MichaelFauntroy.com

Toward Real Criminal Justice Reform

I’ve long believed that the U.S. criminal justice system is shot through with corruption and a penchant for punishment over rehabilitation that serves no one other than the policymakers that give the appearance of public safety.  And too often, the public is satisfied with reactionary public policy that doesn't really make them safe.  The conservative incarcerate-first-last-and-always theory of public safety has not made us safer.  It’s only exploded state and federal corrections budgets, made millionaires of private prison operators, and made more difficult the reentry of people who can become productive citizens if given the opportunity.  The current system also maintains the race-based disparities that have devastated some African American communities (Blacks comprise 46 percent of the 2.4 million people locked up now, despite being 12 percent of the general U.S. population).

However, there may be reasons for optimism.  First, the prison sentences handed down by two corrupt Pennsylvania juvenile judges were overturned after their guilty pleas for taking more than $2.5 million in kickbacks from a private detention center in exchange for the harsher than usual penalties.  Now, the judges are about to do time.  Thankfully.

Second, and potentially more significant, Senators Jim Webb and Arlen Specter have introduced National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009, a bill that, according to Webb’s press release, will  “create a blue-ribbon commission [that will conduct] an 18-month, top-to-bottom review of the nation’s entire criminal justice system and offering concrete recommendations for reform.”  According to Webb,

• With 5% of the world's population, our country now houses 25% of the world's reported prisoners.

• Incarcerated drug offenders have soared 1200% since 1980.

• Four times as many mentally ill people are in prisons than in mental health hospitals.

• Approximately 1 million gang members reside in the U.S., many of them foreign-based; and Mexican cartels operate in 230+ communities across the country.

• Post-incarceration re-entry programs are haphazard and often nonexistent, undermining public safety and making it extremely difficult for ex-offenders to become full, contributing members of society.

You can read the bill here. I’m hopeful that we are moving away from the conservative view of criminal justice.  Hopefully, this bill will help lead the way. If you believe, the system needs reform, then please encourage your friends to support this and state-based efforts.

Here are other stories on this effort

William Julius Wilson's New Book

Harvard Sociologist William Julius Wilson has produced powerful research on the impact of race on African Americans for more than 30 years (his book, When Work Disappears, was very helpful to me when I was a graduate student).  He has a new book, More Than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City, and talked about it recently on Tavis Smiley’s PRI show.  It’s an interesting discussion and he lays out the impact of race on the structural impediments facing African Americans.  Listen here.

National Urban League's State of Black America

I often hear people ask “Where are Black leaders?” I think it’s a silly question, as there are leaders all over the place and Marc Morial is among the most impressive.  He is the President and CEO of the National Urban League.  He was on the Today show this morning talking about the release of the Urban League’s annual “State of Black America” report.  It’s a notable contribution to understanding what is going on with African Americans.  You can get your copy here.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

John Hope Franklin Dies

John Hope Franklin, on the Mount Rushmore of African American scholars, died today at age 94.  His contributions to understanding the place of Blacks in American society has opened the eyes of countless people.  Here is more on Franklin’s life.

As a professor, Franklin has had a lot of influence on me.  While I never met him, I've long understood the power of history and context for explaining American society.  Thankfully, his legacy continues with the mountain of research he left for us.

Minorities Catching Hell in Current Labor Market

The Center for American Progress recently released a report that chronicles the struggles minorities are having in the current labor market.  According to the report: "Even before the recession struck, minorities faced a more precarious economic situation than whites, especially in the labor market. Now, 13 months into the downturn, it is clear that they have been hit hard."

More numbers --

9.7 percent: The unemployment rate for Hispanics in January 2009, an increase of 3.5 percentage points from December 2007 and the highest level since 1995.

12.6 percent: The unemployment rate for African Americans in January 2009, an increase of 3.7 percentage points since December 2007 and the highest level since 1994.

6.9 percent: The unemployment rate for whites, an increase of 2.5 percentage points since December 2007 and the highest level since 1983.

Every president since Kennedy has adjusted the way unemployment is calculated and the result is that the numbers don't accurately reflect just how many people, especially minorities, are out of work.  Given that reality, it's quite likely that the unemployment rates for all groups are actually higher than the official numbers.  Kevin Phillips does a great job in laying out how the numbers have been doctored over the years.

AIG Food For Thought

The AIG bonus story reveals what a disgrace this bailout has become.  However, there is more to the story.  It turns out that an amendment was stripped from the last bailout bill – that President Obama just signed into law – that would have capped executive bonuses at $100,000 or raised the federal tax rate on those that exceeded that level.  Sam Stein of Huffington Post reported that the Senate passed the amendment, but it died in a conference committee.  Of course, no one is claiming responsibility for stripping the amendment, which could have prevented future bonus boondoggles like the AIG story.

In addition, there is a lot of false indignation flying around on this story.  As Jim Vandehei reported in Politico, AIG revealed the bonus program a year ago and nobody raised their voices about it until the news broke last week.  Congress and the White House have had plenty of time to make sure that the taxpayers’ money didn’t go in the front door of these companies for one purpose, only to exit the rear door for different reasons. The Republicans are particularly phony.  They opposed the compensation caps when they were first floated last year.  Now, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) wants them to commit suicide?

Even though there are failures all over the place, I am deeply concerned about the pitchfork brigade now calling for the money to be returned.  The contracts that allowed the payments were mutually agreed upon and, while I don’t like how bonuses were granted to people who helped create the mess we are in, it may be worse for us all in the long run if the government can step in and undo contracts because Congress was embarrassed into action.  This is a slippery slope.  If we undo contracts because the numbers are outrageous, then is there any reason why Congress can’t void deals?  Food for thought.  After all, the total of the bonus payments is less that 1 percent of the total funds granted to AIG.  The outrage ought to be directed at the total amount of taxpayer funds to Wall Street, not just the bonuses.

2009 State of the Black Union Video -- Fauntroy Moderated Panel 3

I had the pleasure of participating in the 10th State of the Black Union conference in Los Angeles.  Tavis Smiley added a third panel this year which included prominent bloggers and participants in the two previous panels.  Tavis asked me to moderate the discussion, and I’m happy to report that you can see the entire discussion here.  The panel will also be broadcast this weekend on Tavis'  radio show, Tavis Smiley on PRI, which you can get here.

Many thanks to everyone at Tavis Smiley Presents for including me in the discussion.  A special shout out to Morris O’Kelly is in order.  He gave me the time cues I needed to keep the discussion moving and get off the air on time.

Check it out when you can.  Thanks.

On Race, Holder is Right, Obama is Wrong

President Barack Obama’s response to Attorney General Eric Holder’s “nation of cowards” comment has given us more insight into his views on leading the country into an informed, reasonable, and necessary discussion on race in America.  The new insight is worrisome.  His timidity on this issue appears to go beyond just campaign strategy.  It seems that Obama doesn’t think race is a big deal.  That is an incredible disappointment to some who understand the role race places in American political, social, and economic life and hoped he would use his new position to engage the nation on this continuing issue.

Holder’s remarks last month before a gathering of Justice Department staffers hit all the appropriate points on race.  He clearly acknowledged that the country is fundamentally better on race than it was decades ago.  Only a fool would argue otherwise.  The larger point, obscured by the response to “nation of cowards,” is the real story of the speech:  the nation’s fear and discomfort about discussing race is holding us back from the real racial reconciliation that we desire. On both scores, Holder is entirely correct.  And we need to talk about it.

The President told the New York Times that “I’m not somebody who believes that constantly talking about race somehow solves racial tensions.”  This statement is a disappointment.  There is a great difference between constantly talking about race, on the one hand, and never talking about race, on the other.  However, there is a great deal of space between those two poles and it’s a false argument  to suggest that talking about race gets in the way of solving racial tensions. Never before in recorded human history is it possible to find an example of a significant societal ill that was overcome because we ignored it. 

I am among a number of observers who were heckled last year for suggesting that Obama was ducking race as an issue.  His defenders suggested that he couldn’t run the risk of scaring White voters and, consequently, jeopardizing his campaign by talking about race.  They also pointed to his Philadelphia race speech as evidence that he “gets it” and everything will be all right after the election.  That speech, perhaps better understood as rhetorical cotton candy designed more to keep White voters on the SS Obama than launch a serious discussion, failed to move the country toward the informed conversation that is desperately needed on this issue.  Indeed, he has barely said a word on this since Philadelphia.

We need to move beyond this ridiculous notion that any discussion of race is tantamount to playing the race card or beating a dead horse.  This is an insult to intelligent, well-meaning people who understand history and want America to be all that it can.  It further reflects the conservative takeover of political discourse that has shielded the Right from engaging in an area in which they have little to offer beyond brickbats.  Obama appears to clothe himself in the conservative approach to discussing race, which is to say as little as possible, and we will be worse off as a result.  His unique position could move the country where it needs to be.  Sadly, it appears very little will change.

Michael K. Fauntroy is a professor, author, columnist, and commentator.  Learn more about him at MichaelFauntroy.com.