20/20 - Response to vandalism varies with race (ya think!)
This past Friday 20/20 aired a segment called “What would you do?” The first part of the segment showed teens at a park in Ridgewood N.J. vandalising and destroying a car. The group consisted of five white teens. While many people walked by and took notice, only one person called 911. Ironically, while this was going on, two additional calls were made to 911 from another area of the same park, because 3 black kids were sleeping in a car. As one caller explained, ”They look like they might be getting ready to rob someone or something.” Later in the segment the group of teen vandals was exchanged for a group of 3 black kids. Only this time, ten calls were made to 911 and many more people were visibly upset and confrontational with the black teen vandals.
The reason this is significant is because it ostensibly proves that yes, racism still exists and blacks are often more likely to be arrested and prosecuted for crimes that whites would be let off for( and also white teens are more likely to be able to afford legal representation that can get their charges dismissed or reduced.) Even more specifically, under Ellyn Bogdanoff’s Exoneree Compensation bill, if a 17 year old were charge as an adult with vandalism, he could potentially end up with a felony on his record. He would also now be in the criminal justice system and much more likely to end up in a group of pictures potential crime victim’s might look thru and also more likely to be brought in for police lineups. Which can then lead to bad witness identification and consequently wrongful conviction. That same person could then spend upwards of 20 years in prison because that teen spraypainting spree made him more likely to be brought in for other crimes, and that same mistake would then void him from receiving any compensation for the decades he spent in jail on a later conviction for a crime he did not commit. Ellyn’s bill is inherently racist and if the House Republican’s don’t understand this and decide to pass it with the “clean hands” caveat, they will be perpetuating this cycle and contibuting to horrible inequality of justice.
1 year ago • 0 notes