I was on Twitter last night when I found out that Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby had been acquitted for killing Terence Crutcher, an unarmed Black man. There have been so many police killings of unarmed Blacks with so few charges brought or guilty verdicts that I have become numb. But yesterday’s verdict of Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby struck a raw nerve. As a former prosecutor, I respect law abiding police; I detest those officers who lack the temperament, skills and self-control to wear a police uniform. Terence Crutcher is just the latest unarmed Black victim in a decades long string of Black victims killed at the hands of police without justice. On September 16, 2016, Betty Shelby stated she fired her gun killing Terence Crutcher out of fear. That is the standard response by police officers used in these cases. It’s as if it’s in their police training manual of what to say when you shoot and kill a Black person. Nine white jurors and three Blacks evidently … [Read more...] about Blacks Go to Jail for Killing Dogs; Whites Stay Out of Jail for Killing Blacks
Black Lives Matter
Bill Clinton and His Black Lives Legacy
On April 7, 2016, Bill Clinton found himself in the unenviable position of being asked to address his criminal justice policies of the 1990’s to Black Lives Matters activists at a Philadelphia rally. The confrontation was not viewed favorably by many to Clinton. Black Lives Matter activists and Bill Clinton verbally clashed for almost 15 minutes when Clinton was asked about his 1994 crime bill and its effect on African Americans and the term “super predators” used by Hillary Clinton in 1996 in referring to troubled black youth. Clinton staunchly defended the crime bill, at times being condescending in his remarks to the black activists and rambling on at other times in discussing Hillary Clinton’s role. In the 1990’s charismatic President Bill Clinton was considered to be a friend and comrade to many in the African American community. He appointed a racially diverse cabinet and appointed many minority judges to the federal bench. He survived sex scandals involving Monica … [Read more...] about Bill Clinton and His Black Lives Legacy