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What Is This World Coming To?

Started by Randy, July 06, 2020, 11:20:05 PM

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Davin

Always question all authorities because the authority you don't question is the most dangerous... except me, never question me.

Recusant

Appropriate for this thread, I think. If a critique of the study described below has not yet been written by somebody from the Pioneer Fund or a similar organization, we can expect one soon. That should be a hoot.

"A Judge Asked Harvard to Find Out Why So Many Black People Were In Prison. They Could Only Find 1 Answer: Systemic Racism" | The Root

QuoteIt wasn't Black-on-Black crime. Violent video games and rap songs had nothing to do with it; nor did poverty, education, two-parent homes or the international "bootstraps" shortage. When a judge tasked researchers with explaining why Massachusetts' Black and Latinx incarceration was so high, a four-year study came up with one conclusion.

Racism.

It was always racism.

According to 2016 data from the Massachusetts Sentencing Commission, 655 of every 100,000 Black people in Massachusetts are in prison. Meanwhile, the state locks up 82 of its white citizens for every 100,000 who reside in the state. While an eight-to-one racial disparity might seem like a lot for one criminal justice system, nationwide, African Americans are imprisoned at almost six times the rate of white people. So, in 2016, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph Gants asked Harvard researchers to "take a hard look at how we can better fulfill our promise to provide equal justice for every litigant."

After gathering the raw numbers from nearly every government agency in the state's criminal justice system, examining the data, and researching the disparate outcomes, Harvard Law School's Criminal Justice Policy Program found that Black incarcerees received more severe charges, harsher sentences and less favorable outcomes than their white counterparts. They looked at more than a million cases, from the initial charges through the conviction and sentencing, and discovered disparities that could not be explained by logic or reason.

[. . .]

What they found is the criminal justice system is unequal on every level. Cops in the state are more likely to stop Black drivers. Police are more likely to search or investigate Black residents. Law enforcement agents charge Black suspects with infractions that carry worse penalties. Prosecutors are less likely to offer Black suspects plea bargains or pre-trial intervention. Judges sentence Black defendants to longer terms in prison. And get this: The average white felon in the Massachusetts Department of Corrections has committed a more severe crime than the average Black inmate.

The study, "Racial Disparities in the Massachusetts Criminal System" (pdf) unearthed a number of factors that contribute to these significant disparities . . .

[Continues . . .]
"Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration — courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and above all, love of the truth."
— H. L. Mencken


Tank

If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.