Its Time To Fix Our Criminal Justice System

When it comes to issues plaguing Black and low-income communities, a White senator from the South is the last person we'd expect to go out on a limb and sound the alarm. Senator Jim Webb from Virginia just did exactly that when he boldly called out the over-imprisonment of Black folks and the serious problems with our prison system. Most importantly, he's demanding big changes.^[1]

Now it's up to us to seize the moment and create the pressure necessary to achieve true reform.

I've joined ColorOfChange.org in publicly thanking Senator Webb. Our praise will show other politicians that when they take risks and step out on critical issues like prison reform, we will have their backs. It will also show that everyday people stand with Webb and are serious about this issue. Can you join me? It only takes a moment. And then please ask your friends and family to do the same:

http://www.colorofchange.org/webb/?id=1803-853516

In recent years, politicians have lacked the courage to create meaningful prison reform. They've been paralyzed by the fear of being branded as "soft on crime." They've been held hostage by prison guard unions and industry lobbies. And the communities most affected--Black and low-income communities--have had a hard time getting a seat at the table and making our voices heard.

Our country has a clear problem. With just 5% of the world's population, America holds nearly 25% of the world's reported prison population. Our prison population has quadrupled since 1984, and most of the increase comes from people being imprisoned for drug offenses--mostly minor and nonviolent.^[2]

Despite the fact that there is no statistical difference in drug use between different racial groups, harsh drug laws have had a devastating, disproportionate effect on Black communities. While only 12% of the U.S. population is African-American, Black people make up 37% of those arrested on drug charges, 59% of those convicted, and 74% of all drug offenders sentenced to prison.^[3]

It's surprising and encouraging that someone like Senator Webb is speaking out in this way. Webb is a White politician from Virginia, a Southern "law-and-order" state that has abolished parole and executed more people than any state besides Texas.^[4] He has nothing to gain politically from this--it's an act of true conviction.

By eloquently making the case for reform and calling for a National Criminal Justice Commission, Webb has created a major opening to address these issues. And it comes at a time when there are increasing signs the country is ready for reform. New York's governor and state legislature just struck a deal to reform the state's "Rockefeller drug laws"--some of the harshest laws in the country, and a great example of the failed status quo.^[5] A panel of federal judges has just told California it must reduce its prison population by a third to alleviate the torturous conditions stemming from overcrowding.^[6] And at the same time that more people are recognizing the deep injustices in our system, the economic crisis is forcing elected officials at all levels of government to realize they can't afford to keep directing so many taxpayer dollars toward law enforcement, jails, and prisons.^[7]

We need to make the most of this moment. Please join me in thanking Senator Jim Webb for his courageous stand and support his call for a meaningful commission. And when you do, please ask your friends and family to do the same.

http://www.colorofchange.org/webb/?id=1803-8535

References:

1. http://tinyurl.com/chxaup
2. http://www.parade.com/news/2009/03/why-we-must-fix-our-prisons.html
3. See reference 2
4. http://tinyurl.com/8mgyf2
5. http://tinyurl.com/da2xlw
6. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/us/10prison.html
7. http://tinyurl.com/c36ubb

Patron On Ice: Rapper T. I. Gets A Year And A Day In Jail

BY: Harold Michael Harvey

Rapping to his favorite girl or just another girl he wants to get next to, the self made hip hop mogul, “T. I.”-by any other name-Clifford Joseph Harris, raps she can have anything she likes: “stacks on deck, Patron on ice, you can have anything you like,” he intones to a smooth hip hop beat.

For the next year and one day, Clifford “T. I.” Harris can have anything the federal prison guards will allow him to have. One presumes that will not be unlimited stacks on the prison books for him to buy anything he likes; nor do we expect he will be able to keep any Patron on ice during visitation days.

In his early days trouble seemed to follow Clifford “T. I.” Harris like a hound dog chasing a cotton-tail rabbit. As a teenager living with his mom in Riverdale, Georgia, he turned to the street hustle to aid his mom in paying the family bills. Soon he was making more money on Bankhead Court on the southwest side of Atlanta than he could by flipping burgers at a McDonald’s. So he never went that route. He got into some trouble, landed in jail and received the label attached to his name of a convicted felon.

Then he discovered music and hip hopped his way out of poverty and the stigma associated with being a convicted felon.

In 2006 his best friend and body guard Philant Johnson was gunned down after the “T. I.” entourage left an adult club in Cincinnati, Ohio following a performance earlier that evening by “T. I.” According to police, the shoot-out followed an incident in the adult club when a group of local men felt they were “dissed”- insulted- by “T. I.’s” group when the locals were hit in the face by money thrown onto the stage for the dancing girls by “T. I.’s entourage.

A group of suspects were arrested and charged with the murder of Philant Johnson. It now became necessary for “T. I.” to testify against the bros who had gunned down his friend. Many in his subculture believe that to testify in court under any set of circumstances is tantamount to being a snitch. And in the world of “stacks on deck and Patron on ice” snitching is a low life “mother.” It does not matter the least that the bros just killed your best buddy.

“T. I.” decided he had to break this unwritten and largely unspoken code of behavior and testify against the bros who resorted to deadly violence over wounded feelings. He began to hear threats the Ohio boys were out to get him. “T. I.” had never lived within the law per se and did not rely upon the law to protect him from the streets. He, after all, personified the streets. He would protect himself, as Malcolm “X” Little suggested, “by any means necessary.” He made arrangements to purchase five machine guns and silencers from a street broker, but was caught in a “sting” conducted by the feds in October 2007. Now, he was atop the hip hop charts and was a convicted felon in possession of five dangerous weapons.

His initial plea to the charges was not guilty. He faced up to 10 years in federal prison and a possible fine up to 250,000 stacks. The thought of spending the next decade behind bars and giving stacks upon stacks to the government did not set well with “T. I..” He hired the Ed Garland Law Firm, a Georgia law firm, which had gained national attention in the successful representation of Baltimore Raven’s Linebacker, Ray Lewis against murder charges in Atlanta during a Super Bowl held in the city ten years ago

The Garland Firm did a nifty dance around traditional plea bargains and convinced the U. S. Attorney’s office to recommend a reduced sentence if “T. I.” remained out of trouble for a year and began doing community service prior to the sentencing. This maneuver is practically unheard of in the legal community. There was an agreement in principal and “T. I.” began a series of talks with young people encouraging them to take a different path than the one chosen by him. He starred in a reality tv show entitled “T. I.’s Road to Redemption.”

Prior to sentencing “T. I.” had completed a total of 1,000 hours of community service. Unlike native Atlantan Adam “Pack Man” Jones, “T. I.” flew under the radar and did not create any other bad headlines. The sentence handed down on March 27, 2009 orders him to serve one year and one day in federal prison in the Atlanta area. He will be on probation for three years following his release and will do an additional 500 hours of community service once he is released from prison. Attending his sentencing hearing as a show of support were former U. S. Ambassador and former mayor of Atlanta, Andrew Young and Bishop Eddie Long, pastor of an Atlanta mega church.

In announcing the sentencing, U. S. Attorney David E. Nahmias said that “the community got a break” in this sentencing because of the impact that “T. I.” has on young people. Nahmias said that no one else could reach young people in the same manner that “T. I.” can and has done.

The government expects “T. I.” to turn himself in within the next 30-60 days. In a news conference following the sentencing, “T. I.” encouraged young people to learn from his situation. He went on to say, “I hope that I can keep one if not one million from going down a similar path.”

Good advice as "patron" goes on ice for one year and one day.

© March 29, 2009