Monday, May 09, 2016

Death penalty in black and white.

Image result for louisiana death row images And now this from the editorial page of the New York Times:

"The last time a white person in Louisiana was executed for a crime against a black person was in 1752, when a soldier named Pierre Antoine Dochenet was hanged after attempting to stab two enslaved black women to death with his bayonet.
 
This is just one of many grim facts in a new report describing the history of capital punishment in Louisiana and analyzing the outcome of every death sentence imposed in that state since 1976, when the Supreme Court reversed its brief moratorium on executions and allowed them to resume.
Racism has always been at the heart of the American death penalty. But the report, in the current issue of The Journal of Race, Gender, and Poverty, drives home the extent to which capital punishment, supposedly reserved for the “worst of the worst,” is governed by skin color.
 
In Louisiana, a black man is 30 times as likely to be sentenced to death for killing a white woman as for killing a black man. Regardless of the offender’s race, death sentences are six times as likely — and executions 14 times as likely — when the victim is white rather than black.
 
The Supreme Court has been aware of racial disparities like these for a long time. In a case decided in 1987, the justices were presented with a study finding that people accused of killing white victims in Georgia were four times as likely to be sentenced to death as those accused of killing black victims. But the court, in a 5-to-4 opinion by Justice Lewis Powell, said that given the many procedural safeguards in capital trials, the study “does not demonstrate a constitutionally significant risk of racial bias.” (After retiring, Justice Powell said he should have voted the other way.)
 
 
These reversals are usually the result of major errors at trial that violate the defendant’s constitutional rights, such as prosecutorial misconduct, improper jury instructions and incompetent lawyering. In most cases, the discovery of these errors resulted in the defendants’ being removed from death row and receiving lesser sentences. In nine of the cases, though, the defendant was fully exonerated of the crime and cleared of all charges.
 
Louisiana’s record is terrifying, but other capital punishment states aren’t much better. Nationwide, the reversal rate for resolved death sentences is 72 percent, and while the average exoneration rate for death row inmates in other states is 1.8 percent (less than half of Louisiana’s rate), that still translates to a national total of 156 innocent people sentenced to death and later exonerated since 1973.
 
Even if capital punishment could be imposed with zero risk of racial bias or error, it would still be brutal, immoral and ineffective at deterring crime — as most countries have found. But with bias and error endemic to the death penalty in this country, how can the Supreme Court continue to uphold its constitutionality?" [Source]
 
Clearly there is still a lot of work to do in America when we are talking about having a color blind society, where all citizens are treated equally under the law.
 
I am just glad that America's most important newspaper is shining a light on the problem.
 
*Pick from nola.com

59 comments:

The Ministry of Truth said...

You left out this paragraph from the article:

"The new report shows that Louisiana’s death penalty isn’t only consistently racist; it’s also profoundly error-prone. Of the 155 death sentences the state has handed down and resolved since 1976, 28 resulted in executions. The other 127 — or 82 percent — were later reversed. Since 2001, two people have been executed, while 53 have had their death sentences reversed."

This contained what looks to me like the craziest statistic in the entire article: 82% of death sentences were reversed. Eighty-two percent?!!

Louisiana, your gumbo may be mighty tasty, but you still suck.

Perry Mason said...

Just wait. Coming from the NYT, this article, with all it's facts, will be torn to shreds.

Yet, your resident Defense Lawyer, field, won't publish those inconvenient facts.

dinthebeast said...

The death penalty is something that "feels" right to a lot of people before they give it much thought; people who commit heinous crimes should just be killed. Simplistic and satisfying to an issue that provokes an extreme, visceral reaction, especially in a society as far gone on fear and outright cowardice as this one. Problem is, it doesn't work. It doesn't deter anything, and the racial disparity is just one of the many flaws in the program that has led to many documented wrongful executions. I guess the supporters must just figure that it will never be them or anyone they care about wrongfully executed. Cameron Todd Willingham probably thought that too.

http://www.criminaljusticedegreesguide.com/features/10-infamous-cases-of-wrongful-execution.html

=Doug in Oakland

Anonymous said...

This goes to show that we really do need a Black Lives Matter movement. I believe there have been less than 5 whites given the death penalty for killing a blah person. Well that's still progress because for years they weren't even convicted. Emmitt Till, Medgar Evers and others can attest to this.

PX

Anonymous said...

@ Minister of AIDS -

Louisiana only sucks because it's got millions of your kind in it. Without blacks, the bayou would be paradise.

PilotX said...

I guess this last anon is demonstrating that old racism against whites we hear about here every night. Poor white people and the stuff they have to put up with.

Math: The Final Frontier said...

PilotX said...
This goes to show that we really do need a Black Lives Matter movement. I believe there have been less than 5 whites given the death penalty for killing a blah person

You're being ridiculous if you believe less than 5 whites have ever been given the death penalty for killing a black person.

The real story of the last 50 years is that whites aren't killing blacks very often at all, in fact blacks are killing whites at 50 times the rate whites victimize blacks.

97% of black murder victims are killed by other blacks.

Most murderers don't receive the death penalty.

Therefore, one would expect that a white person being sentenced to death for killing a black person would be a very rare occurrence.

Anonymous said...

You're being ridiculous if you believe less than 5 whites have ever be97% of black murder victims are killed by other blacks.en given the death penalty for killing a black person.
-----------------
Please, by all means provide an accurate number.


True most murderers do not get the death penalty but if the victim is white you are much more likely to receive it. Read the article Field provided, it has the details. Btw, most crime is intraracial so your numbers are not surprising but keep that in mind for your own edification.



PX

Anonymous said...


Therefore, one would expect that a white person being sentenced to death for killing a black person would be a very rare occurrence.
---------------------
We're talking about the entire history of this country. There were a lot of blahs murdered by whites and they received no punishment whatsoever. Please explain this.

PX

The Ministry of Truth said...

"Louisiana only sucks because it's got millions of your kind in it. Without blacks, the bayou would be paradise."

Yes, clearly, Louisiana's criminal justice system is garbage because black people are running it. Oh wait, they're not. It's mostly right-wing, often racist, religious nutjobber white people who operate the incompetent apparatus of the state.

TNB said...

Lawsuit accuses Flint mayor of trying to redirect water crisis donors to campaign fund:

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-michigan-water-lawsuit-idUSKCN0Y1021

And the beat goes on....

Lt. Commander Johnson said...

hey field. When was all this study being made? You purposely make it hard to find a time line.

Was this a recent NYT article?

ANGOLA needs your help!

Anonymous said...

The study clearly states 1976-2015. We know you're stupid Lt. Nomander but damn.

Anonymous said...

Interracial violence study, 1970-2014:

http://theinjusticefile.blogspot.com/2010/09/white-on-black-violence-since-1964.html

Since 1970, the total incidences of White on Black Violence that I could find on the Internet is 70 (victim is seriously injured or dead). The result of these 70 violent incidents::

Dead = 83
Seriously Injured =16
Total Black Victims of White Violence = 99

-----------------------------


Total White Victims -so far - of Black Violence :
Dead = 2054
Seriously Injured = 478
Total White Victims = 2532

Anonymous said...

Really? This was an actual study or is this unverified info from a white racist site? Gtfoh. Btw, how many white victims were killed by fellow whites? Do those stats exist on this site you gave us? Of course not.

Anonymous said...

Just as I suspected, some white racist asshole did a fucking INTERNET search of white on negro murders and only found 70. Well I guess that settles that, some genius anon uses Mr. Wolf's flawed Internet "study" and that's that. Holy fuck you racist trolls are idiots.

DR DEAD said...

Oh, wow Anon....this study was done after 30 years?

I must have missed field informing me of this, when he posted with a pic of a lethal injection gurney.

LA was frying worthless assholes back then.

Lt. Commander Johnson said...

You know, sometimes you should just shut the fuck up, and say you're wrong.

Anonymous said...

I must have missed field informing me of this, when he posted with a pic of a lethal injection gurney.
----------------
Are you really that stupid or just joking?

Anonymous said...

President Obama’s commencement address at Howard University on Saturday highlighted his legacy of racial division and double standards.

In a speech symbolic of the left’s toxic brand of identity politics — and his administration’s entire race ethos — Obama encouraged students of the historically black college to revel in racial pride, while simultaneously suggesting that anything the black community is not proud of is because of white people.


http://www.lifezette.com/polizette/obamas-howard-speech/?utm_content=buffered76f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

The Ministry of Truth said...

I'm just posting a link to an article I saw because, at some point, Pilot X had expressed a desire to see those guilty of hate crimes in the Civil Rights Era face justice. There has been an ongoing federal "cold case" project to do that, which resulted from a law called the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act, and there is now talk of re-authorizing the legislation to continue that effort.

Civil Rights Activists Seek Justice for Racial Violence in the Name of Emmett Till

I hope these investigations will be extended for, say, another 10 years (don't know exactly how long the extension is actually proposed to be). That seems worth doing. But I also have to confess that I don't expect to see a large number of convictions (there have been very few so far in the 8 years the law has been in force). In all likelihood, most of the perpetrators of these crimes have already died, so it is unfortunately too late to go after them.

The Purple Cow said...

Quote: Perry Mason

"Just wait. Coming from the NYT, this article, with all it's facts, will be torn to shreds."

It didn't come from the NYT, it came from the Journal of Race, Gender and Poverty.

**

:Yet, your resident Defense Lawyer, field, won't publish those inconvenient facts."

Let us know when these alleged 'inconvenient facts' emerge and we'll read them with interest.

Joder La Resistencia said...

"It didn't come from the NYT, it came from the Journal of Race, Gender and Poverty."


It came from moonbats nevertheless. And it doesn't change the cherry picking....

Joder La Resistencia said...

The Ministry of Truth said...

Yes, clearly, Louisiana's criminal justice system is garbage because black people are running it. Oh wait, they're not. It's mostly right-wing, often racist, religious nutjobber white people who operate the incompetent apparatus of the state



Clearly you have no clue so your knee jerk position is of hatred and bigotry. If you were honest, which you are not, you would acknowledge the problems with the "system" in Louisiana goes way back to when Louisiana was blue and ran by people who think like you.


PilotX said...

You're right anon, he should have just done what the right here suggest, tell them they're all inferior to whites and everything they've accomplished is because of affirmative action. In fact he should have run his speech by you or just let you write it. I'm sure it would have gone over well. I'm also pretty sure no matter what he said he woud have been criticized by the right as he has all 8 years. Yawn.

Pilot Rex said...

If Trump said to be "confident in your whiteness", you'd call him a Nazi.

Oh wait, you already have called him a Nazi despite him not saying anything like that.

James Bold said...

"Even if capital punishment could be imposed with zero risk of racial bias or error"

You could get rid of the racial bias very easily:  just have racially homogeneous countries.  Error?  Perhaps you should talk to all the innocent victims of mis-aimed drive-by bullets in cities like Chicago.  This is what you get when you substitute "street justice" for written law.

"it would still be brutal, immoral and ineffective at deterring crime — as most countries have found."

Oh, it has been VERY effective in deterring crime.  Know why the South used lynching against Blacks and Republican rabble-rousers?  Because it worked.  If it didn't work, there wouldn't be any need for laws against it... and the current crime wave subsequent to "cibil rites" would not have occurred.

The problem for you, Field, is that White people are much better at making peaceful and prosperous societies than you are.  That is why you live and work in Philadelphia and not Kingstown; you could never be as safe and wealthy at home as you are in the USA.


"Clearly there is still a lot of work to do in America when we are talking about having a color blind society, where all citizens are treated equally under the law."

I agree!  When White people are allowed to choose their neighbors and exclude people who are hostile, dangerous or just "other" (as Blacks, Mexicans and others get away with), we'll have restored a measure of equality under the law.

"Problem is, it doesn't work. It doesn't deter anything"

Keeping someone on death row for 20 years doesn't work, you mean.  When lynch mobs burned child-rapists at the stake, it was a very good deterrent.

The Purple Cow said...

Quote: Help United America. Cunt2016

"It came from moonbats nevertheless."

Ahh yes I forgot, all scientists are 'moonbats' to you neo-nazi types.

**


" And it doesn't change the cherry picking....

Show me the evidence for the cherry-picking sunshine. I'm all ears.

Lt. Commander Johnson said...

Be careful, Sunshine. Remember...you're dealing with the esteemed "Journal of Race, Gender and Poverty" here!

Google them. See what you get.

The Purple Cow said...

Quote: Little Jimmy Bold"

"You could get rid of the racial bias very easily: just have racially homogeneous countries."

Yeah da's right, 'cuz when Europe was racially homogenised without any blacks there was no violence at all.

Uh uh. Never happened.

Progroms? Never happened.
100 years war? Never happened.
Burnin' witches at the stake? Never happened.
WW1? Never happened.
WW2? Never happened.
Holocaust? Never happened.
War of the Roses? Never happened.
Sacking of Rome? Never happened.
Spannish inquisition? Never happened.

Yep, till black folks came along all was peace and light here in Europa.

(As an aside, in 1620 the murder rate among the all-white, homogenous population of Cheshire (where I live) was 11 murders per 100,000 population. In the multicultural Cheshire of 2015 it was 0.2 murders per 100,000)

**
"Error? Perhaps you should talk to all the innocent victims of mis-aimed drive-by bullets in cities like Chicago. This is what you get when you substitute "street justice" for written law."

So yeah, wot he's sayin' here is that cuz innocent people get killed in drive-by's therefor it's perfectly Ok to gas innocent people.

**

"Oh, it has been VERY effective in deterring crime."

Nope. I can't agree on this one. None death-penalty states have consistently lower murder rates than death penalty States. In 2014 it was 28% lower. In 2005 it was 46% lower.

**

" Know why the South used lynching against Blacks and Republican rabble-rousers? Because it worked. If it didn't work, there wouldn't be any need for laws against it... "

Eh???????????????

**

"The problem for you, Field, is that White people are much better at making peaceful and prosperous societies than you are."

Yeah like Germany in 1940? - Very peaceful.
Yugoslavia in 1995? - very peaceful.
Russia 1917? - very peaceful
England in 1620? Murder rate 55 times what it is today.

**

" When lynch mobs burned child-rapists at the stake, it was a very good deterrent."

Evidence please....

Joder La Resistencia said...

Damn son, you got that whole apples/oranges thing down.....

The Butcher said...

Whites are violent, racist, anti-Semitic, sexist, elitist, yet everyone wants to be around us, in our countries, cities, & neighborhoods.

Funny dat.

PilotX said...

Don't trip PC, that's what Americans do try to get back to when things were great and perfect. The national pasttime.

Anonymous said...

Black people have the unalienable right to live in black societies if they so choose. White people have the unalienable right to live in white societies if they so choose. That right is called free association. Diversity, multiculturalism, and immigration are all anti-Constitutional, anti-American attacks on that right.

Faith_and_Fairness said...

Finally a chance getting back to Yisheng's post 05/09/10......Saw snippets of the President's commencement address yesterday. I just think it's a damn shame he had to wait until late in his second term to show the world just how pro Black he really is.

But being that America is "great again".........

==============================

So much more than President Obama displaying how he is "Unapologetically Black," so to speak.

With a little more than six months until his term ends, the president's commencement address to the graduates of Howard University, in my opinion, is invaluable blueprint to those taking the time to read the actual transcript verbatim.

Thank you, Anon @12:55am, for providing link that attached a six-minute video excerpt of the author's point of contention. And to that author, a host of Anons, and others throughout the years who call themselves writing President Obama's legacy, I humbly ask did you even bother to read the actual transcript or did you even listen/watch the six-minute, whereby the president expresses and humble narrative of understanding matters from white people's perspective?

Must say I was initially angry at vitriol. Then I thought of one of my favorite spiritual reflections on how a moment of extremism cut to the heart of Jesus as well. Instead of the anger, counter with truth, knowing in the end some folks would rather take on the position that nothing is ever right. All blacks, immigrants and those fighting for justice, in their eyes, only want free stuff. We are not bound together in our quest for the greater good. No, we want the almighty entitlement at the expense of America's greatness.

The last eight years were not perfect. So much of the collective effort lies ahead. But President Obama steered the ship with every citizen as best as humanly possible. All that matters is only he and each of us will chart our collective narrative.

field negro said...

Psst, James, it's Kingston.(STON
And I am from Mandeville,actually,and I am quite sure that the neighborhood I grew up in is safer than 90% of the neighborhoods here in America.

But if u have never left the Southwest United States u wouldn't know that.

field negro said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lt. Commander Johnson said...

"PilotX said...
Don't trip PC, that's what Americans do try to get back to when things were great and perfect. The national pasttime.

1:34 PM"

See, X? You screw-up too:)

Lt. Commander Johnson said...

So, your from Mandeville, eh, field?

Been through there many times, on my way across the Lake, en route south to go redfishing.

I'm sure you've eaten at Middendorf's. Ever had their thin-fried catfish & stuffed crabs? Man, that is some good stuff. My mouth is watering, just thinking about it.

Then, get some strawberries from Ponchatoula. Best in the world.

Eric "My People" Holder said...

Faith_and_Fairness said...
"We are not bound together in our quest for the greater good."

We certainly are not, in a country where politicians and college presidents are forced to publicly apologize for saying "All Lives Matter".

Lt. Commander Johnson said...

Ooops. I thought you were speaking of Mandeville, Louisiana.

I guess that's your wife who is from Louisiana.

Sorry, my bad.

James Bold said...

Most everything else has been said as well as I could, but nobody can rebut this but me:

"But if u have never left the Southwest United States u wouldn't know that."

I haven't even set foot in the SWUS in almost 10 years.  Never lived there.  But your leap to a completely ridiculous conclusion about me just goes to prove how far gone your mental processes are.  They're like an on-going train wreck, gruesome but impossible to look away from.

field negro said...

No prob, CJ, I am familiar with Mandeville, La as well. It seems to be a wonderful place.
Not as nice as the Mandeville I grew up in, but I am bias.:)

My bad James, but u just seem like a Texas or Arkansas type of fella to me.

First impressions and all. ;)

Anonymous said...

White people are whack as hell.

Anonymous said...

Funny F&F, you advise the anons to read or watch the entire speech and not take snippets out of context and they take a snippet of your post out of context. Ha!

Anonymous said...

We certainly are not, in a country where politicians and college presidents are forced to publicly apologize for saying "All Lives Matter".

Context my man, context.

PX

Faith_and_Fairness said...

To Anon @7:24pm and Pilot X @7:25pm: EXACTLY!!

Not to mention, major **SIGH** @Eric My People.....Amazing how what was posted in it's entirety came down to somewhat cherry picking the collective quest for the betterment of every citizen.

And can we dispel with the ridiculous meme regarding individuals who espouse All Lives Matter? They are not being taken to task for what's basically a call to the dignity of all human beings.

My point was despite the extremist narrative, blacks, whites, hispanics, immigrants, LGBTQ, et al want the same opportunity for meaningful work that we can take pride in for our families and communities.

It's okay if you do not get it, Mr. Eric. Good news is those of us in the center will continue employing the kind of rhetoric that at least tries to grasp the nuance of the many mutifaceted and complex issues. And in doing so, hopefully our new political leadership can enact concrete proposals empowering every citizen.

Lance Cockstrong said...

Hey Bold ... was that you burning the cross on Kamau Bell's show ... Burn all the blacks at the stake? ... because they are all child rapists, and if not they are guilty of something else? Works for you. Here's the thing Bold. No one gives a fuck about you. Know what else works? Choose your neighbors? Stay the fuck in Crooked Dick GA or whatever Aryan redneck town you live in.

Lt. Commander Johnson said...

Thanks for your indulgence and forgiveness.

BUT! If you have never eaten the thin-fried catfish at Midendorff's, I would bet your wife has...get her to take you, next time you're below.

Gumbo isn't spicy enough for my tastes. But, the stuffed crab can kill ya.

But, don't forget those Ponchatoula strawberries! Google them!

Lt. Commander Johnson said...

Lt. Commander Johnson said...
BTW, X....if you're still awake...since this is Federal Law we're talking about...

Wouldn't / shouldn't it make all the showers and other bathroom restrictions be abolished in the US Military? I mean rip-out all the privacy stalls? No separate "women's" facilities?

If X is napping, anyone else feel free to comment?

10:05 PM

Just curious.

Lance Cockstrong said...

Personally I don't have any problem with using the bathroom where the equipment matches your equipment. But of course that is just the tip of the iceberg, a smokescreen for other "religious freedom" shit such as preventing cities from passing their own laws preventing workers from being fired for their sexual orientation, limiting discrimination claims (not just sex but race, religion, color, national origin, handicap) in state courts, preventing cities from setting minimum wage standards.

Eric "My People" Holder said...

Faith_and_Fairness said...
"And can we dispel with the ridiculous meme regarding individuals who espouse All Lives Matter? They are not being taken to task for what's basically a call to the dignity of all human beings."

Yes they are.

Nothing should be as inarguable as that.

All Lives Matter, not just black ones.

James Bold said...

"was that you burning the cross on Kamau Bell's show"

I've never heard that name before.

"Burn all the blacks at the stake?"

Just the child-rapists and such, like the Carr brothers.  It got the point across when simple hangings failed to make a sufficient impression.  When you have insufficient goodness to be good, sufficient fear does the job.

"because they are all child rapists"

Are you, now?  If you insist you are, I'll take your word for it.

"and if not they are guilty of something else? Works for you."

Even if you haven't done anything, it's 99% certain that you are just plain incompatible.  So I'll ask you again:  why do you want to live in a country full of White people?  Why don't you want to live in your own society, with your own government, doing your own thing?  What do you need White people for?

White people sure don't need you for anything anymore.  It looks like that scares you.

Faith_and_Fairness said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Faith_and_Fairness said...

Reply sent to next day's FN post.

Lance Cockstrong said...

Sunday 10PM on CNN. You might learn something.

If you cannot handle diversity then you are the one that is plain incompatible. If that scares you then stay the fuck in your Aryan shithole because no one with any sense wants anything to do with you.

James Bold said...

Mr. Muh Dik writes:

"If you cannot handle diversity then you are the one that is plain incompatible."

The Blacks in Zimbabwe are incompatible; they've run the Whites out.

The Blacks in Uganda are incompatible; they ran the Indians out.

The Mexicans in America are incompatible; they run the Blacks out.

The Blacks in America hate everybody and try to run them out.  When the victims are forbidden to fight back, they succeed:  see Detroit.

Since you're incompatible, I guess you'll be leaving now?  But before you do, tell me:  what do you need White people for?  Why do YOU want "diversity"?

Lance Cockstrong said...

I wouldn't even waste time trying to explain it to you. Suffice to say that I have grown up with diversity and like most of us I like diversity. Who the fuck are you that you think you decide who goes where. How do you even know if I am black? And why do you who have never in your life seen a black person need to frequent a black-centric blog for attention? Whatever brightens up you empty life, but really, no one gives a shit.

James Bold said...

"I wouldn't even waste time trying to explain it to you."

In other words, you can't without damning yourself.

"Suffice to say that I have grown up with diversity and like most of us I like diversity."

Most people do NOT like diversity.  They move to be with people like themselves.  They associate with people like themselves.  They date and marry people like themselves.

Rich White liberals are notorious for living in exclusive White enclaves.


"Who the fuck are you that you think you decide who goes where. How do you even know if I am black?"

Only Blacks and fags are as cock-obsessed as you are.  As for deciding who goes where, it was once the case that people decided who they did and did not want to live with and sorted it all out for themselves.  That worked.  Integration doesn't.

"And why do you who have never in your life seen a black person need to frequent a black-centric blog for attention?"

You too funny.  It's the Whites who have never known Blacks who believe the tripe on television.  I can attest to the truth of "you will meet seven dwarves in real life before you meet a Black as smart as on TV".  I've seen mixed marriages... break up (not one survived).  I've even dated the ex-wife of a Black man.

I come here because you fascinate me and make me laugh.  Watching you evade questions like "what do you need White people for?" (I think I'll add "why do you like diversity, when nobody else does?") keeps me entertained.