on the ground in downtown Houston. They are accused of using the N-word as they beat Johnson. The four were charged under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which gives the FBI authority to investigate violent crime, including violence directed at the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, as well as crimes committed because of gender, race, color, religion or national origin. "It's not only a significant enhancement of civil rights legislation, it also provided an additional tool for law enforcement to use in investigating civil rights violations or violent crimes that are rooted in hate," said FBI agent Stephen Morris.

NC Gov. Perdue Vetoes Bill To Overhaul Racial Justice Act

Hate Crime Reports to Police At Same Level From 2009 To 2010

The FBI's hate-crime compilation for last year found 6,628 incidents, about the same as the 6,604 reported in 2009. The incident total included 8,208 victims, which encompass individuals, businesses, institution or "society as a whole," the FBI says. Some 43.7 percent of "single-bias" incidents were motivated by race, 20 percent by religion, 19.3 percent by sexual orientation, 12.8 percent by ethnicity/national origin bias, and .6 percent by physical or mental disability.

A reported 4.824 offenses were crimes against persons and there were 2,861 reported crimes against property. Of the 6,008 known offenders, 58.6 percent were white and 18.4 percent were black.

FBI Takes Religion, Culture Training Materials Offline For Scrubbing

The FBI still is trying to determine how anti-Muslim bias crept into its anti-terrorism training program, NPR reports. Last week, the bureau sent out...

Black and Busted in Dane County (Wisconsin)

By Dee HallF

The Wisconsin State Journal finds stark evidence that young black men in the state’s capital region aren’t benefiting from programs designed to keep youthful offenders out of the criminal justice system.

Drug Arrests in Illinois

People of color are disproportionately prosecuted and sent to prison for drug crimes in Illinois, found a new study by the Illinois Disproportionate Justice Impact Study Commission...

Colorado Study Finds Increase Of Assaults Among Teenage Girls

Colorado is beginning to focus crime-reduction programs on the fastest-growing criminal segment at both the state and federal levels: teenage girls. While overall violent crime by girls has gone down in the state, the number of assaults has gone up about 5 percent a year since 2001, said Lisa Pasko, an assistant professor of sociology and criminology at the University of Denver. She recently completed a two-year study of violent middle-school and high-school girls in Colorado's juvenile-justice system.

The study set out to find out how best to reduce the number of girls in the system and prevent recidivism. The report, scheduled to be presented to the state's Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Task Force on Dec. 1, shows a spike in the number of girls in the system. Between 2003 and 2006, the commitment rate for girls ages 12 to 17 increased 52 percent, while the detention rate increased 28 percent. Commitment is long-term incarceration, similar to prison, while detention is for shorter terms, like a county jail.

Justice Delayed in North Carolina

The NAACP is considering a resolution calling on the Justice Department to step up cold case investigations of unsolved African American homicides, such as the brutal serial murders of  9 women and one man in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Local NAACP president Andre Knight, in a special essay for The Crime Report, explains the background.

More than 100 unsolved murder cases are currently under review through the Civil Rights-era Cold Case Initiative, a 2007 partnership between the FBI, civil rights groups, and federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

A large number of the victims were African American. According to the FBI, five states—Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana—registered the highest rates for unsolved African American homicides.

This alarming situation was the basis for a special resolution passed in July at the 101^st annual convention of the NAACP in Kansas City, Missouri. An amended version of that resolution, which now awaits ratification by the NAACP’s national board, called on the Department of Justice to “establish a national standard for the effective and efficient investigation of murder victims and develop an appropriate protocol for law enforcement personnel to receive training on appropriate interacting and interviewing (with the families) of victims of color.”

Will it make a difference?  I hope it will.

As a longtime NAACP member and as NAACP Branch President in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, I’ve had firsthand knowledge of one of the most tragic series of unsolved murders. Over the past decade, 10 African Americans  from my area were brutally murdered, their bodies dumped in deserted stretches of forests, fields, swamps, and riverbeds. It was reasonable to assume they were the victims of a serial killer or killers; but from the outset local law enforcement and local media paid little attention.

Why?  It was probably not a coincidence that the victims were considered outcasts whose lifestyles got them in trouble.  Some were prostitutes and/or substance abusers. Nine of the victims were women. Only recently, in fact, has a full investigation gotten underway.

By proposing this resolution, we hope that the families of future murder victims will  not have to experience what our Rocky Mount families went through.

Taking a Stand

Taking a stand on how crimes against women whose lifestyles do not conform to community standards are investigated might one day make a difference in how cases like the ones in Rocky Mount are handled.

Maybe one day, the national media will be motivated to look beyond demographics and circumstance and realize that all life is important and should be respected, valued and protected.

And maybe one day, someone will say that it is horrendous and inhumane to not be moved or have less care about these Rocky Mount women and man who were brutalized, and murdered.

If justice in our country is only guaranteed to the wealthy, the prominent and those who are not struggling with addictions or mental illness, then are we really a just nation?  Or has justice simply become a good notion that is available to some folks all of the time, most folks some of the time, and those folks none of the time?

In my opinion, this resolution gives our country  an opportunity to cleanse ourselves of our stained past.  If law enforcement agencies and local judicial officials will hear the intent and spirit of the resolution to be as thorough as possible in investigating, charging and trying the murderer or murderers who perpetrated these crimes, they will move closer to fulfilling the dreams of  civil rights leaders of past generations.

If local and national media  give full and unbiased coverage to the lives and situations of people trapped in poor choices and poisonous addictions, perhaps our society will be moved to place more value and investment in education, outreach and alternatives.

We hope that once the resolution becomes part of the official policy of the Association, local, state, and federal authorities will pay more attention to policies and law such as The Violence Against Women Act of 1994, which calls for providing funds for victims of domestic crimes and makes provisions for civil rights remedies for women who are sex crime victims. Through the adoption of this policy and with sustained advocacy, we can provide all victims and their families a level playing field for peace and justice.

And perhaps, just as importantly, the family members of the ten Rocky Mount victims might be one step closer to peace.

Andre Knight is a member of the Rocky Mount, NC City Council and president of the Rocky Mount branch of the NAACP.

Photo by Photogram via Flickr.

Baltimore Officials Work To Address Rising Crime Against Latinos

Concern over crime against Latinos, already simmering in Baltimore as a result of several recent attacks, has reached new heights after the fatal beating over the weekend of a 51-year-old man from Honduras, the Baltimore Sun reports. Martin Reyes — whose killing early Saturday was attributed by police to a mentally troubled man who said he hated "Mexicans" — was the fifth Latino shooting or homicide victim in the area in less than two months. All the victims were Honduran.

"We're afraid that they're trying to finish off the Hispanics," said Anibal Rodriguez, 30, a Honduran laborer who moved to Baltimore five years ago and who was sitting  yesterday on steps of a house across from where Reyes died. Rodriguez echoed a common view that some Latinos fear reporting crimes to the police because many are in the United States illegally. City officials appear to be scrambling to address the Latino community's concerns. Police Commissioner Frederick  Bealefeld and Deputy Mayor Christopher Thomaskutty plan to join members of the clergy and leaders of the NAACP and other organizations at a news conference today to call attention to the violence.A spokesman for Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said she is "deeply troubled by the recent attacks" and that her staff was working with CASA de Maryland, a community action group, to arrange a public meeting on the issue.