I am not racist and I fully believe in racial equality. But when someone does wrong, that's all there is to it. It doesn't matter if you are white, black, blue or yellow. Black lives matter, but so do everyone else's. Before we completely start changing our law enforcement and criminal justice system, I think the effect that social media has on society needs to change more than anything. Social media is the strongest force separating our society. To prevent all of this racist nonsense that we see every week, I think cameras on police officers would be very beneficial in preventing all of this controversy and discussion of race and police brutality. This would also help with the over-incarceration that we are experiencing. The effort that is being put into creating conflict should be going towards putting an end to all of the hatred and violence towards the criminal justice system. We have officers policing our streets for a reason, and if someone breaks the law, they deserve whatever punishment comes their way, no matter their gender and no matter their race. gh_blackhawks002
I agree with you gh_blackhawks002 everyone should be treated with equality even with the color of their skin. Police brutality should be out lawed and never happen in the world and police beating up on other felons should never happen ass well goler001
I agree completely with your first couple sentences gh_blackhawks002. I will truly never understand what black lives matter is trying to accomplish. Instead of dividing us based on color of skin, we should be coming together to fight the corruption hand and hand. By chanting black lives matter, that might offend some other racial groups. On both sides, we all need to stop bringing things we cant control into the justice system. Although there's been some bad calls made by officers, there's also been very good ones. If we don't focus on skin color when we are upholding the law, maybe we would get to a point where no one looks at someone different because of their color. That being said, the way you present yourself, treat others, and respect the law has a big impact on how society sees you. As long as we all try our best to be better than we were or change the status quo, we can't be judged by ANYTHING. Especially the color of our skin. Theirs always good guys out there :) texaslonghorns002
I agree also that all lives matter. The media shows us what they want us too see, because of course their concern is ratings. So it just so happens that we are seeing a lot of police brutality aimed at the black community. But as a women of African American decent I can't help but worry for the safety of my children. I too feel that if you break the law you should be punished regardless of skin color, but punishment threw the court of law, not gunned down by a police officer in the street. It's because of these viscous acts that the black community is fearful and does not trust in law enforcement. I feel that we need to come together as the human race regardless of our skin color and let it be heard loud and clear that we will not stand for this type of behavior from those sworn to protect. There are enough issues in this country we don't need to add being fearful of law enforcement. Maybe if more good cops come forward and join with their communities in this fight we can start to rebuild trust. We the people also need to acknowledge that all cops are not out trying to kill people, most are trying to honor the oath they took and keep us safe from the criminals.
For sure, racial equality is a must in the further developement of, not only our country, but our society here on this earth. Racial fueds cause a lot of pains between the people of our world. I am not going to say you have nothing to fear. There are undoubtedly actions taken more in anger between races rather than honor to an oath. But I also believe that these events are blown out of proportion by the media and the political control the media has over the content they show. I feel, that in the changes that are likely to be coming in the next few years, your children would be just as safe as anyone elses. Hopefully, we can rebuild the trust in the law enforcement, and bring about a truly fair ciminal justice system for any and all citizens. - AJC002
AJC002 I agree with that we do need to work on racial equality and the fact that the media blows everything out of proportion. I also feel that instead of revamping the whole system they need to take it step by step and really find out where the problems are instead of wiping everything out and starting fresh. Rocker002
I completely agree with gh_blackhawks002. Racial profiling in the criminal justice system has gotten insanely out of control, and for all the wrong reasons. Black lives matter IS a huge thing. They want the police brutality to stop, and who doesn't? But it's not just police, but in the judicial system too. In court cases, all I hear is how a black man is sentenced to 20 years for possession of narcotics while at the same time, a white man is charged with the same penalty, same amount of drugs, or whatnot, and HE is sentenced to 4 years in jail. I'm beyond sick and tired of the discrimination we see today and police should not have to jump the gun too soon on serious offenses like this when a black person, or anyone else of color that isn't white does a crime. - JiminyxC002
I agree with this statement 100%. I think having the body cameras on the officers would help clear a lot of this biased, sketchy clips they show. People think when they watch 20 seconds of one incident, they know exactly what happened and how they would have handled it. And I agree that all this effort to show all the violence and conflict should go towards a more beneficial cause. Ending the stigmas of both parties and creating a more trusting bond between the BLM movement and law enforcement. rose001
I agree 100% that all lives matter and the whole statement. It needs to be fixed especially the media they show cops as the bad guys and as killers but if you look up the stats of how often a police officer has to kill someone its very small one guy worked for 37 years with over 120 officers and know of 8 who shot their gun. Minus that a police officers saftey is number one that is one thing that has been stressed and always will and I think that they can stress it more and try to find more non lethal ways for the officers. JE002
Exactly! I completely agree with you gh_blackhawks002. All lives matter. It does not matter if you are black, brown, white, orange, yellow, etc. I will say it again, all lives matter. The criminal justice system is not racist. The Black Lives Matter movement is a major plaque in our society. Their racist and destructive behavior is tearing this country apart. Not to mention we also have a president that seems to admire the Black Lives Matter protesters work and believes they are making a real positive difference.
You are right about the media. They are responsible for what we the public see and again you are right that all the care about is ratings. They are, i believe, mostly responsible for the racial divide that is sweeping the nation. We need more concerned people to change this disturbing trend. Moto001
Agreeing with gh_blackhawks002 .... Body cameras are good things for officers. but once the media gets ahold of the video of something dangerous happening in a situation a cop is involved in. They cut it short and only show the violent part, because its the part that is proving a point to society. I recently watched a video of a police officer with a body camera and he had to use force on a man because the man came at him and started to punch at the officer. But the news only showed a small part which was the officer being violent, not the man. aaap_cougs002
I agree with you 100%. It should matter who you are or what color you are. If you do the crime you have to own of for it. Media does have a huge impact on our society. Mainly because they put on television what they believe would get people to watch and become interested in. they do not care if it is the truth or not. There has been multiple times where media has portrayed the police as this horrible force or criticizing the officer for what he did. They never report about the facts of what happen. For example he had a gun and was resisting police. Max003
President Obama is just trying to get everyone to like what he is doing and how he is going to handle everything in the United States. Even though he as done a lot for this country he still needs to done some good for us and he needs to get rid of all the drugs and take the people in jail that have done some good that cost them jail time sometime during the criminals life time. They need to reform our taxes and lower that price for gas because its getting a little to high and most people can't afford the gas because they are poor. Our tax price is to high for people even if they own a business, that's just absurd. Everyone should pay equal taxes and try to get rid the higher paying taxes. Mr. Obama needs to be more productive and try to get rid all off the stuff going on In the middle east because its just getting out of control. All we are trying to do is limit crime in this country and that will help out a lot with the deaths of police officers and the kids getting shot in the neighborhoods.
Just in my lifetime, I have witnessed many of my peers around me ruin their personalities, reputations, and future on drugs. I knew the people before the substances, they were average high school students trying to make something of themselves. Although I do fathom the statistics of African American incarceration compared to that of Caucasian, I would focus on the possibility of creating rehabilitation centers that are mandatory and would stay on your record until you have received the required amount of help. Drugs are one thing, but violent actions related to the possession of drugs is a whole new story. If you are a threat to the safety of those around you because of certain illegal substances, then other measures should be taken. I believe in the rehab idea because it would help "correct" the issue most of the time, but also because if we cut the amount of people imprisoned so drastically stated, we would cut correctional jobs the same way. With rehabilitation centers, we would be more proactive and helpful while still keeping the employees used at local jails. Obviously we can't control the amount of people imprisoned, it depends on the crime. We CAN mandate certain fines or drug addiction meetings for those caught with such. Everyone isn't the same sadly, and most drug addicts are highly stubborn, especially towards the police. On the other hand, we could save more lives than we know. I have had 2 deaths just in my high school and surrounding due to overdoses. If we are more hand and hand with our communities, It shows a human side to law enforcement. Everyone wants to be reminded that the cop who pulls you over is also a human, but his career is to keep you safe and others around. Maybe the cop who let you get away with drinking and driving could have been the last person to talk to you before you wrapped your car around a tree.... Our law enforcement needs to reboot there way of policing in a way that encompasses all cultures, no matter the background. We have some courageous officers out there risking their life for us each and everyday, if we work the little kinks out between both sides of the table, we will be just fine. texaslonghorns002
I really do agree with you 100%, people waste away the good values they have in their lives all just to give it away to drugs. People may not want to be directed by the police but they are only here for our safety, and by putting their safety in the way for ours we should be very grateful. I also agree about the law enforcement needs to be more enclosure. Ky002
I think this is a very good point. Some people make bad decisions in certain times of their lives. It could be the fact that they are going through something or simple peer pressure but i feel, like you said, rehabilitation centers is a positive thing these individuals need rather than being thrown in prison. Kt002
I feel as if we should not judge people by the color of their skin, but by how bad the crime was that they committed. We are all human beings, all have the same insides. Just because we are different on the outside does not mean that we should be treated any differently from anybody else who commits the same exact crime. Everyone's life matters, not only the blacks but the whites and multiple other different races as well. In my opinion, we really do need to work on some things in the system but that takes time, and as long as you are putting forth the effort that's all that should matter. Our officers need to make sure that there is less crime and less killings happening in the areas. As said in the article, "the stigma of being a felon still lingers, and I can not get a job." I feel as if a person has shown they have truly changed and are no longer that person they were before they should still be given a chance. Yes, a person can relapse and go back to their old ways it sometimes happens but not all the time. Even though they are criminals they are human being and they have done their time for the mistakes that they chose to make in life. Children and families are losing their loved ones all to someone's bad choices they decide to make in life, so by that being said means if they do the crime they do the time. It is what's only fair, no matter the color that comes across on your skin. Our officers are doing the best they can, putting their lives on the line to help our community. Ky002
Ky002 I agree that all lives matter. However we are not seeing whites being murdered by police officers over and over. That has spurred the black lives matter movement. As for those convicted of felonies being given a second chance I feel it all depends on the crime they committed. Adult people are in control of the choices they make, and when committing a felony are well aware of the consequences they may face. I do however agree that most of the police officers are just trying to do the best they can in a world surrounded by citizens who have little trust in law enforcement.
Ky002 I agree that all lives matter. However we are not seeing whites being murdered by police officers over and over. That has spurred the black lives matter movement. As for those convicted of felonies being given a second chance I feel it all depends on the crime they committed. Adult people are in control of the choices they make, and when committing a felony are well aware of the consequences they may face. I do however agree that most of the police officers are just trying to do the best they can in a world surrounded by citizens who have little trust in law enforcement.
Ky002, I completely agree with you. The color of one’s skin should have no weight whatsoever in the harshness of their sentence. The fact that it does exposes a major flaw in our court system. People should solely be sentenced on the crime committed, not the color of their skin. It is not a crime to be a certain skin color, and in sentencing some harder based on skin color, we are making it one.-OKC002
I agree that our criminal justice system needs some work. Starting with the corrections system, it has always been shocking to me that a drug dealer gets more time then a rapist. People choose to abuse drugs. That's not saying that it's okay to sell drugs, but why should someone found guilty of drugs be sentenced to life while a rapist gets out in five years. As for the black lives matter movement, I too agree all lives matter, but as a women of African American decent it is troubling to see so many African Americans being murdered. Regardless of what crime they may have committed we are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty here in this country. The media is only adding fuel to the fire by showing these images over and over again. Most of us are, aware that this is all for ratings, as that is what's important to them. The facts still remains that African American people are becoming tired of being treated poorly, when we have been granted our freedom long ago. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that many African American communities are starting to fight back, when they feel hopeless and afraid. I myself don't believe that all police officers are bad. I know many good officers. Killing and looting are not the answer, we all need to stand together and let law enforcement know we will not sit by and continue to witness this brutality. Until we as the human race start showing unity these types of things will continue to occur in our communities. So civilians as well as those good officers need to come together and find the solution. It's all fine and great that Hilary Clinton and the rest of "them" say they will work to reform the system, but they all say what they think we want to hear to gain our votes. So I myself have a hard time putting my faith in anything they say. Change starts with me and you whomever you are. We have to stop spewing hate and watching all the violence the media throws at us. Start being kind and loving each other, or we are doomed for failure, no matter what changes are made with our criminal justice system.
I agree with your opinion on drug dealers receiving longer sentences than a rapist. People have choices to sell/ take drugs. Its a business to some, but that is why we have a corrections system that could use some improvement and help rehabilitate people who committed drug offenses. A rapist commits forceful sexual assault which should deserve more time than a drug dealer in my opinion. Bry001
I agree that our criminal justice system needs some work. Starting with the corrections system, it has always been shocking to me that a drug dealer gets more time then a rapist. People choose to abuse drugs. That's not saying that it's okay to sell drugs, but why should someone found guilty of drugs be sentenced to life while a rapist gets out in five years. As for the black lives matter movement, I too agree all lives matter, but as a women of African American decent it is troubling to see so many African Americans being murdered. Regardless of what crime they may have committed we are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty here in this country. The media is only adding fuel to the fire by showing these images over and over again. Most of us are, aware that this is all for ratings, as that is what's important to them. The facts still remains that African American people are becoming tired of being treated poorly, when we have been granted our freedom long ago. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that many African American communities are starting to fight back, when they feel hopeless and afraid. I myself don't believe that all police officers are bad. I know many good officers. Killing and looting are not the answer, we all need to stand together and let law enforcement know we will not sit by and continue to witness this brutality. Until we as the human race start showing unity these types of things will continue to occur in our communities. So civilians as well as those good officers need to come together and find the solution. It's all fine and great that Hilary Clinton and the rest of "them" say they will work to reform the system, but they all say what they think we want to hear to gain our votes. So I myself have a hard time putting my faith in anything they say. Change starts with me and you whomever you are. We have to stop spewing hate and watching all the violence the media throws at us. Start being kind and loving each other, or we are doomed for failure, no matter what changes are made with our criminal justice system.
i agree with your opinion on the over sentencing. i just cant grasp the fact that people could get caught selling marijuana and get 20 years in prison and some college boy from stanford can rape a woman and get 3 months in jail. hopefully this sort of issue will find a solution in the coming months... RRM001
Racial inequalities have been a part of life since life existed. The ignorance in the minds of people to jump to racist actions and thoughts have been prominant in every part of the world. And although I do believe they are still around, even in the law enforcement sections of our government, I find it hard to believe that the troubles go as far as the media takes them. Yes, I'm sure there are many decisions made where the color of the defendants skin was a large factor in the process. But does it really mean our entire police force, from top to bottom, needs to be reformed? This not only seems excessive to me, but also unwise. I think, that during this "down time" in which everything would be drastically changing, crime would spike as officers were likely not set into play as often as they would have been. Sure, maybe there should be some changes to seek out the root of these problems, but I doubt it lies in the system itself, rather than the workers. - AJC002
You are right AJC002, it is sickening how much the media covers the shooting of a black individual by the police and how big of a deal is made out of it. In 2015, more white people were killed by police than blacks were, yet you heard pretty much nothing about that in the news or social media. The majority of these cases are not race based, but they are most certainly based on a crime that was committed, regardless of skin color. A lot of people killed by cops attempted to assault the officer who shot them, which in my opinion, they got what they asked for. I just think a lot of the fuss is blown up to be what it is not. zmw002
I do not agree with this article very much. Based on the fact that the Hillary and the Attorney Eric Holder claim the criminal justice system to be "racist" against black men. Like the previous article "The Post Policing Era In America" stated, the NYDP's street cops are mostly minority. Then goes on to say that nearly 9/300 homicide victims were white, while the remainder were black. So that alone speaks for itself and clearly means that the people of the community are claiming the Criminal Justice system to be racist against black civilians. When really, they commit most of the crimes and receive a majority of the punishments that were totaled up when Eric Holder said black prisoners receive 20% more sentence times. We also need to take into account what the white prisoners and black prisoners were charged with in court. Since most of the Homicides were committed by black civilians, they might have committed way more serious crimes than the whites. I just think that not all of the information is there in this case, and what Hillary and Eric Holder are claiming about the Criminal Justice System is not true. Bry001
I like what you were saying about this being a article that I don't agree with. The Clinton administration claiming that the justice system is racist is ridiculous. When most of the crimes are committed by African Americans then they will make up most of the prison population. Godzilla001
I don't completely agree with you. Everyone should be held to the same standards, both in and outside of the criminal justice system. The color of your skin should have no bearing on the punishment you receive in the courts, and in a perfect world it wouldn't. Everything goes through a remodel or reform, so why should the criminal justice system be any different? It's about time that things be reworked so that everyone is given the same, fair chance. Policies and teaching methods become outdated, so why not revamp the system? I think this would make the system as a whole work better and more efficient. ekt001
I read the first couple paragraphs and it just made me sick. Yes its a shame that those kids were gunned down no one can deny that no one deserves that. However that's the only victims that they talked about not once did they talk about the officers that were gunned down by thugs who think they are better than the police. What about the family members of the officers that got gunned down in Dallas. The daughters and sons who don't have a father anymore because a thug decided he didn't like the police. The DNC quickly accused our justice system as being racist and call for a whole remodel. Yes there are some big parts that need redone we should not be the nation with the highest prison population. Godzilla001
When it comes to the BLM movement I understand where they are coming from. At the end of the day all lives matter but the reasoning behind their cause is that they just want people to realize that were killing innocent men women and children and just that they’re African American doesn’t mean that’s the main issue. Skin color doesn’t matter at the end of the day I don’t care if youre black white blue purple or a rainbow color, I’m going to treat you as a human being and show you respect and not judge you by your skin color; you will get judged by your actions if anything. But regardless, I do believe the reform needs a revamp. People are getting 25+ years for drug charges and that isn’t acceptable. I get it you do the crime you do the time but this is starting to get out of hand. People are getting handed maximum sentences for being first time offenders or caught a bad trial. We really need to take a look at thought processes and procedures within the justice department and really strap down and make changes that will affect everyone positively. RRM001
I believe that if you break the law that you should pay for it. No questions end of story. It doesn't matter if you are black, white, yellow, or red. You pay the consequences no matter what. I believe that yes for some of the no harmful drug charges yes they should be handled better like with a fine or something along those lines instead of being thrown in prison taking up a murderers seat. Yes there needs to be a change in the system. I agree with that but revamping the whole thing is not necessarily the way to do it. They need to take things slower and just go into it slower and really examine it instead of letting the media tell the whole story for them. I also think that the #cut50 goal is very unlikely. With the amount of people that are currently in the prison system they would have to let out more than just the non harmful drug charges. Like I said they just need to take their time with this. This isn't something that can be done in one swift movement. It needs time. Rocker002
I agree with you Rocker002, race and gender do not matter when someone commits a crime. I do think we can handle first time drug offenders in a better manner, because I do not think we should be spending thousands and thousands of dollars a year on a single marijuana use offender. I also do not think this idea of reform can be rushed. It is going to take time. gh_blackhawks002
The article starts off with a picture of mothers of the movement which shows the a very small percentage of our criminal justice, which happens to have some flaws. The next part of the article discusses how certain politicians believe that the criminal justice system is filled with problems and needs to totally be revamped. The article to me is one of the contributing factor of the problem it is trying to address and make know. The media is under the assumption that people don't know their is racism in America which most people know, but it isn't rampant thourought our nation like the media is trying to suggest. Most police officers aren't inheriently racists or against certain communities they just want to stop crime. So to say that we need to push legislation through without doing our due diligence and blaming everyone is completely irresploisible and negligent. Because changing our laws and sentencing because the criminals are upset because they are in prison is asinine. What we should be focused on is educating our communities on morality grabbing our nations youth early rather then trying recreate the wheel lets just use the wheel we have. The government would spend trillions trying to recreate our nations policing, prisons, and courts while adding morality classes to our nations public education would start to change the way kids behave. I don't think that our police are doing a terrible job they aren't trying to profile people most of the time they are called to the scene they aren't in they're squad cars searching for people in certain communities smoking a joint to put them in prison. I agree the criminal justice system needs some work so lets put in the work to work on it, not try and get a new system put in place that could be the same or potentially worse. I think the article brings up issues that do need to be addressed. I just don't agree that the best way to address the problem is placing blame solely on police and judges and community leaders. The blame isn't and shouldn't be placed solely on the police and the laws some work needs to be done in the communities as well to create a change. Dadoftwo001
It is my belief that if you break the law and are a Human being then you should be punished appropriately. but no one anymore will accept responsibility because its not there fault. once people are able to start accepting there responsibility for there actions these the racial issues will start to finally go away. but that will only happen once every race stops acting like they are above the law. no one is above the law including law enforcement.the only reason that those individuals were dealt with is because they did not listen and there fore they dealt with the consequences. the BLM movement KKK and any other group that deals in race is wrong. tree001
Although nobody should ever believe a politician, it's nice to know that people are rooting for the general goal of reform and improvement to the criminal justice system. It is one thing to riot and complain about how bad and cruel our laws are, but it is another to preach the idea of progress and this notion of "happy change." I find that it is very difficult for us as a nation to admit that certain things need drastic change, and it is even harder to make that change happen thanks to politics. But seeing a button on a woman in the article reading "Pro-Black, Pro-Cop" is an outlook that I think more citizens need to start looking towards. No one political figure is going to come to us and change everything, our system doesn't work like that. We, as a nation, need to change our mindset and start thinking different. Start thinking more consciously, effectively, and thoroughly. I heard a great man once ask this, "what would happen if we stopped asking for miracles and started saying we are going to be a miracle for somebody else." Politics, religion, ethnicity all aside, if we all start working to improve the life of others, our lives too will be better. That is the movement in frame of mind we need to have in order to change the nation and bring it in a more positive direction. Law reform is a great start, but believe this, there will always be a naysayer. There will always be somebody who gets their happiness out of looking for the negative in other people, ideas, whatever. Sadly, we cannot just incarcerate those people so, until then, lets just all try and get along and be happy. CK003
I think this topic is relevant and needs to be taken care of imminently. This is not just something that JUST started happening, it has been going on for years and people choose to ignore it. Now look at the outcome. I feel the more cops racially convict someone or even cause harm or death, just in order to "protect" themselves, the more it will happen because not a lot of responsible cops are getting punished for it. I strongly agree with former Attorney General Eric Holder when he talked about how black defendants in the federal system receive sentences 20 percent longer than their white peers. i see no reason and will never understand why african americans get treated differently by society and our judges. Hopefully some day someone in higher power opens up their eyes and makes sense of why this is happening and put a stop to it. Kt002
I agree with you we need to put a stop to it. But in all reality it will take a long time to get this problem solved. It is happening because it has always happened ever since slavery African Americans haven't been treated the same. Hopefully sometime soon they will have this problem solved because it isn't fair to them.
I believe that if a person breaks the law, there will be consequences. It's troubling to me to watch this in our own country and in our own streets. It is just commonsense that breaking the law and receiving a type of punishment go hand in hand. It has nothing to do with race, religion, creed. Nothing. Every human knows right from wrong and it is up to them to determine which is which. I think that all lives matter because it may seem like one specific type of race is getting targeted but they are not the only ones. I found it disrespectful that they never even mentioned the law enforcement agencies or any police during the DNC. Not all BLM protestors are violent, then not all police officers are racist. Officers need to feel safe as well within their own communities and people, not to be looked at as all racists. I really do feel for the mothers of all the lost kids, no parent should ever bury their child. But, it's not a race problem to me. It is teach your kid right from wrong and show them that when they hang out with certain people, bad things will come around.
I am not naive, I know that certain stereotypes exist in our criminal justice system. Reform is needed within our system, but I think for the sake of American justice, we need to truly identify what will work best. Insinuating that our police system is militarizing, and that it needs to stop, is crazy in my opinion. How do we expect police to combat criminals on the street with automatic weapons, when they themselves do not have them? In saying that our police departments shouldn’t be allowed automatic weapons, or military style equipment, we are in my opinion siding with the criminals. Law enforcement officers should be allowed to equip themselves in a manner that they see fit, in order to keep not only us safe, but themselves as well. We need to remember that criminals do not fight fairly, and do not care about the safety of our law enforcement officers. They deserve to arm and protect themselves from these heinous criminals, and the public needs to remember that. -OKC002
I agree, with this world today you do not know what could happen at anytime. With these weapons that are being illegally brought here and out on the streets, our law enforcement officers should be equipped with up to date weapons, to protect their communities from any danger possible.-buckeyes002
FINALLY! The criminal justice system is being brought up at the national level well the government level. They need to pass some way to reform the way the criminal justice system works I know that we are already billions of dollars in debt and it is going to cost alot of money to pass some kind of reform but its need and will be a great investment down the road and it will pay itself off if the right kind of reform is passed. Some states have taken the initiative apon themselves to fix the problem in there state but its not helping at the federal level which it needs to start there and see if it works and work it way down to the state level so we know that the reform works. If that does work then we have fixed one huge part of the criminal justice system and things can only go up from there because if we know how to fix one thing the rest will come easy. JE002
I do understand that there are some prejudices and discriminations not only in the Criminal Justice System, but in every other system in America. That is the way that it always has been and it always will be. So saying that we need to completely reform the Criminal Justice System because people feel that it is targeting black people means that we should have to reform every other system in America to attempt to prevent racist actions, which will never work. Even though there are some prejudiced actions that are taken by the police, does not mean that the whole police system is racist, white people are killed by police too. But apparently it really doesn't matter unless the color of his skin is black. Also, people saying that our police officers should not even have guns are basically saying that we should not have a law enforcement system and we should be letting criminals run free. zmw002
Good points! The color of a skin does not define a criminal, but the actions one does. The Black Lives Matter movement is not doing anything to unify the United States. It is actually harming more due to the negative protests that are going along with their cause. In the United States all people are not racist. . . and all police officers are not racist. oasis002
This is a topic that needs to be settled. There are a lot of people who do go to jail or prison that wouldn't of went if they were "white". There are people who get out of prison and try and do better for themselves but they cant because they are known as criminals. I think we should have an opportunity for them to go and make a better life for them and change themselves. That is why 77% of them go back to prison after they get out because they don't have an opportunity to make better for them they go back because all they know is what they have always done or have recently done. AW002
A large part of this article was discussing the reformation of the criminal justice system. I completely agree with updating and reforming things. . . because let's face it, policing is changing and it always will change. It brings up reforming some charges, while I agree with reformation, I do not agree with changing laws. In Illinois there has been some recent changes in our criminal justice system. Marijuana has been decriminalized. I, personally, do not agree with this. While it will clear up some jail cells, it will also make people use it more often and for recreation. To go along with another big part of the article. . . instead of fighting for “black lives matter” we should all be coming together as one. It is the united states, not the black or white states. Criminals are criminals no matter what color skin they might inhabit. While America does need some racial equality assistance, Black Lives Matter is not an effective way of uniting all people. oasis002
The movement may have come from a good place, but it's slowly turning into a racist domestic terrorist movement. The fact that I've seen pictures under the #BLM where there are cops on their knees with guns to their heads should tell you something about this movement. Making it a racial issue only divides us further. All races have police. And all races have criminals. Edgarallen001
It is sad to see that racial basis I still happening in 2016. The color of your skin should not represent who you are as a person. African-Americans get more jail time than Caucasians is embarrassing as a country. They are showing everyone that we care more about the color of the person’s skin rather than the crime that they have committed. That is why the Black Lives matter movement such a big deal to them. Unless you’re African-American, you do not know what it is like to walk in their shoes on a daily basis. It is true that people are white privilege. If you do not believe that then you probably live in a town where is was white based, so the people you did ever do see get arrested were white. The poor also gets targeted just as much, and having these reforms would be great for them too. Giving someone a ticket knowing that can’t pay it puts them further down than they already were. There has to be something done to this because it is not fair. We live in a place where we say we are all equal and should be treated the same, it is about time that law enforcement start acting on those words. bamboo123
I do not agree with this article. First of all the way it started with the picture of the mothers of slain black sons is absolutely ridiculous. Hillary Clinton truly disgusts me and the pathetic way of getting voters through the anti police rhetoric is despicable. Michael Brown's mother of all the women there did not belong on that stage. "Innocent" Michael Brown was a thug who committed an armed robbery and was high on marijuana when he assaulted and tried to disarm Officer Darren Wilson. Wilson was justified in the shooting of Brown. And the whole "hands up don't shoot" never even happened. The lies of Darren Wilson viciously murdering poor Michael Brown is just that, a lie. Did anyone see the families of fallen police officers at the DNC? No, you did not. I am fed up with the liberal media and the democrats stepping all over the police and bad mouthing them. Sure, the criminal justice system could always use improvement, but the ways the liberals want it is unrealistic and ridiculous. The liberals have gone so far as to say the uniforms police wear are too scary and mean. They want police to be dressed in "soft" uniforms that are not so intimidating to the public. I mean really?! What it really all comes down to is coming together and just saying that all lives matter. White, black, yellow, etc we all matter. And anyone, white, black, yellow, that commits a crime deserves the punishment they get. Race has no matter on the issue. Steve002
I am one hundred percent behind this response! Michael brown was defiantly a thug and most of all not innocent. And I also like how you talked about the fallen cops, why couldn't those family's come talk? its because the media makes it so people don't want to hear about them, and that the part that sucks! oregon002
I back this completely, it amazes me how when it first happened that the media made him look like the victim and did not mention how he attacked the officer. It is so biased and that is the start to the riots. Police officers are being turned into the bad guys when they are the ones helping the ones who call them their enemy's. Broncos001
I am all for just about any reform that helps accomplish keeping cops, and anybody who might be responding to an emergency call, safe. Im also for any legislation that would take question out of the equation. The ideas of body cameras as standard for all officers working out on patrol could be the answer that we see. It is a good way to hold officers liable for any action they take and would help us see what really happened at an incident. There is a downside to reforms that could come around. We could see a number of these reforms start to hurt the effectiveness of the police force and that could have severe side effects. Moto001
Even though I agree that a reform couldn't hurt matters anymore than whats going on at the present moment, I however do not agree that black men get longer sentencings than their fellow white peers. It is just my opinion that if you do the crime you do the time. As far as police violating civil rights, what about those select few that violate the rights of the officers? I think they should be protected under the same laws as you and I if theirs are violated as well. I would like to see body cameras implemented at some point. That way when a call turns bad the public isn't just seeing what a bystander filmed but seeing all the events that led up to the escalated situation. Ciaccio002
I agree with what you are saying, but I think what the article was saying was if a white man and a black man both commit the same crime, the black man is more likely to serve a longer time in jail or prison. GRUNT001
I totally agree with race equality. But if you are threatening a police officer then you should be ready to the consequences, I am not saying they should have been killed, but if you put hands on a officer then you should be ready for what happens next. And I feel as if the black lives matter movement is kind of a hate group. I feel like if there where protesters with a white lives movement they would be called racist. I am not racist but I do not believe on the black lives matter slogan I believe in all lives matter. oregon002
I agree with you no matter what your race is you should face the consequences of putting your hands on a police officer, but no one should be killed. I think a lot of the times what happens is, the media gets ahold of these stories and pulls the race card, when race had nothing to do with it at all, it was just simply someone breaking the law and they just happen to be black. dicaprio001
I also think that the criminal justice system needs to huge hall over and many many things must change. The world is changing so fast as well as the people in this world. Things that were ok five years ago are no longer acceptable and the everyday American is standing up to what is right. I am not saying that everyone that says the cops are doing something wrong is right, but I think it is a great thing that people are standing up and at least expressing what they think is right or wrong. What we need are more peaceful protests and rally’s that way the police and those in charge of the city could hear what the people are saying instead of being afraid from what might come from the rally. This counties criminal justice system needs a big over hall. GRUNT001
You make a great point. People insist that police officers are the problem. Society needs to take a step back and look at their own behavior at the way they treat police officers and even their own peers. People are so quick to start violent rallies that they don't even consider the effects and consequences it will have on them and others. Once society respect officers as much as they respect themselves there will be decreased violence. People should stand up for themselves, but be respectable while doing so. Jah001
What I have grasped from this article is during the Democratic National Convention one of the major topics was about “How law enforcement officers are bad!” If democrats spent more time on issues that would help the general population and not waste time on trying to justify the actions of these criminals. Honestly, everything that is going on today in our nation has been blown out of proportion by the bias media. I admit that there are bad cops, there are bad people in every workplace, but trying to blame all cops and starting hate groups does not justify your ignorance. Even though these cops put both lives on the line every day. Peace protest gets more information and a better outcome to their wanting’s instead of having violent riots and attacking incident people to try and get their views crossed. aaap_cougs002
There isn't a single thing in America that couldn't be tweaked to run a little smoother. But this article felt heavily biased and almost anti police in general. I shouldn't be surprised from the Huffington Post but that's beside the point. Yes, police have made mistakes and some have purposefully abused their power in some situations. But these things are going to continue to happen regardless of race or anything else you could identify someone with. You can only do so much. And if people would try harder to follow the laws instead of fighting the law enforcers maybe these things wouldn't happen as much. Everyone needs to calm down and stop making everything about race. There's some very pressing issues in America and in the world. And we're here fighting amongst ourselves. It's ridiculous. People are so quick to call out what they saw on CNN. Instead of educating themselves they let others tell them what to think. Like a bunch of sheep. If we don't come together Were basically on the brink of a civil war. Edgarallen001
I'm sorry but this article totally throws me off. I believe a lot of politics are just for show. Especially hilary clinton? why have we come to a world where we give these mothers of victims a time slot on a publicized event the actually doing something about all of this going on? I don't agree the way people are portraying police officers in America and maybe just politics in general really needs to focus on doing something about all of these problems instead of just saying bs to get votes!!!! it's very sad that today race even plays a part in anything, that's one thing that needs to change but sadly i think will always be apart of our "america" -dicaprio001
Racism is a big word and a big deal, but racism is not what kills these African American kids/men. Their actions and things they do wrong lead up to their punishment. If they obey their orders given by the cops and not act suspicious, meaning keeping your hands out of your pockets and don't make any sudden movements, and respect orders given to them things would go just fine. I truly do not believe in black lives matter, I believe in all lives matter, meaning well all should have the same equality and no one should be treated different. Yes there are innocent men out there that have been shot that were black and white. We are all together in the same situations, and with every cop starting to wear body cameras hopefully that will help eliminate the possibilities of it happening again. -buckeyes002
When it comes down to gun violence and excessive abuse in law enforcement I believe it will all come down on both the citizen and the police because you can't strip away a persons rights.However, I do agree with the reducing of sentences of nonviolent offenders and lowering the sentences for low level drug offenses but really other than that I disagree on this proposal of taking away many peoples gun rights and having law enforcement be less strict on how they control situations. In my opinion race has nothing to do with this its just really based on what others think about the situation and the media plays a big part in all this and all somehow tied to the downfall of this nations economy. Computers001
America needs the Criminal Justice System Reform this would help face most social problems this nation has. Some of these problems which has caused chaos that it can destroy the family structure which can cause legal, medical problems and much more for families. Also giving people who have served chance more opportunities to turn their life's around will give them a chance to build themselves, their family and possibly help others, which would build our society. Also if we are willing as a society to work with those that wish to act on their selfish intentions we may voice kindness, and care into their hearts as we are giving the convicted the chance to turn it around with support.
The criminal justice system sadly is in a ongoing cycle. Even after people get out of prison, the probability that they return to prison is astounding. In my opinion we need better programs to ensure that the people getting out of prison receive the help they need to turn their life around. Proper education and giving them a desire to become better people will drastically help these people return home and stay out of prison. Do I agree with Hilary? not at all. I think her ideas are just ways to appeal to society's empathy and persuades them to vote for her. Like Obama says, its going to take a lot more than one president to solve this issue. It will take everyone to abolish the stereotypes given to criminals and erratically behaving individuals. I hope that people can put stereotypes aside and help people become the best they can be. Jah001
I am a firm believer of if you give respect, then you will receive it in return. That being said, I always have respected officers and if I ever had an interaction with them, I accept that they are my superior and that I will respect them and in return I will get it back. Respect has nothing to do with skin color, if it is given, it will be received. I will not say that there haven't been unjustified shootings by police officers, but I do firmly believe that in a lot of these shootings that there is more to the story that is not revealed, and there is a totally different way to look at the interaction from the officers point of view that the protesters are not seeing. I always explain why some of these shootings happen to my mother when we see them on the news and after I am done, she has a completely different point of view. I have explained to her that you can not wait for someone to shoot at you, there are situations where you can not predict the outcome, and you have to use your training to take action before something does happen to the you (the officer). Every officer now has a target on their back and all the media can report is that they are the ones killing these people without cause, when all they want to do is return home at the end of their shift. No cop starts their shift thinking they want to kill someone. People are making them seem like that and it is sick. Broncos001
Society needs to reform our problems in the Criminal Justice System this causes racial tension, problems in the family structure can cause problems for the family finically. With a reform giving those who have committed wrong choices in the American Judicial System may help to save the structure of those people convicted. With giving a EX-con the ability to change his life around without giving them a master status could change their outlooks on life and may even better society as a whole. eagle001
I agree that the problem is in society. We are raising a group of kids who don't know the difference between right and wrong. This is a moral issue that was taught in the home but now is being neglected and it is effecting our day to day lives. Once again we need to start teaching morality in K-12. Morality classes not religion classes so we can change our young peoples perception and teach them the difference between right from wrong. Dadoftwo0011
I completely agree with you. This is a problem within society and the justice system needs a reform if we as a whole are going to come together again. Giving people a chance at doing things right again is what we need, not longer sentences. We need to allow people the chance to change their life around, and if they do not then and ONLY then should we take action. agentp001
I think that it is a tragedy whenever a life is taken. However, turning people who made the conscious decision to resist lawful arrest in a matter that can warrant lethal force should never be made into martyrs by the media or anyone else. Focusing on incidents where police use lethal force in situations that were later found to have justified it's use should not be the focus of any reform to the criminal justice system as it both detracts from reasonable discussion and increases the hostility between law enforcement officers and the communities, especially those of color, that they protect. The criminal justice system is in great need of reform however, over the past decades between the war on drugs and both actual and perceived police misconduct have driven incarceration rates to unsustainable levels and worst of all created a gap between police and the people they serve. This gap is evidenced by a public distrust of law enforcement in communities that desperately need order and an "us verses them" mentality in both police agencies and in the communities they serve. To combat this issue both the media and the people need to let go of the urge to make criminals who tried to kill police and ended up being killed themselves into martyrs and start waiting until facts come out to decide if they need to protest or riot over the killing. Police also need to try to interact with the communities they protect in capacities outside of simply enforcing the law. For example, the Peoria Police Department has several programs that allow them to have officers live in problem areas and be neighbors to the people they protect, there are also programs that allow officers to interact with disabled children at a sort of field day that they set up. In Peoria there is even a junior officer program that has officers directly mentor young people interested in becoming police, and has those young people do many volunteer events for the community in at risk areas. The divide between police and community is at an unacceptable high and needs to be addressed before riots become a new normal and the streets are no longer safe for anyone. CoolGuy001
I totally agree. They're using justified police killings as an example of the problem, when it is clearly not. It's easy to put yourself in these mother's shoes and try to understand their pain, but no one puts themselves into the officer's shoes. No one wants to think about how these cops had to make split second decisions in order to preserve their own life and the lives of inncocent people. RustyPete003
This article enrages me. I knew about the difference in sentencing between people of color and caucasians, but I did not realize how big of a problem it truly is. I truly feel horrible knowing that those who commit a crime, can either get off scott-free or have a smaller sentence due to skin color. We need reform, we need someone in charge who is willing to fix this issue. Someone who will be able to set a standard for everyone to follow. A system that no matter your skin color, if you commit a certain crime you are sentenced the same amount of time as another person who does the same thing. And with each growing offense, that person's sentence can be more serious. Not because of their skin color, but because they have committed other acts of crime or violence in the past. Reoccurring offenders are who we should be giving longer sentences to, not people who have a darker skin tone that another. It is wrong and is part of what is dividing the nation between police and civilians. agentp001
The numbers from the article are staggering and demonstrate the need for a reform in the criminal justice system. The article states that the United States has over 2.4 billion people in prison. This is costing us approximately $80 billion a year to maintain these prisons. Even though the crime rate has dropped in the United States, those that are being sent to jail have increased. There has to be some change to the system to reduce the cost and the amount of people being sent to prison. The money that is being saved by not sending an individual to prison can be used on other forms of rehabilitation. There is a need for bills like the REEDEM act that will keep the prison population down. Not allowing children to be in adult prisons is a good start to keeping cost and population down. There has to be a point where the criminal justice system sees that their strategy for the war on drugs is no longer affective. There needs to be a continued new approaches it to solve the problem of over populated prisons and a way to drive the cost down. -Bulls003
Racial discrimination is something we as humans needed to dealt with eventually, because it's been one of the biggest traditional reason there are still war on earth. Humans will never be all the same color and build, thus it will always be segregation between the humans. For a would such as U.S it is the most advance and powerful country in the world, but when it comes to racial discrimination and violence, America have yet to find a cure for it. It is extremely hard to make everyone in this nation to all have a mind for equality, because us humans are creatures of free will, it is a curse and a gift. In today's world, the biggest norm is all lives matter, and we should all treat each other the same, does not matter what their color may be. I agree with black lives matter, but so does the police officer's lives! There are many officer who are killed on the line of duty, why? because it is their job and responsibility to make their community safer for everyone. Getting to talk to police officer I found out how they felt when they are arresting a suspect it can be described as "nervous and fear", because after all they are also humans, and it is only our instinct to feel such a way under a enormous pressure. The officer are able to commit to become a police officer is due to their passion and commitment to protect lives in their responsible community, this includes all the majority and the minorities. So personally I believe that the talk of anti police or police brutality are just one sided story. In a country with out police officer would be chaotic, where no ones there to stop crime except the military, and then it would not be men with pistol, but with rifles patrolling the streets. JupiorZ003
I agree with you 100% because racial discrimination and violence will never be solved if the people of this country just point fingers at the Criminal Justice System for our problems and accusing police officers of being racist because they arrest another race other than their own. People do commit crime, which they can be any race and they will go to jail if caught when committing the crime it's that simple. I do understand that there are police officers, who do over step their power when they are making an arrest of a different race, but people shouldn't assume all police officers are the same as the bad officers. -RW003
I completely agree with this concern about Racial Discrimination, when it comes to law enforcement, but not every police officer bases their arrest on a certain race. Children shouldn't die due to their race because everyone in this country has the right to their freedom and to live life to the fullest. Racial discrimination has always been a problem between the blacks and whites when it comes to equality. It's not right for a white man to get a shorter sentence than a black man, which they both committed the same crime. There are officers, who may be racist and accuse an innocent human being from a different race, but there is also citizens, who are racist too. Most police officers' intentions are to make the world a safe environment for the citizens of this country, not to harm, or accuse a certain race based on what society claims "Polices officers are racist and don't care about the community." -RW003
I agree with you on this. Maybe one day something in change in the system. The only thing anyone can really do anymore is just sit back and just let the system recover by itself one day at a time. Your absolutely right about how officers can be racist and not follow the system. We have all seen cops not following procedures. GoodVibes003
I totally agree with you. Because there is nothing but racism going on in todays society. When it comes to police and racism, I think they consider the type of crime some one committed and their history to see if they should be arrested or not. So your absolutely right about some police officers not using racism to decide on whether someone should go to jail or not. When you mentioned some police officers being racist, I can tell you one thing; officers in Peoria puts there citizens first before anything. But don't get me wrong there are quite a few in officers that are racist but there are only a hand full and that what makes a city stand as one. To make an example on how to stop the hatred against cops and citizens. -K9003
This article was seriously an eye opener for anyone who can't stand Hilary Clinton. She makes some very good points in this article if you can just put yourself in her shoes. All of these mothers aspect these police keep their kids safe and make sure they don't hurt, but in today's society can any mother really trust a police officer anymore? Clinton's may focus from this is to end over-incarceration because many people who are African-american are in prison longer than the average white american. Whatever we see on social media is just something for us Americans to hear. Where it states "When 1 in 3 black men will be incarcerated in their lifetimes, and when black defendants in the federal system receive sentences 20 percent longer than their white peers." Just that statement alone shows us on how race plays a huge role in the criminal justice system. It just comes to show that nothing can be right in the system anymore. GoodVibes003
GoodVibes003, I do find it horrible that there is prejudice in our justice system. The system needs to interpret the law and deal the punishments accordingly, not according to race. That is inconceivable that judges and juries across the nation are being influenced just by the color of the person's skin. I however disagree with anything that comes out of Kilarry's mouth. She lies about everything, I mean everything. This is just all talk for her, just so she can get the African American vote. If she is elected president, god help this nation. JE003
This article kind of bothers me in a sense of I don't feel like theirs a racial problem in the U.S. I feel like there's a media problem. Every other night you hear about another shooting of a black male somewhere else in the country or another mass shooting that was due to racial tension. Yet when was the last time you heard about a white man being shot by a police officer or even a woman at that matter. Out of all races killed by a police officer only 26% are African American and 50% are Caucasians. Now I might really good at math but that sounds a little messed up. But I don't mean to sound racist I just mean to show how the media will show anything in their perspectives in order to get their rates higher. They make the police officers look like murders when they were just trying to enforce the law. Sometimes their is no other option but to use lethal force and i feel like that when an officer does use his/her firearm it shouldn't be used against them or to shame them into thinking they murdered someone for no reason. You put yourself into their shoes at that moment I'm sure you would have pulled the trigger just as much as they did. But the media will change the story around just to make you want to watch the news more to see what happens. -BikeMaker003
Interesting. I see what you're talking about: we have an enormous problem with the media. But honestly, there is a racial problem in the U.S. Why else would a man, who shall rename nameless, be able to come so close to presidency without naming any policies and running on a campaign synonymous to "let's just blame the Mexicans" or "don't trust the Muslims." If anything, the media hasn't commented on how badly the racist is in our country, because it is very much alive and growing. It's sad. CK003
Racism between law enforcement and society is one major topic that has been going on for years. To me it doesn't matter how much a person writes about it or talk about it. It will never end unless each and every person start to make that change within themselves. Because it doesn't matter how good of a persuasive speaker you are you won't be able to change someone's belief on racism unless they change there own belief. In the article it states that mothers " gave impassioned pleas for those in power to do something about gun violence and a law enforcement system exhibiting widespread civil rights violations". Something like will definitely make people think really hard about their belief in racism, for example putting yourself in the mothers shoes and see how they feel. Would you begin to wonder; what if I wasn't racist towards cops or towards the public and then that's when a person most likely make the change in their belief but it all matters on what kind of person they are and how they view cops or how they view the public in general. -K9003
Im sure that it was very powerful hearing these women speak, but let's not forget that their sons killings were justified. It makes it a little harder to feel sorry for them when you realize their sons were killed because they were committing violent crimes. It was the Clinton's camps way of tugging at heart strings in order to gain votes. As far as over incarceration, it is becoming very clear that the harsh penalties that were a result of the war on drugs didn't work. We still have tons of people hooked and the ones that did get clean aren't able to move on with their lives. Alot of this article touched on police brutality and the us vs them attitude. I don't necessarily think that we need to make a reform in order to see change. I believe it will just take time. Will all of the attention and awareness surrounding this issue, police training is changing to adjust to the climate. I don't think you're going to change the minds of officers that have been on the job for many years, but I believe the new ones coming in will do better at this. Once we're out with the old and in with the new generation of officers, we should see a bigger change in how police are perceived by the public. RustyPete003
This was a great article to read. I agree with some stuff portrayed in the article. For example I believe that those who are arrested for drug charges and are a first time offense should be given a second chance. If you give someone a 10 year prison sentence for a little bit of drugs it doesn’t help the problem. Give them a second chance and put them in various programs to help them from repeating. I also believe police are not targeting a certain race. It doesn’t matter what race you are if you do the crime you are going to get arrested and if you fight the police then you will suffer the consequence that will follow. Is the criminal justice system in need of a reform I believe so. The way the world is and how policing is done is totally different than what it was ten years ago. In order to move forward we need to adapt and overcome. Max003
I definitely believe that our criminal Justice system is going down hill. If you do wrong then you do wrong. black lives matter and so does everyone's else. We dont protest on black on black crime, but with that social media has taken over peoples mind. They want to get a story out of everything they posssibly can. So body cameras belong on police officers and that would stop the converstation on police brutality. LT003
Everyone should be held to the same standards, both inside and outside of the criminal justice system. The color of your skin should have no bearing on the punishment you receive in the courts, and in a perfect world it wouldn't. Everything goes through a remodel or reform, so why should the criminal justice system be any different? It's about time that things be reworked so that everyone is given the same, fair chance. ekt001
I am not a racist, but when you have the mother of Micheal Brown on the stage speaking of reform? I mean really!?! Her son was a thug. A straight thug. He assaulted a police officer and because of his actions he was killed. There was no issue of race in this matter. The evidence was proven that Brown assaulted the officer and he was justified in his shooting. But that didn't stop the riots. While the justice system does need reform, i find it disgusting to law enforcement nation wide that these people were on stage. We need to educate the public on crimes and how to treat police officers too. People now a days show absolutely no respect for authority and people have to realize the grave risk officers take every day to protect their communities. I can guarantee you that no officers wakes up in the morning looking to shoot someone. JE003
I am not racist and I fully believe in racial equality. But when someone does wrong, that's all there is to it. It doesn't matter if you are white, black, blue or yellow. Black lives matter, but so do everyone else's. Before we completely start changing our law enforcement and criminal justice system, I think the effect that social media has on society needs to change more than anything. Social media is the strongest force separating our society. To prevent all of this racist nonsense that we see every week, I think cameras on police officers would be very beneficial in preventing all of this controversy and discussion of race and police brutality. This would also help with the over-incarceration that we are experiencing. The effort that is being put into creating conflict should be going towards putting an end to all of the hatred and violence towards the criminal justice system. We have officers policing our streets for a reason, and if someone breaks the law, they deserve whatever punishment comes their way, no matter their gender and no matter their race.
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I agree with you gh_blackhawks002 everyone should be treated with equality even with the color of their skin. Police brutality should be out lawed and never happen in the world and police beating up on other felons should never happen ass well
Deletegoler001
I agree completely with your first couple sentences gh_blackhawks002. I will truly never understand what black lives matter is trying to accomplish. Instead of dividing us based on color of skin, we should be coming together to fight the corruption hand and hand. By chanting black lives matter, that might offend some other racial groups. On both sides, we all need to stop bringing things we cant control into the justice system. Although there's been some bad calls made by officers, there's also been very good ones. If we don't focus on skin color when we are upholding the law, maybe we would get to a point where no one looks at someone different because of their color. That being said, the way you present yourself, treat others, and respect the law has a big impact on how society sees you. As long as we all try our best to be better than we were or change the status quo, we can't be judged by ANYTHING. Especially the color of our skin. Theirs always good guys out there :) texaslonghorns002
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DeleteI agree also that all lives matter. The media shows us what they want us too see, because of course their concern is ratings. So it just so happens that we are seeing a lot of police brutality aimed at the black community. But as a women of African American decent I can't help but worry for the safety of my children. I too feel that if you break the law you should be punished regardless of skin color, but punishment threw the court of law, not gunned down by a police officer in the street. It's because of these viscous acts that the black community is fearful and does not trust in law enforcement. I feel that we need to come together as the human race regardless of our skin color and let it be heard loud and clear that we will not stand for this type of behavior from those sworn to protect. There are enough issues in this country we don't need to add being fearful of law enforcement. Maybe if more good cops come forward and join with their communities in this fight we can start to rebuild trust. We the people also need to acknowledge that all cops are not out trying to kill people, most are trying to honor the oath they took and keep us safe from the criminals.
DeleteFor sure, racial equality is a must in the further developement of, not only our country, but our society here on this earth. Racial fueds cause a lot of pains between the people of our world.
DeleteI am not going to say you have nothing to fear. There are undoubtedly actions taken more in anger between races rather than honor to an oath. But I also believe that these events are blown out of proportion by the media and the political control the media has over the content they show. I feel, that in the changes that are likely to be coming in the next few years, your children would be just as safe as anyone elses. Hopefully, we can rebuild the trust in the law enforcement, and bring about a truly fair ciminal justice system for any and all citizens. - AJC002
AJC002 I agree with that we do need to work on racial equality and the fact that the media blows everything out of proportion. I also feel that instead of revamping the whole system they need to take it step by step and really find out where the problems are instead of wiping everything out and starting fresh. Rocker002
DeleteI completely agree with gh_blackhawks002. Racial profiling in the criminal justice system has gotten insanely out of control, and for all the wrong reasons. Black lives matter IS a huge thing. They want the police brutality to stop, and who doesn't? But it's not just police, but in the judicial system too. In court cases, all I hear is how a black man is sentenced to 20 years for possession of narcotics while at the same time, a white man is charged with the same penalty, same amount of drugs, or whatnot, and HE is sentenced to 4 years in jail. I'm beyond sick and tired of the discrimination we see today and police should not have to jump the gun too soon on serious offenses like this when a black person, or anyone else of color that isn't white does a crime. - JiminyxC002
DeleteI agree with this statement 100%. I think having the body cameras on the officers would help clear a lot of this biased, sketchy clips they show. People think when they watch 20 seconds of one incident, they know exactly what happened and how they would have handled it. And I agree that all this effort to show all the violence and conflict should go towards a more beneficial cause. Ending the stigmas of both parties and creating a more trusting bond between the BLM movement and law enforcement. rose001
DeleteI agree 100% that all lives matter and the whole statement. It needs to be fixed especially the media they show cops as the bad guys and as killers but if you look up the stats of how often a police officer has to kill someone its very small one guy worked for 37 years with over 120 officers and know of 8 who shot their gun. Minus that a police officers saftey is number one that is one thing that has been stressed and always will and I think that they can stress it more and try to find more non lethal ways for the officers. JE002
DeleteExactly! I completely agree with you gh_blackhawks002. All lives matter. It does not matter if you are black, brown, white, orange, yellow, etc. I will say it again, all lives matter. The criminal justice system is not racist. The Black Lives Matter movement is a major plaque in our society. Their racist and destructive behavior is tearing this country apart. Not to mention we also have a president that seems to admire the Black Lives Matter protesters work and believes they are making a real positive difference.
DeleteYou are right about the media. They are responsible for what we the public see and again you are right that all the care about is ratings. They are, i believe, mostly responsible for the racial divide that is sweeping the nation. We need more concerned people to change this disturbing trend.
DeleteMoto001
Agreeing with gh_blackhawks002 .... Body cameras are good things for officers. but once the media gets ahold of the video of something dangerous happening in a situation a cop is involved in. They cut it short and only show the violent part, because its the part that is proving a point to society. I recently watched a video of a police officer with a body camera and he had to use force on a man because the man came at him and started to punch at the officer. But the news only showed a small part which was the officer being violent, not the man. aaap_cougs002
DeleteI agree with you 100%. It should matter who you are or what color you are. If you do the crime you have to own of for it. Media does have a huge impact on our society. Mainly because they put on television what they believe would get people to watch and become interested in. they do not care if it is the truth or not. There has been multiple times where media has portrayed the police as this horrible force or criticizing the officer for what he did. They never report about the facts of what happen. For example he had a gun and was resisting police. Max003
DeletePresident Obama is just trying to get everyone to like what he is doing and how he is going to handle everything in the United States. Even though he as done a lot for this country he still needs to done some good for us and he needs to get rid of all the drugs and take the people in jail that have done some good that cost them jail time sometime during the criminals life time. They need to reform our taxes and lower that price for gas because its getting a little to high and most people can't afford the gas because they are poor. Our tax price is to high for people even if they own a business, that's just absurd. Everyone should pay equal taxes and try to get rid the higher paying taxes. Mr. Obama needs to be more productive and try to get rid all off the stuff going on In the middle east because its just getting out of control. All we are trying to do is limit crime in this country and that will help out a lot with the deaths of police officers and the kids getting shot in the neighborhoods.
ReplyDeletegoler001 did this writing
DeleteJust in my lifetime, I have witnessed many of my peers around me ruin their personalities, reputations, and future on drugs. I knew the people before the substances, they were average high school students trying to make something of themselves. Although I do fathom the statistics of African American incarceration compared to that of Caucasian, I would focus on the possibility of creating rehabilitation centers that are mandatory and would stay on your record until you have received the required amount of help. Drugs are one thing, but violent actions related to the possession of drugs is a whole new story. If you are a threat to the safety of those around you because of certain illegal substances, then other measures should be taken. I believe in the rehab idea because it would help "correct" the issue most of the time, but also because if we cut the amount of people imprisoned so drastically stated, we would cut correctional jobs the same way. With rehabilitation centers, we would be more proactive and helpful while still keeping the employees used at local jails. Obviously we can't control the amount of people imprisoned, it depends on the crime. We CAN mandate certain fines or drug addiction meetings for those caught with such. Everyone isn't the same sadly, and most drug addicts are highly stubborn, especially towards the police. On the other hand, we could save more lives than we know. I have had 2 deaths just in my high school and surrounding due to overdoses. If we are more hand and hand with our communities, It shows a human side to law enforcement. Everyone wants to be reminded that the cop who pulls you over is also a human, but his career is to keep you safe and others around. Maybe the cop who let you get away with drinking and driving could have been the last person to talk to you before you wrapped your car around a tree.... Our law enforcement needs to reboot there way of policing in a way that encompasses all cultures, no matter the background. We have some courageous officers out there risking their life for us each and everyday, if we work the little kinks out between both sides of the table, we will be just fine. texaslonghorns002
ReplyDeleteI really do agree with you 100%, people waste away the good values they have in their lives all just to give it away to drugs. People may not want to be directed by the police but they are only here for our safety, and by putting their safety in the way for ours we should be very grateful. I also agree about the law enforcement needs to be more enclosure. Ky002
DeleteI think this is a very good point. Some people make bad decisions in certain times of their lives. It could be the fact that they are going through something or simple peer pressure but i feel, like you said, rehabilitation centers is a positive thing these individuals need rather than being thrown in prison. Kt002
DeleteI feel as if we should not judge people by the color of their skin, but by how bad the crime was that they committed. We are all human beings, all have the same insides. Just because we are different on the outside does not mean that we should be treated any differently from anybody else who commits the same exact crime. Everyone's life matters, not only the blacks but the whites and multiple other different races as well. In my opinion, we really do need to work on some things in the system but that takes time, and as long as you are putting forth the effort that's all that should matter. Our officers need to make sure that there is less crime and less killings happening in the areas. As said in the article, "the stigma of being a felon still lingers, and I can not get a job." I feel as if a person has shown they have truly changed and are no longer that person they were before they should still be given a chance. Yes, a person can relapse and go back to their old ways it sometimes happens but not all the time. Even though they are criminals they are human being and they have done their time for the mistakes that they chose to make in life. Children and families are losing their loved ones all to someone's bad choices they decide to make in life, so by that being said means if they do the crime they do the time. It is what's only fair, no matter the color that comes across on your skin. Our officers are doing the best they can, putting their lives on the line to help our community. Ky002
ReplyDelete????
DeleteKy002 I agree that all lives matter. However we are not seeing whites being murdered by police officers over and over. That has spurred the black lives matter movement. As for those convicted of felonies being given a second chance I feel it all depends on the crime they committed. Adult people are in control of the choices they make, and when committing a felony are well aware of the consequences they may face. I do however agree that most of the police officers are just trying to do the best they can in a world surrounded by citizens who have little trust in law enforcement.
DeleteKy002 I agree that all lives matter. However we are not seeing whites being murdered by police officers over and over. That has spurred the black lives matter movement. As for those convicted of felonies being given a second chance I feel it all depends on the crime they committed. Adult people are in control of the choices they make, and when committing a felony are well aware of the consequences they may face. I do however agree that most of the police officers are just trying to do the best they can in a world surrounded by citizens who have little trust in law enforcement.
DeleteKy002, I completely agree with you. The color of one’s skin should have no weight whatsoever in the harshness of their sentence. The fact that it does exposes a major flaw in our court system. People should solely be sentenced on the crime committed, not the color of their skin. It is not a crime to be a certain skin color, and in sentencing some harder based on skin color, we are making it one.-OKC002
DeleteI agree that our criminal justice system needs some work. Starting with the corrections system, it has always been shocking to me that a drug dealer gets more time then a rapist. People choose to abuse drugs. That's not saying that it's okay to sell drugs, but why should someone found guilty of drugs be sentenced to life while a rapist gets out in five years. As for the black lives matter movement, I too agree all lives matter, but as a women of African American decent it is troubling to see so many African Americans being murdered. Regardless of what crime they may have committed we are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty here in this country. The media is only adding fuel to the fire by showing these images over and over again. Most of us are, aware that this is all for ratings, as that is what's important to them. The facts still remains that African American people are becoming tired of being treated poorly, when we have been granted our freedom long ago. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that many African American communities are starting to fight back, when they feel hopeless and afraid. I myself don't believe that all police officers are bad. I know many good officers. Killing and looting are not the answer, we all need to stand together and let law enforcement know we will not sit by and continue to witness this brutality. Until we as the human race start showing unity these types of things will continue to occur in our communities. So civilians as well as those good officers need to come together and find the solution. It's all fine and great that Hilary Clinton and the rest of "them" say they will work to reform the system, but they all say what they think we want to hear to gain our votes. So I myself have a hard time putting my faith in anything they say. Change starts with me and you whomever you are. We have to stop spewing hate and watching all the violence the media throws at us. Start being kind and loving each other, or we are doomed for failure, no matter what changes are made with our criminal justice system.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your opinion on drug dealers receiving longer sentences than a rapist. People have choices to sell/ take drugs. Its a business to some, but that is why we have a corrections system that could use some improvement and help rehabilitate people who committed drug offenses. A rapist commits forceful sexual assault which should deserve more time than a drug dealer in my opinion. Bry001
DeleteI agree that our criminal justice system needs some work. Starting with the corrections system, it has always been shocking to me that a drug dealer gets more time then a rapist. People choose to abuse drugs. That's not saying that it's okay to sell drugs, but why should someone found guilty of drugs be sentenced to life while a rapist gets out in five years. As for the black lives matter movement, I too agree all lives matter, but as a women of African American decent it is troubling to see so many African Americans being murdered. Regardless of what crime they may have committed we are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty here in this country. The media is only adding fuel to the fire by showing these images over and over again. Most of us are, aware that this is all for ratings, as that is what's important to them. The facts still remains that African American people are becoming tired of being treated poorly, when we have been granted our freedom long ago. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that many African American communities are starting to fight back, when they feel hopeless and afraid. I myself don't believe that all police officers are bad. I know many good officers. Killing and looting are not the answer, we all need to stand together and let law enforcement know we will not sit by and continue to witness this brutality. Until we as the human race start showing unity these types of things will continue to occur in our communities. So civilians as well as those good officers need to come together and find the solution. It's all fine and great that Hilary Clinton and the rest of "them" say they will work to reform the system, but they all say what they think we want to hear to gain our votes. So I myself have a hard time putting my faith in anything they say. Change starts with me and you whomever you are. We have to stop spewing hate and watching all the violence the media throws at us. Start being kind and loving each other, or we are doomed for failure, no matter what changes are made with our criminal justice system.
ReplyDeletei agree with your opinion on the over sentencing. i just cant grasp the fact that people could get caught selling marijuana and get 20 years in prison and some college boy from stanford can rape a woman and get 3 months in jail. hopefully this sort of issue will find a solution in the coming months... RRM001
DeleteRacial inequalities have been a part of life since life existed. The ignorance in the minds of people to jump to racist actions and thoughts have been prominant in every part of the world. And although I do believe they are still around, even in the law enforcement sections of our government, I find it hard to believe that the troubles go as far as the media takes them. Yes, I'm sure there are many decisions made where the color of the defendants skin was a large factor in the process. But does it really mean our entire police force, from top to bottom, needs to be reformed? This not only seems excessive to me, but also unwise. I think, that during this "down time" in which everything would be drastically changing, crime would spike as officers were likely not set into play as often as they would have been. Sure, maybe there should be some changes to seek out the root of these problems, but I doubt it lies in the system itself, rather than the workers. - AJC002
ReplyDeleteYou are right AJC002, it is sickening how much the media covers the shooting of a black individual by the police and how big of a deal is made out of it. In 2015, more white people were killed by police than blacks were, yet you heard pretty much nothing about that in the news or social media. The majority of these cases are not race based, but they are most certainly based on a crime that was committed, regardless of skin color. A lot of people killed by cops attempted to assault the officer who shot them, which in my opinion, they got what they asked for. I just think a lot of the fuss is blown up to be what it is not. zmw002
DeleteI do not agree with this article very much. Based on the fact that the Hillary and the Attorney Eric Holder claim the criminal justice system to be "racist" against black men. Like the previous article "The Post Policing Era In America" stated, the NYDP's street cops are mostly minority. Then goes on to say that nearly 9/300 homicide victims were white, while the remainder were black. So that alone speaks for itself and clearly means that the people of the community are claiming the Criminal Justice system to be racist against black civilians. When really, they commit most of the crimes and receive a majority of the punishments that were totaled up when Eric Holder said black prisoners receive 20% more sentence times. We also need to take into account what the white prisoners and black prisoners were charged with in court. Since most of the Homicides were committed by black civilians, they might have committed way more serious crimes than the whites. I just think that not all of the information is there in this case, and what Hillary and Eric Holder are claiming about the Criminal Justice System is not true. Bry001
ReplyDeleteI like what you were saying about this being a article that I don't agree with. The Clinton administration claiming that the justice system is racist is ridiculous. When most of the crimes are committed by African Americans then they will make up most of the prison population. Godzilla001
DeleteI don't completely agree with you. Everyone should be held to the same standards, both in and outside of the criminal justice system. The color of your skin should have no bearing on the punishment you receive in the courts, and in a perfect world it wouldn't. Everything goes through a remodel or reform, so why should the criminal justice system be any different? It's about time that things be reworked so that everyone is given the same, fair chance. Policies and teaching methods become outdated, so why not revamp the system? I think this would make the system as a whole work better and more efficient. ekt001
DeleteI read the first couple paragraphs and it just made me sick. Yes its a shame that those kids were gunned down no one can deny that no one deserves that. However that's the only victims that they talked about not once did they talk about the officers that were gunned down by thugs who think they are better than the police. What about the family members of the officers that got gunned down in Dallas. The daughters and sons who don't have a father anymore because a thug decided he didn't like the police. The DNC quickly accused our justice system as being racist and call for a whole remodel. Yes there are some big parts that need redone we should not be the nation with the highest prison population. Godzilla001
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to the BLM movement I understand where they are coming from. At the end of the day all lives matter but the reasoning behind their cause is that they just want people to realize that were killing innocent men women and children and just that they’re African American doesn’t mean that’s the main issue. Skin color doesn’t matter at the end of the day I don’t care if youre black white blue purple or a rainbow color, I’m going to treat you as a human being and show you respect and not judge you by your skin color; you will get judged by your actions if anything. But regardless, I do believe the reform needs a revamp. People are getting 25+ years for drug charges and that isn’t acceptable. I get it you do the crime you do the time but this is starting to get out of hand. People are getting handed maximum sentences for being first time offenders or caught a bad trial. We really need to take a look at thought processes and procedures within the justice department and really strap down and make changes that will affect everyone positively. RRM001
ReplyDeleteI believe that if you break the law that you should pay for it. No questions end of story. It doesn't matter if you are black, white, yellow, or red. You pay the consequences no matter what. I believe that yes for some of the no harmful drug charges yes they should be handled better like with a fine or something along those lines instead of being thrown in prison taking up a murderers seat. Yes there needs to be a change in the system. I agree with that but revamping the whole thing is not necessarily the way to do it. They need to take things slower and just go into it slower and really examine it instead of letting the media tell the whole story for them. I also think that the #cut50 goal is very unlikely. With the amount of people that are currently in the prison system they would have to let out more than just the non harmful drug charges. Like I said they just need to take their time with this. This isn't something that can be done in one swift movement. It needs time. Rocker002
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Rocker002, race and gender do not matter when someone commits a crime. I do think we can handle first time drug offenders in a better manner, because I do not think we should be spending thousands and thousands of dollars a year on a single marijuana use offender. I also do not think this idea of reform can be rushed. It is going to take time. gh_blackhawks002
DeleteThe article starts off with a picture of mothers of the movement which shows the a very small percentage of our criminal justice, which happens to have some flaws. The next part of the article discusses how certain politicians believe that the criminal justice system is filled with problems and needs to totally be revamped. The article to me is one of the contributing factor of the problem it is trying to address and make know. The media is under the assumption that people don't know their is racism in America which most people know, but it isn't rampant thourought our nation like the media is trying to suggest. Most police officers aren't inheriently racists or against certain communities they just want to stop crime. So to say that we need to push legislation through without doing our due diligence and blaming everyone is completely irresploisible and negligent. Because changing our laws and sentencing because the criminals are upset because they are in prison is asinine. What we should be focused on is educating our communities on morality grabbing our nations youth early rather then trying recreate the wheel lets just use the wheel we have. The government would spend trillions trying to recreate our nations policing, prisons, and courts while adding morality classes to our nations public education would start to change the way kids behave. I don't think that our police are doing a terrible job they aren't trying to profile people most of the time they are called to the scene they aren't in they're squad cars searching for people in certain communities smoking a joint to put them in prison. I agree the criminal justice system needs some work so lets put in the work to work on it, not try and get a new system put in place that could be the same or potentially worse. I think the article brings up issues that do need to be addressed. I just don't agree that the best way to address the problem is placing blame solely on police and judges and community leaders. The blame isn't and shouldn't be placed solely on the police and the laws some work needs to be done in the communities as well to create a change. Dadoftwo001
ReplyDeleteIt is my belief that if you break the law and are a Human being then you should be punished appropriately. but no one anymore will accept responsibility because its not there fault. once people are able to start accepting there responsibility for there actions these the racial issues will start to finally go away. but that will only happen once every race stops acting like they are above the law. no one is above the law including law enforcement.the only reason that those individuals were dealt with is because they did not listen and there fore they dealt with the consequences. the BLM movement KKK and any other group that deals in race is wrong. tree001
ReplyDeleteAlthough nobody should ever believe a politician, it's nice to know that people are rooting for the general goal of reform and improvement to the criminal justice system. It is one thing to riot and complain about how bad and cruel our laws are, but it is another to preach the idea of progress and this notion of "happy change." I find that it is very difficult for us as a nation to admit that certain things need drastic change, and it is even harder to make that change happen thanks to politics. But seeing a button on a woman in the article reading "Pro-Black, Pro-Cop" is an outlook that I think more citizens need to start looking towards. No one political figure is going to come to us and change everything, our system doesn't work like that. We, as a nation, need to change our mindset and start thinking different. Start thinking more consciously, effectively, and thoroughly. I heard a great man once ask this, "what would happen if we stopped asking for miracles and started saying we are going to be a miracle for somebody else." Politics, religion, ethnicity all aside, if we all start working to improve the life of others, our lives too will be better. That is the movement in frame of mind we need to have in order to change the nation and bring it in a more positive direction. Law reform is a great start, but believe this, there will always be a naysayer. There will always be somebody who gets their happiness out of looking for the negative in other people, ideas, whatever. Sadly, we cannot just incarcerate those people so, until then, lets just all try and get along and be happy. CK003
ReplyDeleteI think this topic is relevant and needs to be taken care of imminently. This is not just something that JUST started happening, it has been going on for years and people choose to ignore it. Now look at the outcome. I feel the more cops racially convict someone or even cause harm or death, just in order to "protect" themselves, the more it will happen because not a lot of responsible cops are getting punished for it. I strongly agree with former Attorney General Eric Holder when he talked about how black defendants in the federal system receive sentences 20 percent longer than their white peers. i see no reason and will never understand why african americans get treated differently by society and our judges. Hopefully some day someone in higher power opens up their eyes and makes sense of why this is happening and put a stop to it. Kt002
ReplyDeleteI agree with you we need to put a stop to it. But in all reality it will take a long time to get this problem solved. It is happening because it has always happened ever since slavery African Americans haven't been treated the same. Hopefully sometime soon they will have this problem solved because it isn't fair to them.
DeleteTHIS IS MY REPLY! AW002
DeleteI believe that if a person breaks the law, there will be consequences. It's troubling to me to watch this in our own country and in our own streets. It is just commonsense that breaking the law and receiving a type of punishment go hand in hand. It has nothing to do with race, religion, creed. Nothing. Every human knows right from wrong and it is up to them to determine which is which. I think that all lives matter because it may seem like one specific type of race is getting targeted but they are not the only ones. I found it disrespectful that they never even mentioned the law enforcement agencies or any police during the DNC. Not all BLM protestors are violent, then not all police officers are racist. Officers need to feel safe as well within their own communities and people, not to be looked at as all racists. I really do feel for the mothers of all the lost kids, no parent should ever bury their child. But, it's not a race problem to me. It is teach your kid right from wrong and show them that when they hang out with certain people, bad things will come around.
ReplyDeletethis was mine, I forgot to put my name
Deleterose001
I am not naive, I know that certain stereotypes exist in our criminal justice system. Reform is needed within our system, but I think for the sake of American justice, we need to truly identify what will work best. Insinuating that our police system is militarizing, and that it needs to stop, is crazy in my opinion. How do we expect police to combat criminals on the street with automatic weapons, when they themselves do not have them? In saying that our police departments shouldn’t be allowed automatic weapons, or military style equipment, we are in my opinion siding with the criminals. Law enforcement officers should be allowed to equip themselves in a manner that they see fit, in order to keep not only us safe, but themselves as well. We need to remember that criminals do not fight fairly, and do not care about the safety of our law enforcement officers. They deserve to arm and protect themselves from these heinous criminals, and the public needs to remember that. -OKC002
ReplyDeleteI agree, with this world today you do not know what could happen at anytime. With these weapons that are being illegally brought here and out on the streets, our law enforcement officers should be equipped with up to date weapons, to protect their communities from any danger possible.-buckeyes002
DeleteFINALLY! The criminal justice system is being brought up at the national level well the government level. They need to pass some way to reform the way the criminal justice system works I know that we are already billions of dollars in debt and it is going to cost alot of money to pass some kind of reform but its need and will be a great investment down the road and it will pay itself off if the right kind of reform is passed. Some states have taken the initiative apon themselves to fix the problem in there state but its not helping at the federal level which it needs to start there and see if it works and work it way down to the state level so we know that the reform works. If that does work then we have fixed one huge part of the criminal justice system and things can only go up from there because if we know how to fix one thing the rest will come easy. JE002
ReplyDeleteI do understand that there are some prejudices and discriminations not only in the Criminal Justice System, but in every other system in America. That is the way that it always has been and it always will be. So saying that we need to completely reform the Criminal Justice System because people feel that it is targeting black people means that we should have to reform every other system in America to attempt to prevent racist actions, which will never work. Even though there are some prejudiced actions that are taken by the police, does not mean that the whole police system is racist, white people are killed by police too. But apparently it really doesn't matter unless the color of his skin is black. Also, people saying that our police officers should not even have guns are basically saying that we should not have a law enforcement system and we should be letting criminals run free. zmw002
ReplyDeleteGood points! The color of a skin does not define a criminal, but the actions one does. The Black Lives Matter movement is not doing anything to unify the United States. It is actually harming more due to the negative protests that are going along with their cause.
DeleteIn the United States all people are not racist. . . and all police officers are not racist.
oasis002
This is a topic that needs to be settled. There are a lot of people who do go to jail or prison that wouldn't of went if they were "white". There are people who get out of prison and try and do better for themselves but they cant because they are known as criminals. I think we should have an opportunity for them to go and make a better life for them and change themselves. That is why 77% of them go back to prison after they get out because they don't have an opportunity to make better for them they go back because all they know is what they have always done or have recently done. AW002
ReplyDeleteA large part of this article was discussing the reformation of the criminal justice system. I completely agree with updating and reforming things. . . because let's face it, policing is changing and it always will change. It brings up reforming some charges, while I agree with reformation, I do not agree with changing laws. In Illinois there has been some recent changes in our criminal justice system. Marijuana has been decriminalized. I, personally, do not agree with this. While it will clear up some jail cells, it will also make people use it more often and for recreation.
ReplyDeleteTo go along with another big part of the article. . . instead of fighting for “black lives matter” we should all be coming together as one. It is the united states, not the black or white states. Criminals are criminals no matter what color skin they might inhabit. While America does need some racial equality assistance, Black Lives Matter is not an effective way of uniting all people.
oasis002
The movement may have come from a good place, but it's slowly turning into a racist domestic terrorist movement. The fact that I've seen pictures under the #BLM where there are cops on their knees with guns to their heads should tell you something about this movement. Making it a racial issue only divides us further. All races have police. And all races have criminals.
DeleteEdgarallen001
It is sad to see that racial basis I still happening in 2016. The color of your skin should not represent who you are as a person. African-Americans get more jail time than Caucasians is embarrassing as a country. They are showing everyone that we care more about the color of the person’s skin rather than the crime that they have committed. That is why the Black Lives matter movement such a big deal to them. Unless you’re African-American, you do not know what it is like to walk in their shoes on a daily basis. It is true that people are white privilege. If you do not believe that then you probably live in a town where is was white based, so the people you did ever do see get arrested were white. The poor also gets targeted just as much, and having these reforms would be great for them too. Giving someone a ticket knowing that can’t pay it puts them further down than they already were. There has to be something done to this because it is not fair. We live in a place where we say we are all equal and should be treated the same, it is about time that law enforcement start acting on those words.
ReplyDeletebamboo123
I do not agree with this article. First of all the way it started with the picture of the mothers of slain black sons is absolutely ridiculous. Hillary Clinton truly disgusts me and the pathetic way of getting voters through the anti police rhetoric is despicable. Michael Brown's mother of all the women there did not belong on that stage. "Innocent" Michael Brown was a thug who committed an armed robbery and was high on marijuana when he assaulted and tried to disarm Officer Darren Wilson. Wilson was justified in the shooting of Brown. And the whole "hands up don't shoot" never even happened. The lies of Darren Wilson viciously murdering poor Michael Brown is just that, a lie. Did anyone see the families of fallen police officers at the DNC? No, you did not. I am fed up with the liberal media and the democrats stepping all over the police and bad mouthing them. Sure, the criminal justice system could always use improvement, but the ways the liberals want it is unrealistic and ridiculous. The liberals have gone so far as to say the uniforms police wear are too scary and mean. They want police to be dressed in "soft" uniforms that are not so intimidating to the public. I mean really?! What it really all comes down to is coming together and just saying that all lives matter. White, black, yellow, etc we all matter. And anyone, white, black, yellow, that commits a crime deserves the punishment they get. Race has no matter on the issue. Steve002
ReplyDeleteI am one hundred percent behind this response! Michael brown was defiantly a thug and most of all not innocent. And I also like how you talked about the fallen cops, why couldn't those family's come talk? its because the media makes it so people don't want to hear about them, and that the part that sucks! oregon002
DeleteI back this completely, it amazes me how when it first happened that the media made him look like the victim and did not mention how he attacked the officer. It is so biased and that is the start to the riots. Police officers are being turned into the bad guys when they are the ones helping the ones who call them their enemy's. Broncos001
DeleteI am all for just about any reform that helps accomplish keeping cops, and anybody who might be responding to an emergency call, safe. Im also for any legislation that would take question out of the equation. The ideas of body cameras as standard for all officers working out on patrol could be the answer that we see. It is a good way to hold officers liable for any action they take and would help us see what really happened at an incident. There is a downside to reforms that could come around. We could see a number of these reforms start to hurt the effectiveness of the police force and that could have severe side effects.
ReplyDeleteMoto001
^steve002
ReplyDeleteEven though I agree that a reform couldn't hurt matters anymore than whats going on at the present moment, I however do not agree that black men get longer sentencings than their fellow white peers. It is just my opinion that if you do the crime you do the time. As far as police violating civil rights, what about those select few that violate the rights of the officers? I think they should be protected under the same laws as you and I if theirs are violated as well. I would like to see body cameras implemented at some point. That way when a call turns bad the public isn't just seeing what a bystander filmed but seeing all the events that led up to the escalated situation. Ciaccio002
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you are saying, but I think what the article was saying was if a white man and a black man both commit the same crime, the black man is more likely to serve a longer time in jail or prison.
DeleteGRUNT001
I totally agree with race equality. But if you are threatening a police officer then you should be ready to the consequences, I am not saying they should have been killed, but if you put hands on a officer then you should be ready for what happens next. And I feel as if the black lives matter movement is kind of a hate group. I feel like if there where protesters with a white lives movement they would be called racist. I am not racist but I do not believe on the black lives matter slogan I believe in all lives matter. oregon002
ReplyDeleteI agree with you no matter what your race is you should face the consequences of putting your hands on a police officer, but no one should be killed. I think a lot of the times what happens is, the media gets ahold of these stories and pulls the race card, when race had nothing to do with it at all, it was just simply someone breaking the law and they just happen to be black. dicaprio001
DeleteI also think that the criminal justice system needs to huge hall over and many many things must change. The world is changing so fast as well as the people in this world. Things that were ok five years ago are no longer acceptable and the everyday American is standing up to what is right. I am not saying that everyone that says the cops are doing something wrong is right, but I think it is a great thing that people are standing up and at least expressing what they think is right or wrong. What we need are more peaceful protests and rally’s that way the police and those in charge of the city could hear what the people are saying instead of being afraid from what might come from the rally. This counties criminal justice system needs a big over hall.
ReplyDeleteGRUNT001
You make a great point. People insist that police officers are the problem. Society needs to take a step back and look at their own behavior at the way they treat police officers and even their own peers. People are so quick to start violent rallies that they don't even consider the effects and consequences it will have on them and others. Once society respect officers as much as they respect themselves there will be decreased violence. People should stand up for themselves, but be respectable while doing so.
DeleteJah001
What I have grasped from this article is during the Democratic National Convention one of the major topics was about “How law enforcement officers are bad!” If democrats spent more time on issues that would help the general population and not waste time on trying to justify the actions of these criminals. Honestly, everything that is going on today in our nation has been blown out of proportion by the bias media. I admit that there are bad cops, there are bad people in every workplace, but trying to blame all cops and starting hate groups does not justify your ignorance. Even though these cops put both lives on the line every day. Peace protest gets more information and a better outcome to their wanting’s instead of having violent riots and attacking incident people to try and get their views crossed. aaap_cougs002
ReplyDeleteThere isn't a single thing in America that couldn't be tweaked to run a little smoother. But this article felt heavily biased and almost anti police in general. I shouldn't be surprised from the Huffington Post but that's beside the point. Yes, police have made mistakes and some have purposefully abused their power in some situations. But these things are going to continue to happen regardless of race or anything else you could identify someone with. You can only do so much. And if people would try harder to follow the laws instead of fighting the law enforcers maybe these things wouldn't happen as much. Everyone needs to calm down and stop making everything about race. There's some very pressing issues in America and in the world. And we're here fighting amongst ourselves. It's ridiculous. People are so quick to call out what they saw on CNN. Instead of educating themselves they let others tell them what to think. Like a bunch of sheep. If we don't come together Were basically on the brink of a civil war.
ReplyDeleteEdgarallen001
I'm sorry but this article totally throws me off. I believe a lot of politics are just for show. Especially hilary clinton? why have we come to a world where we give these mothers of victims a time slot on a publicized event the actually doing something about all of this going on? I don't agree the way people are portraying police officers in America and maybe just politics in general really needs to focus on doing something about all of these problems instead of just saying bs to get votes!!!! it's very sad that today race even plays a part in anything, that's one thing that needs to change but sadly i think will always be apart of our "america" -dicaprio001
ReplyDeleteRacism is a big word and a big deal, but racism is not what kills these African American kids/men. Their actions and things they do wrong lead up to their punishment. If they obey their orders given by the cops and not act suspicious, meaning keeping your hands out of your pockets and don't make any sudden movements, and respect orders given to them things would go just fine. I truly do not believe in black lives matter, I believe in all lives matter, meaning well all should have the same equality and no one should be treated different. Yes there are innocent men out there that have been shot that were black and white. We are all together in the same situations, and with every cop starting to wear body cameras hopefully that will help eliminate the possibilities of it happening again. -buckeyes002
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes down to gun violence and excessive abuse in law enforcement I believe it will all come down on both the citizen and the police because you can't strip away a persons rights.However, I do agree with the reducing of sentences of nonviolent offenders and lowering the sentences for low level drug offenses but really other than that I disagree on this proposal of taking away many peoples gun rights and having law enforcement be less strict on how they control situations. In my opinion race has nothing to do with this its just really based on what others think about the situation and the media plays a big part in all this and all somehow tied to the downfall of this nations economy.
ReplyDeleteComputers001
America needs the Criminal Justice System Reform this would help face most social problems this nation has. Some of these problems which has caused chaos that it can destroy the family structure which can cause legal, medical problems and much more for families. Also giving people who have served chance more opportunities to turn their life's around will give them a chance to build themselves, their family and possibly help others, which would build our society. Also if we are willing as a society to work with those that wish to act on their selfish intentions we may voice kindness, and care into their hearts as we are giving the convicted the chance to turn it around with support.
ReplyDeleteThe criminal justice system sadly is in a ongoing cycle. Even after people get out of prison, the probability that they return to prison is astounding. In my opinion we need better programs to ensure that the people getting out of prison receive the help they need to turn their life around. Proper education and giving them a desire to become better people will drastically help these people return home and stay out of prison. Do I agree with Hilary? not at all. I think her ideas are just ways to appeal to society's empathy and persuades them to vote for her. Like Obama says, its going to take a lot more than one president to solve this issue. It will take everyone to abolish the stereotypes given to criminals and erratically behaving individuals. I hope that people can put stereotypes aside and help people become the best they can be.
ReplyDeleteJah001
I am a firm believer of if you give respect, then you will receive it in return. That being said, I always have respected officers and if I ever had an interaction with them, I accept that they are my superior and that I will respect them and in return I will get it back. Respect has nothing to do with skin color, if it is given, it will be received. I will not say that there haven't been unjustified shootings by police officers, but I do firmly believe that in a lot of these shootings that there is more to the story that is not revealed, and there is a totally different way to look at the interaction from the officers point of view that the protesters are not seeing. I always explain why some of these shootings happen to my mother when we see them on the news and after I am done, she has a completely different point of view. I have explained to her that you can not wait for someone to shoot at you, there are situations where you can not predict the outcome, and you have to use your training to take action before something does happen to the you (the officer). Every officer now has a target on their back and all the media can report is that they are the ones killing these people without cause, when all they want to do is return home at the end of their shift. No cop starts their shift thinking they want to kill someone. People are making them seem like that and it is sick. Broncos001
ReplyDeleteSociety needs to reform our problems in the Criminal Justice System this causes racial tension, problems in the family structure can cause problems for the family finically. With a reform giving those who have committed wrong choices in the American Judicial System may help to save the structure of those people convicted. With giving a EX-con the ability to change his life around without giving them a master status could change their outlooks on life and may even better society as a whole. eagle001
ReplyDeleteI agree that the problem is in society. We are raising a group of kids who don't know the difference between right and wrong. This is a moral issue that was taught in the home but now is being neglected and it is effecting our day to day lives. Once again we need to start teaching morality in K-12. Morality classes not religion classes so we can change our young peoples perception and teach them the difference between right from wrong. Dadoftwo0011
DeleteI completely agree with you. This is a problem within society and the justice system needs a reform if we as a whole are going to come together again. Giving people a chance at doing things right again is what we need, not longer sentences. We need to allow people the chance to change their life around, and if they do not then and ONLY then should we take action. agentp001
DeleteI think that it is a tragedy whenever a life is taken. However, turning people who made the conscious decision to resist lawful arrest in a matter that can warrant lethal force should never be made into martyrs by the media or anyone else. Focusing on incidents where police use lethal force in situations that were later found to have justified it's use should not be the focus of any reform to the criminal justice system as it both detracts from reasonable discussion and increases the hostility between law enforcement officers and the communities, especially those of color, that they protect. The criminal justice system is in great need of reform however, over the past decades between the war on drugs and both actual and perceived police misconduct have driven incarceration rates to unsustainable levels and worst of all created a gap between police and the people they serve. This gap is evidenced by a public distrust of law enforcement in communities that desperately need order and an "us verses them" mentality in both police agencies and in the communities they serve. To combat this issue both the media and the people need to let go of the urge to make criminals who tried to kill police and ended up being killed themselves into martyrs and start waiting until facts come out to decide if they need to protest or riot over the killing. Police also need to try to interact with the communities they protect in capacities outside of simply enforcing the law. For example, the Peoria Police Department has several programs that allow them to have officers live in problem areas and be neighbors to the people they protect, there are also programs that allow officers to interact with disabled children at a sort of field day that they set up. In Peoria there is even a junior officer program that has officers directly mentor young people interested in becoming police, and has those young people do many volunteer events for the community in at risk areas. The divide between police and community is at an unacceptable high and needs to be addressed before riots become a new normal and the streets are no longer safe for anyone. CoolGuy001
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. They're using justified police killings as an example of the problem, when it is clearly not. It's easy to put yourself in these mother's shoes and try to understand their pain, but no one puts themselves into the officer's shoes. No one wants to think about how these cops had to make split second decisions in order to preserve their own life and the lives of inncocent people. RustyPete003
DeleteThis article enrages me. I knew about the difference in sentencing between people of color and caucasians, but I did not realize how big of a problem it truly is. I truly feel horrible knowing that those who commit a crime, can either get off scott-free or have a smaller sentence due to skin color. We need reform, we need someone in charge who is willing to fix this issue. Someone who will be able to set a standard for everyone to follow. A system that no matter your skin color, if you commit a certain crime you are sentenced the same amount of time as another person who does the same thing. And with each growing offense, that person's sentence can be more serious. Not because of their skin color, but because they have committed other acts of crime or violence in the past. Reoccurring offenders are who we should be giving longer sentences to, not people who have a darker skin tone that another. It is wrong and is part of what is dividing the nation between police and civilians. agentp001
ReplyDeleteThe numbers from the article are staggering and demonstrate the need for a reform in the criminal justice system. The article states that the United States has over 2.4 billion people in prison. This is costing us approximately $80 billion a year to maintain these prisons. Even though the crime rate has dropped in the United States, those that are being sent to jail have increased. There has to be some change to the system to reduce the cost and the amount of people being sent to prison. The money that is being saved by not sending an individual to prison can be used on other forms of rehabilitation. There is a need for bills like the REEDEM act that will keep the prison population down. Not allowing children to be in adult prisons is a good start to keeping cost and population down. There has to be a point where the criminal justice system sees that their strategy for the war on drugs is no longer affective. There needs to be a continued new approaches it to solve the problem of over populated prisons and a way to drive the cost down. -Bulls003
ReplyDeleteRacial discrimination is something we as humans needed to dealt with eventually, because it's been one of the biggest traditional reason there are still war on earth. Humans will never be all the same color and build, thus it will always be segregation between the humans. For a would such as U.S it is the most advance and powerful country in the world, but when it comes to racial discrimination and violence, America have yet to find a cure for it. It is extremely hard to make everyone in this nation to all have a mind for equality, because us humans are creatures of free will, it is a curse and a gift. In today's world, the biggest norm is all lives matter, and we should all treat each other the same, does not matter what their color may be. I agree with black lives matter, but so does the police officer's lives! There are many officer who are killed on the line of duty, why? because it is their job and responsibility to make their community safer for everyone. Getting to talk to police officer I found out how they felt when they are arresting a suspect it can be described as "nervous and fear", because after all they are also humans, and it is only our instinct to feel such a way under a enormous pressure. The officer are able to commit to become a police officer is due to their passion and commitment to protect lives in their responsible community, this includes all the majority and the minorities. So personally I believe that the talk of anti police or police brutality are just one sided story. In a country with out police officer would be chaotic, where no ones there to stop crime except the military, and then it would not be men with pistol, but with rifles patrolling the streets. JupiorZ003
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 100% because racial discrimination and violence will never be solved if the people of this country just point fingers at the Criminal Justice System for our problems and accusing police officers of being racist because they arrest another race other than their own. People do commit crime, which they can be any race and they will go to jail if caught when committing the crime it's that simple. I do understand that there are police officers, who do over step their power when they are making an arrest of a different race, but people shouldn't assume all police officers are the same as the bad officers. -RW003
DeleteI completely agree with this concern about Racial Discrimination, when it comes to law enforcement, but not every police officer bases their arrest on a certain race. Children shouldn't die due to their race because everyone in this country has the right to their freedom and to live life to the fullest. Racial discrimination has always been a problem between the blacks and whites when it comes to equality. It's not right for a white man to get a shorter sentence than a black man, which they both committed the same crime. There are officers, who may be racist and accuse an innocent human being from a different race, but there is also citizens, who are racist too. Most police officers' intentions are to make the world a safe environment for the citizens of this country, not to harm, or accuse a certain race based on what society claims "Polices officers are racist and don't care about the community." -RW003
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on this. Maybe one day something in change in the system. The only thing anyone can really do anymore is just sit back and just let the system recover by itself one day at a time. Your absolutely right about how officers can be racist and not follow the system. We have all seen cops not following procedures. GoodVibes003
DeleteI totally agree with you. Because there is nothing but racism going on in todays society. When it comes to police and racism, I think they consider the type of crime some one committed and their history to see if they should be arrested or not. So your absolutely right about some police officers not using racism to decide on whether someone should go to jail or not. When you mentioned some police officers being racist, I can tell you one thing; officers in Peoria puts there citizens first before anything. But don't get me wrong there are quite a few in officers that are racist but there are only a hand full and that what makes a city stand as one. To make an example on how to stop the hatred against cops and citizens. -K9003
DeleteThis article was seriously an eye opener for anyone who can't stand Hilary Clinton. She makes some very good points in this article if you can just put yourself in her shoes. All of these mothers aspect these police keep their kids safe and make sure they don't hurt, but in today's society can any mother really trust a police officer anymore? Clinton's may focus from this is to end over-incarceration because many people who are African-american are in prison longer than the average white american. Whatever we see on social media is just something for us Americans to hear. Where it states "When 1 in 3 black men will be incarcerated in their lifetimes, and when black defendants in the federal system receive sentences 20 percent longer than their white peers." Just that statement alone shows us on how race plays a huge role in the criminal justice system. It just comes to show that nothing can be right in the system anymore. GoodVibes003
ReplyDeleteGoodVibes003, I do find it horrible that there is prejudice in our justice system. The system needs to interpret the law and deal the punishments accordingly, not according to race. That is inconceivable that judges and juries across the nation are being influenced just by the color of the person's skin. I however disagree with anything that comes out of Kilarry's mouth. She lies about everything, I mean everything. This is just all talk for her, just so she can get the African American vote. If she is elected president, god help this nation. JE003
DeleteThis article kind of bothers me in a sense of I don't feel like theirs a racial problem in the U.S. I feel like there's a media problem. Every other night you hear about another shooting of a black male somewhere else in the country or another mass shooting that was due to racial tension. Yet when was the last time you heard about a white man being shot by a police officer or even a woman at that matter. Out of all races killed by a police officer only 26% are African American and 50% are Caucasians. Now I might really good at math but that sounds a little messed up. But I don't mean to sound racist I just mean to show how the media will show anything in their perspectives in order to get their rates higher. They make the police officers look like murders when they were just trying to enforce the law. Sometimes their is no other option but to use lethal force and i feel like that when an officer does use his/her firearm it shouldn't be used against them or to shame them into thinking they murdered someone for no reason. You put yourself into their shoes at that moment I'm sure you would have pulled the trigger just as much as they did. But the media will change the story around just to make you want to watch the news more to see what happens.
ReplyDelete-BikeMaker003
Interesting. I see what you're talking about: we have an enormous problem with the media. But honestly, there is a racial problem in the U.S. Why else would a man, who shall rename nameless, be able to come so close to presidency without naming any policies and running on a campaign synonymous to "let's just blame the Mexicans" or "don't trust the Muslims." If anything, the media hasn't commented on how badly the racist is in our country, because it is very much alive and growing. It's sad. CK003
DeleteRacism between law enforcement and society is one major topic that has been going on for years. To me it doesn't matter how much a person writes about it or talk about it. It will never end unless each and every person start to make that change within themselves. Because it doesn't matter how good of a persuasive speaker you are you won't be able to change someone's belief on racism unless they change there own belief. In the article it states that mothers " gave impassioned pleas for those in power to do something about gun violence and a law enforcement system exhibiting widespread civil rights violations". Something like will definitely make people think really hard about their belief in racism, for example putting yourself in the mothers shoes and see how they feel. Would you begin to wonder; what if I wasn't racist towards cops or towards the public and then that's when a person most likely make the change in their belief but it all matters on what kind of person they are and how they view cops or how they view the public in general. -K9003
ReplyDeleteIm sure that it was very powerful hearing these women speak, but let's not forget that their sons killings were justified. It makes it a little harder to feel sorry for them when you realize their sons were killed because they were committing violent crimes. It was the Clinton's camps way of tugging at heart strings in order to gain votes. As far as over incarceration, it is becoming very clear that the harsh penalties that were a result of the war on drugs didn't work. We still have tons of people hooked and the ones that did get clean aren't able to move on with their lives. Alot of this article touched on police brutality and the us vs them attitude. I don't necessarily think that we need to make a reform in order to see change. I believe it will just take time. Will all of the attention and awareness surrounding this issue, police training is changing to adjust to the climate. I don't think you're going to change the minds of officers that have been on the job for many years, but I believe the new ones coming in will do better at this. Once we're out with the old and in with the new generation of officers, we should see a bigger change in how police are perceived by the public. RustyPete003
ReplyDeleteThis was a great article to read. I agree with some stuff portrayed in the article. For example I believe that those who are arrested for drug charges and are a first time offense should be given a second chance. If you give someone a 10 year prison sentence for a little bit of drugs it doesn’t help the problem. Give them a second chance and put them in various programs to help them from repeating. I also believe police are not targeting a certain race. It doesn’t matter what race you are if you do the crime you are going to get arrested and if you fight the police then you will suffer the consequence that will follow. Is the criminal justice system in need of a reform I believe so. The way the world is and how policing is done is totally different than what it was ten years ago. In order to move forward we need to adapt and overcome. Max003
ReplyDeleteI definitely believe that our criminal Justice system is going down hill. If you do wrong then you do wrong. black lives matter and so does everyone's else. We dont protest on black on black crime, but with that social media has taken over peoples mind. They want to get a story out of everything they posssibly can. So body cameras belong on police officers and that would stop the converstation on police brutality. LT003
ReplyDeleteEveryone should be held to the same standards, both inside and outside of the criminal justice system. The color of your skin should have no bearing on the punishment you receive in the courts, and in a perfect world it wouldn't. Everything goes through a remodel or reform, so why should the criminal justice system be any different? It's about time that things be reworked so that everyone is given the same, fair chance. ekt001
ReplyDeleteI am not a racist, but when you have the mother of Micheal Brown on the stage speaking of reform? I mean really!?! Her son was a thug. A straight thug. He assaulted a police officer and because of his actions he was killed. There was no issue of race in this matter. The evidence was proven that Brown assaulted the officer and he was justified in his shooting. But that didn't stop the riots. While the justice system does need reform, i find it disgusting to law enforcement nation wide that these people were on stage. We need to educate the public on crimes and how to treat police officers too. People now a days show absolutely no respect for authority and people have to realize the grave risk officers take every day to protect their communities. I can guarantee you that no officers wakes up in the morning looking to shoot someone. JE003
ReplyDelete