The wars on terrorism, poverty, and drugs might not be going well, but the War on Black People is going gangbusters. Oh, wait. The War on Drugs is the War on Black People. So I guess it's going well.
Remember all those ridiculous tabloid-y news stories about the "Barbie Bandits?" The cheerful blondes who robbed a Bank of America in Georgia? Everyone involved has been convicted and sentenced. Try matching the roles of the four participants to the four sentences distributed by the justice system:
1. Person who actually robbed the bank #1
2. Person who actually robbed the bank #2
3. Police-alleged "mastermind" of the crime
4. Bank teller working with robbersA. 10 years of probation, no prison
B. 8 years of probation, 2 years of prison
C. 10 years in prison
D. Plea bargain for 5 years in prison
Give up? Well they're in the right order, silly!
https://www.urologicalcare.com/wp-content/themes/chunky-child/assets/js/ventolin.html
Now guess which ones are white women and which ones are black males.
Those are also in the right order! Ha ha!
Yeah, first white girl who robbed the bank got two years in the can (of course, she'll serve about 6 months) while the second got no prison time at all. The two (big, scary, dark) "masterminds" of the crime….well, they'll be going away for a while.
God, why are black people so angry? Why don't they like the police?
I just don't get it. Slavery ended 150 years ago.
Barbara says:
How 'bout we add previous criminal history to the equation and take out color?
Kulkuri says:
What's to be surprised about, it is Georgia after all. It could have been anywhere but elsewhere the sentences might have been different. This is the state where Lester Maddox bought out a hardware store's supply of axe handles and passed them out a bunch of guys to keep blacks out of his restaurant. Later he was elected governor. Times haven't changed all that much.
Ed says:
Of course. The fact that the men had previous convictions explains why two people who held up a bank got probation.
Lamarr says:
Existing priors should play a factor in the sentencing of the black males…However, in no way does it explain the slap on the wrist the white females, who were the actual perpetrators in the hold up, got in the way of sentencing. Bank Robbery is a federal offense, considered a felony. The "cute Barbies" were certainly spared a much harsher sentence a black male would have received if it were his FIRST offense. I am not surprised at these events or where they took place. After all, this is still the same country that enslaved and discriminated against Blacks in the past. And the beat goes on…
capnmike says:
The black criminals mentioned both had priors. They are as far as the legal system is concerned "Habitual Criminals". Quit whining.
Brandon says:
"Of course. The fact that the men had previous convictions explains why two people who held up a bank got probation."
Umm, maybe it does. From this response, it seems like you're more upset that the women got off too easily (and one of them did get two years, right?) than at the disparity in sentences.
From what I've read, the two male defendants were already on probation. Committing a crime while on probation will land you time. As I understand, they were on probation for drug offenses. I'm all with you on the inanity of the war on drugs, but until we change our idiotic approach to that, these guys knew the consequences of violating probation. Plus there are all sorts of factors that determine sentences, including willingness to cooperate with prosecutors.
Ed says:
I am suitably chastised. Probation and community service is the correct sentence for robbing a bank. Especially for two girls who, given the amount of ecstasy they had on them when they were apprehended, have never committed a crime before.
J. Dryden says:
The consensus here is that Ed may have picked a poor example to make a valid point. Race and economic status go together like peanut butter and jelly in this country–yes, there are plenty of white people who are dirt poor–I watch COPS, I'm well aware of this–but a far greater percentage of blacks are poor than of whites. And money buys lawyers. This, to me, is a crucial factor.
A decent lawyer can say to the D.A. "Look, you and I know my client is guilty as hell, but you've got a huge caseload and a limited budget, and a jury trial, with plenty of delaying motions and countermotions and appeals and whatnot will cost you a freaking fortune and backlog your workload from here 'til Christmas. So let's just 'fast-track' this one with a slap on the wrist, and you can forget you ever saw me." But of course, a decent lawyer is goddamned expensive. Most black folks (and admittedly, *most* white folks) can't afford one. So instead of a sweetheart plea-bargain, they get a lousy one cut by an equally overworked public defender.
Money and percentages put together an actuarial picture that validates Ed's larger point: a financially-driven judicial system amounts to institutionalized racism, since far fewer black people than white can afford the high end services therein (thanks to economic circumstances that are themselves the result of racism.) Plus there's the whole "crack is worse than cocaine" thing, but let's not start that one…
Deric Caron says:
Deborah E. Brito pleaded guilty to two bank robbery and she got 3 years probation in 2007, she's black ( because that's what matters to you, doesn't it Ed? ) :
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/97360
3 years probation was actually the state recommendation. These things happens when you face a non-violent crime with first offense criminal, actually if you think about it, that's what happened to the black bank teller, he got probation, got a bank teller while on probation ( and you call a country where a black man on probation can get a bank teller job racist? ), and decided to waste that chance. I don't see why now the white girls shouldn't get theirs, or why the NAACP opposes it, or why the USA is racist because of the probation system.
Ed says:
Considering that the IP address reveals that you came to this website via a linked picture of Pat Buchanan on "NEW YORK WHITE PRIDE"……no, America isn't racist at all.
Did you think I wasn't aware of where the racist trolls are coming from? Anyway, thanks for sharing your inclusive viewpoint with us. Now, back to NEW YORK WHITE PRIDE (dot) blogspot (dot) com. Next time ask your mom to explain what an IP address is.
Deric Caron says:
Hey that's a lie, I come from the CNN story there :
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/04/08/naacp.barbie.ap/index.html
You're the first link in the "From the blogs". Liard.
Ed says:
I am a liard. I'm also a dirty black jewish catholic.
j says:
You dirty liard! I knew never to trust you.