Former federal judge, now Utah lawprof and victims’ rights activist, Paul Cassell, never ceases to shock and amaze me. But this time, it’s far more shock than amaze.
Posting at the Volokh Conspiracy, Judge Cassell states with approval . . . well, best to let him speak for himself this time:
Heather MacDonald has this great article in the City Journal, persuasively debunking the myth that high black incarceration rates result from racial discrimination. She reviews the available empirical evidence, which finds no evidence of systemic racism. Instead, the studies show that a disproportionate number of African-Americans are in prison because they have committed a disproportionate number of serious crimes.
As I read the article, I couldn’t help but think that it was actually written by Ann Coulter and Heather MacDonald just changed the name at the top. It is an astounding piece of rhetoric, published in the City Journal, the mouthpiece of the Manhattan Institute, and one of Rudy Giuliani’s favs.
So just a little more from the article to whet your appetite:
This popular “social ecological” analysis of incarceration, as Fagan and other criminologists call it, treats prison like an outbreak of infectious disease that takes over certain communities, felling people on a seemingly random basis. “As the risks of going to jail or prison grow over time for persons living in those areas, their prospects for marriage or earning a living and family-sustaining wage diminish as the incarceration rates around them rise,” Fagan says. This analysis elides the role of individual will. Fagan and others assume that once one lives in a high-incarceration—that is, high-crime—area, one can do little to avoid prison. But even in the most frayed urban communities, plenty of people choose to avoid the “Life.” Far from facing diminished marriage prospects, an upstanding, reliable young man in the inner city would be regarded as a valuable catch.
If I understand this correctly, it not only argues that blacks are responsible for their incarceration rate, but the same argument would make them responsible for their lack of success in the workplace, lack of educational prospects and ultimately what us “apologists” view as the products of racial prejudice, both existing and historic.
It isn’t terribly surprising that people think this way. Statistical analyses like these are often used in a vacuum, excluding a full view of the situation to focus on specifics that support one’s thesis. But what makes this so shocking it that a former United States District Court Judge, a current professor at Utah Law School, has found this of such value, so persuasive and so close to his own views on the subject that he decided to promote and present this to the world as the position he supports.
Anybody want to pretend you’re on the Senate judiciary committee and ask Paul Cassell a question or two?
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Geebus. What nonsense. It is precisely this sort of tunnel vision that has prevented any real change in our policies toward crime, crime prevention and rehabilitation.
Once again I am left to wonder whether these people have ever stepped into an actual courtroom. Statistical analysis tells you a lot, but one of the traps is that it permits people like this to manipulate it in a vacuum. For context, you have to be in the trenches, watching this play out on a daily basis.
Yeah, this one blew me away. It would be bad enough to think it, but to actually post about it and tell the world that this is what you think is just incredible.
The criminal justice system isn’t blind, although is pretends to be so. Judges carry with them the prejudices of their earlier years, and although we’d like to believe intelligent and logical men and women can overcome their biases, it simply doesn’t happen all that often. Look at the number of African Americans in prison and on death row. Look at the number of Latinos. The numbers are just silly, and while city councils and state legislatures get “tough on crime” the youth of every minority group suffers. Attorneys in every state, especially those with a number of African American and Latino citizens need to beware of judges who are biased towards their clients and make sure to keep track of a judge’s trends in sentencing.
So you really believe that blacks aren’t actually committing all of these crimes?
Really?
You refute the fact that blacks commit blacks committed over 52 percent of all murders in America over the last 30 years?
IF blacks aren’t actually out committing these crimes, who is?
Do you really believe that blacks just have a murderous bent? Are they more inclined to be criminals? Are they some lesser species?
Blacks are more inclined to be criminals. Blacks rape and commit crimes of violence at much higher rates than other races. We can argue about why this is, but these facts are not in dispute. You seem to be upset people are truthfully discussing the reality of crime in this country. Why?
I was wondering how long it would take for a good, old-fashioned racist to crawl out of the woodwork. And here you are! I’m not upset at a discussion, but at how this panders to the ignorant, such as youself. I am upset, on the other hand, that people like you are allowed to breed.
Let’s see the “facts”.
…”I am upset, on the other hand, that people like you are allowed to breed. “
…A gutter comment. The world’s been down this dark road many times. It’s still just as dark.
– Dave Dudley
Perhaps, but I don’t have to tolerate over racism. I’m sorry to see that you don’t find it troubling.
…Mr. Smith is factually correct. It’s not racist to quote facts and the races do have enormous differences in crime rates, as contained in Federal DOJ crime stats. Mr. Smiths facts are undisputed by you or any other poster. His post is not personalized, but yours is.
..You don’t have to tolerate any post, it’s your blog. I consider it a privilege to post here, at your sufferance. But officers of the court and others in the justice system have just as much duty to not personally attack people ( as you did Mr. Smith )as they have a moral right to defend the unfairly attacked. Like calling someone a racial epathet, it can’t be undone by anything else you say. The sting stays. I have no doubt, Scott, that you would stand in the doorway and block the forced sterilization of even Mr. Smith. So why give comfort to the yahoo’s who really do want to keep people they don’t like from breeding ? It’s a short walk to Wannsee.
No Dave, they are not facts, nor are they correct, nor am I obliged to refute every wrong claim made in a comment. When someone writes “Blacks are more inclined to be criminals,” (which is not a fact, Dave, but an ignorant racist conclusion that ignores the facts), it is indeed personal. Ask any African American. And since this is my home, I get to call it what it is and the author what he is.
And I might add that “officers of the court” are under no obligation not to attack racists. Indeed, our obligation as human beings to speak out against racists kicks in. What about ex-cops obligations?
…Access the FBI uniform crime reporting program on their website. You can wade thru the stats or cut to the chase and just go to table 43, arrests by race, 2005 (last year of stats ). These corrolate with the DOJ victim stats. For instance, blacks make up approx. 13% of the U.S. population. In 2005 they made up 56% of the robbery suspects.
..We don’t get to make up the facts, just our opinions, and it’s not racist if it’s fact. Based on what the facts are, as contained in DOJ and FBI stats, and my own personal experience, black folk, mainly menfolk, commit a higher frequency of crime than other ethnic groups or races. Much higher. If you have any evidence that I’m wrong in my belief, bring it out or referrence it, I’d like to see it. I’m willing to change my opinion if the facts have changed, or I read them wrongly. But I’m not willing to substitute my emotion for my intellect.
Perhaps I gave you too much credit. The stats do not show who commits crimes. They show who are arrested, prosecuted and convicted for crimes. The breakdowns don’t account for variables. If blacks and whites live in the same upper middle class neighborhood, do they still commit 56% of the crimes? If not, then you eliminate the variable of black from propensity and are left with poverty. If the lives and circumstances of whites and blacks were reversed today, then the stats would be the opposite because race plays no role in propensity to commit crime.
See this post :
The problem with using statistics is that they require that you understand statistics, and more importantly, their limits of statistics. The racist conclusions are only “facts” to people who lack an understanding or desire to understand the significance of stats.
Now, I understand your position. I disagree with it vehemently. I do not intend to argue the merits of racism.
Challenging a Cop’s Simple Truth
The New York Times editorial,