A picture's worth a thousand words ...
It's not like more proof was needed. Walk into most any courtroom on any given day in Broward County, and it smacks you in the face. In custody or waiting for their cases to be called, a hugely disproportionate number of Defendants caught up on drug charges are Black.
Still, it was nice of the ACLU to publish this report last month, showing how billions of dollars are wasted annually on racially biased arrests nationwide. It's bad everywhere folks, but as we've been pointing out since day one of blogging, it's even worse in Broward County.
What do you do about racism in the criminal justice system if you happen to be Satz, the county's top law enforcement officer since 1976? Apparently nothing. Or if you happen to be Eugene Pettis, President of the Florida Bar, whose logo proudly boasts "Protecting Rights, Promoting Justice"? Pretty much the same it seems, judging by his refusal to even return calls asking about plans to combat racial injustice.
Thankfully, there is some leadership to be found. As previously reported, Gisele Pollack is pushing back, as is Howard Finkelstein. The Public Defender's relentless one sided correspondence to hapless pen pal Satz is showing everybody just what the State Attorney is made of.
Check out this missive citing the ACLU study, delivered to the SAO earlier today. It features some of Finkelstein's strongest language yet, most assuredly to be met with the same stony silence everyone has come to expect from a man who can't even muster the courage to publicly apologize to any of the known wrongfully convicted victims prosecuted by his office.
From Finkelstein's letter:
Broward County is a glaring example of institutionalized racism ... In 2010, Broward County was ranked 12th in the nation for the highest number of marijuana possession arrests of black residents ... black residents are 3.7 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white citizens- even though the percentage of black residents who use marijuana is almost equal.
These numbers unequivocally show that black residents are targeted by law enforcement. These numbers fall on your shoulders as the chief law enforcement officer ... If you did not know that law enforcement was targeting black communities, you were not doing your job. Your decision to be a passive State Attorney has given police free rein in the black community. Your failure to lead for the last 38 years has allowed racism to become institutionalized in Broward County ... it is your job to fix it.
Still, Satz can't do nothing alone. He needs a never ending stream of fresh new lawyers to allow institutional racism to continue to thrive. As everyone knows, he hires them right out of school, after confirming via polygraph exam that many used illegal drugs in the past. The irony isn't lost as they're turned loose into the county and circuit juvenile courts for training on cannabis and juvenile drug cases, until promoted to circuit felony, where the racial disparity in drug arrests is most overwhelming. By that time they're programmed so well, most don't even blink an eye when asked to prosecute some poor slob over a single pill felony or a microscopic cocaine residue arrest*. Compounding the injustice, the cases are often derived from manufactured DWB stops featuring dark tints, a seatbelt violation, or preposterous "consensual" searches.
Everybody needs a job. We get that. But everyone needs to try to do something, or you're just as complicit in the administration of modern day Jim Crow as those actively making it happen on the streets.
Think about it. If enough people went to Satz, including the hypocrite judges who smoked and snorted their own small parcels of South American real estate back in the day, and impressed upon him just how far racism has crept into Broward's criminal justice system, things might change for the better. Even a man with as dismal a legacy as Satz might make an effort to actually accomplish something of lasting value in his last years in power, even if only to improve his image. All you can do is try. And if that happens, at least you can answer the question "Am I a racist?" in the negative.
*Single pill and cocaine residue felonies are rarely, if ever, brought to court in neighboring jurisdictions ...
NYT Editorial - American Mayors: Let Them Smoke Pot
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ARE YOU A RACIST?
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