Advice

On someone who knows the system

I was a public defender in a big city for almost 10 years. Police officers target young black males. Period. I have seen so many black people arrested and harassed for things white people usually don’t even think twice about. Running a red light on a bicycle. Open container of alcohol. Pissing in public. Spitting on the sidewalk. Driving. Walking.

Police officers knowingly testify to some bullshit on the stand to justify why they pulled a black person over. Not stopping completely at a stop sign. Not signaling a turn 200 feet before an intersection. Fuzzy dice hanging from the rear view mirror. Patting someone down for “officer safety.” If I hear the phrase “fighting stance” once more time as a justification for beating the crap out of someone, I will cut a bitch. I actually read a police report where an officer said he shattered my client’s kneecap because he looked nervous. My middle-aged black client, who had never been in trouble, is arrested for the first time in his life and looked fucking nervous. AND THEY SHATTERED HIS KNEE.

But the institution protects these officers. Judges defer to their testimony. Prosecutors go out of their way not to secure an indictment on them when they kill someone. Cities will pay off the lawsuits so the complaints go quiet.

If anyone thinks that the anger in Ferguson is about this one particular white cop and this one particular black teenager, they are completely stupid. If anyone thinks that the “riots” and “looting” result from welfare-loving opportunists, they need to stand the fuck down. If every dumbass with an opinion and a Facebook account could have followed me around the courthouse for one damn week, there is NO WAY they would write the vile drivel they do. But they do. Because they do not understand. And they do not want to understand. Life is harder when you’re black in America. Simply because you are black.

Sorry to rant, but I get so hand-shakingly angry at some of the commentary I’ve seen, I just had to say something.


You speak the truth. I fucking know for a fact that you do.

As it happens, a sociologist friend of mine is finishing up what will become an important and controversial book in which she definitively proves what you already know to be true about racism in the court system.

I’ll let you know when it’s published.

Standard

3 thoughts on “On someone who knows the system

  1. Theresa Lope says:

    Let us know now. The time is now when ppl are defending police officers like it’s their God given right to do so.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *